Happy Christmas Day 1 of 12 Days of Christmas 2020

 

12 DAYS OF CHRISTMAS 2020 SERIES.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS READERS.

 

12 Days of Christmastide 2020 series icon.

Happy Christmas to all of my readers.  I wish to say thank you for taking an interest in my blog throughout the year.  Knowing that some people are following and reading my posts inspires me to want to write more posts.  So, thank you.  I hope that my posts are on target for your needs.  However, I have allowed my podcasts this year to slide sadly. I am sorry.  I hope I can rectify this in this coming year.

 

Christmas is not for a day as the secular world would have us believe or even 12 days as the Church presents it to give us time to reflect on the meaning of the season.  We need to use Christmastide well by reflecting so that we may carry the reflection all year and let the message of Christmas carry forward 365 days. 

 

I am acutely aware of this as I have a Christmas clock that plays carols on the hour.  Of course, I can take the batteries out during the year if I wish.  Interestingly enough, I have not done this very often at all.  There is something rather lovely to hear the carols played on the hour.

My hope for us all is to keep the message of peace, joy and love and goodwill to all in our hearts all the year.  Find your way of making this happen in 2021. 

 CHRISTMAS SEASON  THE WHOLE YEAR.

• ask the priest for a copy. Many priests are only too happy to give you a copy.
• If not, then jot down what touched your heart and use that as a basis for your Christmas season
• Meditate each day during the Christmas season on the Gospel of the day.
•  Make a visit to a church either in person or online each day to spend some time with Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  Imagine there is a new born baby in your family. Would you not want to visit this family and see the babe.  Many people forget to visit Jesus as a babe and realise in their hearts- this is truly Jesus- the Son of God who came from heaven as a small baby so that He would save us from our sins.
•  Reflect on each of the characters that the story presents ( perhaps 1 per day even including the animals).  What will each of these characters say to you this year?  You may have done this in the past. You are different than last year or the years before.  Reflect of what Christmas means to you in 2020.  Then think of how your reflection can be carried into the new year.  
• Explore traditions of other cultures of how Christmas is celebrated. Jesus came for all of us. Understanding other traditions of Christmas can be a wonderful way to help us integrate tolerance and understanding of others into our lives. For example you might like to check out my Classic Christmas CD and buy a copy .  Why not explore some of the Polish traditions.   You can read more about it here.

  

Start today on Christmas Day and throughout the Christmas season to make a note in a journal of what fills you with joy about Christmas season, what lifts your heart with hope, what gives you a sense of goodwill towards others. Be aware of the sights and smells, the tastes and the sounds of Christmas.  Ask yourself how you can hold on to these throughout 2021 and spread the message of Christmas throughout the new year by our lives.

 

I was involved in music ministry a number of Masses, so I had the privilege to hear different reading and different homilies.  If you hear a homily during the Christmas season that touches you, you might like to:

So as we begin Christmastide in the liturgy ( 12 days of Christmas not the 12 days before Christmas as the shops would lead us to believe), we too need to reflect on what Christmas means to us. 

 Christmas is not for a day as the secular world would have us believe or even 12 days as the Church presents it to give us time to reflect on the meaning of the season.  We need to use Christmastide well by reflecting so that we may carry the reflection all year and let the message of Christmas carry forward 365 days.

HAPPY CHRISTMASTIDE.