WobLog

I love this part of Christmas. Christmas Day bubbles with excitement and family, presents and good food. It's a gem in our year. We recall Jesus' birth by reading from Luke 2, but the day itself isn't really made for quiet reflection. In the days after Christmas, I have time to slow down and think about Christ's entry into the world, when the Word became Flesh. During Advent (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day), I prepared my heart (and my home) for the Christmas Season, and now, in accordance with Catholic teaching, I have a whole Christmas season to reflect on the Incarnation, when God became Man. Some folks turn off the Christmas lights the day after Christmas Day and yank them down as soon as they're able to do so. For them, apparently, once the presents are open, there's nothing left to Christmas. But as Catholics, our family celebrates the season of Chrismas till the Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, January 13th in the old calendar, moveable in the new, but somehow related to Epiphany. (The 12 days of Christmas from that famous carol are actually the 12 days after Christmas day leading up to Epiphany, the Feast of the Three Kings.) Our lights are up and lit, and carols resound through the house. During this less-frenetic part of Christmas, we have time to reflect on the enormity of what God did for us when He sent His Son to be one of us. Emmanuel -- God is with us! The feast days of Christmas remind us of the enormous sacrifice that is coming at Easter, and above all, they remind us of His love.