Tis the Season

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

Ready for Christmas? Ready for Christmas to be over? How do you keep Christmas going?

It's a familiar sight: boxes torn open, bellies full of food, trash cans overflowing and wrapping paper flung aimlessly about while children unleash a sugar fit and parents enter into a sleep-deprived food coma. It's Christmas night. Families have squeezed into overstuffed pews, encountered the Lord of the universe in the Sacrament(s) and returned home with "Silent Night" engrained in their heads. Santa has come. Relatives have joined together and departed (or fallen asleep) and all that work of shopping and wrapping, cooking and cleaning came to fruition. Christmas is over - says the world.Christmas is just beginning, however, says the Catholic Church.Christmas is not a day, it's a season. We don't just celebrate Christ's coming over a 24-hour period, but for days - weeks, even.So, how do we avoid falling into that trap of cleaning up and counting down the 364 days until the next organized melee of celebration?

Here's a few suggestions:
First, be present to the holy days (holidays). Pay attention to the people around you. Ask them questions. Find out how they are and what they need prayers for this year. Listen to stories, even if you've heard them a thousand times before. Be thankful for the mere opportunity you have with your family and loved ones, you never know how many more Christmases you (or they) will have, just as Christ reminds us in scripture: "no one knows the hour." (Matt. 24:36)

Next, make the Christmas Mass primary for yourself (and hopefully for your family). Encourage your family to start getting ready even earlier and leave plenty of time to get the Church ahead. Stress, tardiness, parking and overcrowding lead to frustration during what should be a joyous liturgy. Enter into the Mass, fully, and offer a joyful example for all to see.

Third, don't even dish up the food or sit down to eat until everyone has taken a few minutes in meaningful prayer before the meal(s). Now, this looks different from household to household. If your family doesn't pray, be bold and initiate it. If your family always prays, go deeper - make it even more meaningful. Doesn't God deserve better than a "quick prayer" before we start shoveling food? After all, He's the reason we're having a party. Keep up this practice each night before dinner.

Next, practice being patient each and every day, one situation at a time. Possibly carry your rosary in your pocket, wear your cross more prominently or do something else visual and visible that will act as a reminder to you to be like Christ to people who annoy you. You, my brothers and sisters, make Christ's name more holy or less holy to the world, through your actions.

Fifth, with every tear of the wrapping paper and while cleaning up every box and gift bag, remind yourself of those who are without this year. Many will not open any presents, or eat any food. Many are alone this holiday season. Be thankful for each and every gift you receive (even the tube socks, calendar, ugly sweater or bad tie).

Sixth, at the end of Christmas day, go to bed extra early, and spend some time in prayer thanking God for not only the physical gifts you received, but for the gifts we often don't thank Him for, like your sight, your hearing, your mobility, your health, your clothing, food, etc. Keep up that early-to-bed practice for at least a week - it only takes a couple weeks for something to become a habit.

Lastly, begin a list on Christmas, and spend the following week until the holy day on January 1st (The Solemnity of Mary) adding to it. On the list, write down concrete, practical ways that you are going to use your gifts to proclaim Christ's love and His mercy this next year. Make these your primary "New Year's" resolutions.

These are just a few ideas, but they can easily become simple things that bear great fruit in your life. You probably have much better ideas, so write some down and commit to them.

The gifts in boxes and bags won't last a lifetime. The gift of eternal life is the only one that does.Salvation Given"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

There is no time like the present and there is no present like this Christmas season.