To the Band of Brothers: Christmas Edition #2

Good morning!

Not so fast. It’s not over yet. While it may be true that Santa deposited your haul of goodies on the 25th and the feasting of Christmas Eve and leftover pork for your Christmas Day pan con lechón is finished, the season is just beginning. We’re not done yet. There’s actually a lot more to celebrate and you would be doing Jesus a huge disservice if while skiing down the slopes of Jackson Hole or Aspen or laying on some beach in the Bahamas you weren’t mindful of a few more necessary celebrations.

 

The Church is a bit more of a party animal than you might think. We are now in the octave of Christmas. That means the Church celebrates eight days of Christmas with different feast days and practices. We will be praying the gloria every day at Mass (a prayer that was absent during Advent) and wearing white. The thing is, the birth of our Savior is such a big deal that you can’t simply reduce the joyous celebration to one day. You’ve got to extend that puppy for as long as you can.

 

Actually, while we are currently in the octave of Christmas, we can still keep it going for longer. Some would say Christmas really isn’t over until the Epiphany (January 6th). This is where you get the 12 days of Christmas or Christmastide. From December 25th to the eve of the Epiphany on January 5th you get 12 days. The popular carol tells you that on each day your true love gives to you a partridge in a pear tree, five gold rings (much better than a partridge, I think), and so on. Nowadays, the Church has decided to celebrate the Epiphany on the first Sunday after January 1st. That way people go to Mass and get to hear the reading of Matthew (2:1-12) when the three mysterious wisemen from the East bring their gifts to the baby Jesus.

 

Want more? We Catholics can actually extend the Christmas season all the way to the feast day of the Baptism of the Lord (Matthew 3:13-17; Mark 1:9-11; Luke 3:21-22). This usually falls on the second Sunday of January. This one may seem a bit odd because Jesus’s baptism doesn’t actually happen in his life until he’s 30 years old. Remember the scene? John the Baptist is baptizing in the Jordan River and Jesus decides to show up, wade in the water, and ask his cousin for baptism. John is somewhat scandalized by this claiming it is Jesus who should baptize him. Jesus insists so as to set the example. The reason we celebrate it now is because like the Epiphany, a Greek word that means “manifestation,” where the divinity of Jesus is manifested to these three kings, at the baptism, God the Father manifests publicly that Jesus is His Son with whom He is well pleased.

 

Wait, there’s more. We can even further extend the season of Christmas to February 2nd when we celebrate the presentation of the Lord in the Temple. This episode is described in Luke chapter 2 when Mary and Jospeh, 40 days after the birth of Jesus, fulfill the Jewish law and bring the baby to the Temple to be presented. The old man Simeon and the prophetess Ana recognize in him the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Son of God. This feast day is often referred to as Candlemas when candles are brought into the church to be blessed. It’s significant because Jesus is the light of the world who breaks the darkness of sin and despair.

 

All in all, that’s forty days of celebrating Christmas. Not bad for one baby, a virgin mother, and a carpenter from Nazareth. Think about it, 2000 years later and we are still going strong with these beautiful celebrations. It is a testament to our clear understanding of the significance of Jesus and the impact he has on our lives. There is not a single king, president, CEO, actor, sports superstar, or historical figure who gets as much hype as Jesus does. Rightfully so, for no one has loved the world and literally changed it as powerfully and profoundly as Jesus Christ.

 

Auspice Maria,

Fr. Willie ‘87

 

P.S. There’s a bonus track: remember January 1st is also a big deal. It is a holy day of obligation because it is the feast day of Mary, Mother of God (“Theotokos” as the Greeks described her). So, go to Mass!