Loading...Two years ago, I posted a blog, which is so very appropriate for Christmas Day. I thought I’d dust it off and repost it. You see, I’m a firm believer that everyone should understand that Christmas Day is the BEGINNING of the 12 Days of Christmas.
So, Merry Christma — and your first present is a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
In today’s material world, retailers attempt to convince us that Christmas ends on December 25 — TODAY. Yes, the commercialization of our culture has overpowered the Church traditions of Advent, Christmas, and the Epiphany.
Christmas DAY, and I emphasize “DAY”, has arrived. And if you’re counting, there are now 364 shopping days left until Christmas 2021. Crass Commercialism, eh?
For some people, they are preparing to take down the Christmas tree, lights, and decorations. I wonder if they’re getting ready to shop for Valentine’s Day cards? Yikes.
But hold on! What’s the rush? The Christmas season is not over — the Christmas Season has only just begun.
Contrary to popular belief, and the retail environment, the Twelve Days of Christmas do not precede Christmas Day, they follow Christmas.
I can understand that many of you may find it hard to sustain your celebration of Christmas; however, we all can easily celebrate, in a low-key mode, the Twelve Days of Christmas.
Depending upon whose calendar you check, the Twelve days begin Christmas Day, at Midnight, or early morning December 26, and ends on Twelfth Night, January 5th — with the Epiphany, on January 6 being the close of the Christmas Season. And this special day is also referred to “Three Kings Day”.
Twelfth Night — Shakespeare Scholars — check out his play. Twelfth Night prepares us for the next day, the day of The Epiphany, which completes the Christmas feast. The Epiphany is the day that we celebrate the fact that Christ came to bring salvation to all people — Jews, Gentiles, and, well, EVERYONE.
The Gospel of St. Matthew, which includes the story of the visit of the Wise Men, is really a visit by people who represent the Gentiles.
The Christmas carol, “We Three Kings of Orient Are” is a nice Christmas carol, isn’t it? However, Is there any basis in fact? Who knows? No one is sure if there were three — we just assume three because of the three gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
But, let’s go back to our current practices.
While there are people who begin the tear-down the day after Christmas, there are still those who do keep their Christmas trees and decorations up until at LEAST New Years Day and/or January 6. Maybe those folks do understand that the Christmas season extends from Christmas day to January 6th. So keep those decorations up.
And yes, during this period, it is still appropriate to wish people a Merry and Blessed Christmas, followed by, of course, Happy New Year.
Now Reflect. We spent Four weeks in Advent to get ready for the coming of Christ — 28 days and then some. We were challenged to spend quiet reflection, week by week thinking about the coming of our Savior’s birth.
And then in just one day, just one day, Christmas Day, we seem to be in a hurry to end the season.
Why are we in a hurry to end another liturgical season that we tend to ignore — a season that spans 12 days on our calendar.
Can we not continue quiet and happy reflection on the birth of Christ over those 12 days and not put such finality on Christmas Day as the last present is opened and the last holiday light is extinguished.
There are so many spiritual and temporal activities that we can continue during these Twelve Days — the epitome of Outreach, one of our charges as good Christians — visiting the sick. Feeding the hungry. Giving, rather than receiving. Doing, without expecting reward. Sharing and caring.
So when you hear “The Twelve Days of Christmas” what once thought was only a secular nonsense song of turtledoves and drummers and pipers, you may be reminded in one more way of the grace of God, causing us to reflect, and most importantly, causing us pause and reflect that we are still within the Christmas Season.
Let’s continue sharing our gifts of love and caring for one another.
And so, Merry Christmas to all of you and blessings for a Happy and Healthy New Year.
