Have you ever wondered how secular culture has shaped your Christmas experience?
For most Americans, Christmas begins and ends on December 25th. After gifts are exchanged, Christmas meals are eaten, and family gatherings are over, Americans purge their homes and hearts of all evidence that Christmas happened.
But Christmas doesn't end on December 25th.
Traditionally, Christians celebrate the 12 days of Christmas called Christmastide. It begins on December 25th and ends on January 6th, culminating with the Feast of the Epiphany.
The word “Epiphany” is derived from the Greek word meaning “appearance” or “manifestation” and commemorates the wise men who visited Jesus, Mary and Joseph, guided by the Star of Bethlehem, after the birth of the Christ Child. I'm doing it.
In the Incarnation, God took on a human body, Jesus Christ. Revelatory, the world is introduced to Jesus, the Savior of the world.
Celebrating Christmas for the full 12 days is therefore a direct act of rebellion against a secular culture that seeks to rob us of the true meaning of Christmas. Reducing Christmas to a single day centers a consumable, commodified, truncated version of Christmas: just a holiday. But the true meaning of Christmas is not found in material goods, shopping, holiday music and decorations, or any other material excess or decadence. It is about the incarnation of God and the manifestation of Christ's light into the world.
The Christmas season is a fundamental invitation to slow down, spend time with God, and reflect on the significance of the Incarnation for you and for all humanity.
Recovering the true meaning of Christmas is therefore not only about resisting woke encroachments on the holy holiday. No, it's about living and experiencing whole Around Christmas time.
Author Helen Roy said it perfectly:
Whining about stupid liberals won't restore the true meaning of Christmas, at least not completely. We recover it by living it. The best way to do this now is to let your friends and neighbors grumpily enter the liminal dark ages, weed in stress and post-meal stupor, and wait in anticipation for the most overhyped event. Keep celebrating even when it's all you can do. A holiday for all of them, New Year's Day.
In a culture of consumption and speed, resist the flow, embrace liturgical living, and celebrate all things Christmas time.
