Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I know what you may be thinking: I'm late. Well, we are in the fullness of the traditional Christmas season right now. The church calendar has Christmas going from December 25-January 6, which is Epiphany! So, I will say it again and again over the next few days: Merry Christmas! We cannot let this holy season pass too quickly. We cannot ignore what it is meant to be.

Yesterday at church Jo Ann was kind enough to remind us that the song the twelve days of Christmas is a song to help teach the catechism. Many people did not know this and I feel like it is the church's (universal) fault. I feel kind of indignant about the church not keeping church in the center and letting Christmas become commercialized even inside its walls.

So here it is the real 12 days of Christmas:

12- The statements of belief found in the Apostles' Creed.
11- Represents the eleven faithful apostles. (Poor Judas)
10- For the ten commandments.
9- Reminds us of the nine fruits of the Spirit found in Galatians 5. Or the nine different types of angels: Seraphim, Cherabim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and  Angels.
8- for eight beatitudes in Matthew 5.
7- Reminds us of seven specific gifts of the Holy Spirit: wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and fear of the Lord.
6- represents the six days of creation.
5- for the Pentateuch: the five books of Moses.
4- reminds us of the four gospels all equal, and important.
3- to encourage us to hold tightly to faith, hope and love.
2- for the Old and New Testaments.
1- most importantly, to represent Christ on the cross for our inequity.

I hope to never lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas...