Reflections On the Tenth Day of Christmas
I remember one Christmas season when I was about seven or eight years old asking my mother, “Wouldn’t it be great if it could be Christmas every day?” My mother looked up from her task of sweeping dry Christmas tree needles and said something about how the day would no longer be special if it happened every day. I wasn’t too convinced at the time, but within a year or two, my sisters and I were expected to begin using some of our allowance money to buy Christmas gifts for one another and our parents. As I saw my hard-earned chocolate bar money being depleted and used for gifts for others, I quickly recognized the wisdom of Christmas only being one day of the year!
Christmas is the shortest season on the Church’s calendar, too short for that Earth-shattering event of God becoming human to live among us, to teach us, to save us. I wonder if a 12-day season is truly enough time for the cosmic significance of the Incarnate One’s birth to sink into our hearts, souls and minds.
On this 10th day of Christmas, I return to my old question and wonder what it might be like if we were able to make every day Christmas. How could we make the birth of Jesus so long ago, and its repercussions, become more real in our day-to-day lives?
So, dear friends, here is my attempt at compiling a list of how to make Christmas real every day:
- Before we get out of bed each morning, we need to give God thanks for the miraculous gift we have received of being alive. Our Creator God first made us in His image and then restored and redeemed us through the birth, life, death and resurrection of Jesus.
- We need to remember it was Mary’s “Yes” that was needed for Jesus to be born, “Yes” to the unknown pain and joy that carrying God’s Child would bring her. We should reflect each day on what “Yes” God is asking of us that day. Perhaps it might just be giving birth to the Christ child in some way in our own lives.
- As a stable was appropriated to be the birthplace of Jesus, we need to make room for Jesus in our lives each day.
- If God sent the heavenly host to common shepherds to be Jesus’ first messengers of “Good News,” God likely sends us to someone in need of “Good News.”
- While we might store away the various strings of lights in and on and around our homes over the next days, we need to leave some lights on – lights that will welcome the stranger, lights that will help others find the way and lights that will reflect the Light of the World to those we encounter each day.
What ideas do you have to make Christmas real every day?
