Thank you for a blessed and memorable Advent & Christmas season! A special thanks to our SGC sisters who helped organize and set up the Christmas Brunch & Christmas Ornament Exchange Dinner. This week enter into the Ordinary Time of our liturgical calendar.
Christmas Miracle in Ordinary Days
Even into my adulthood, I looked forward to the Christmas holiday season which most people consider Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. I loved everything about it. The gathering of family, preparing feasts, shopping and wrapping presents, baking cookies, watching movies. So when all of the festivities ended, I was left feeling down. Maybe even depressed. I wasn't even aware of this until I moved to Phoenix. I had attributed my depression to the cold, dreary weather.
Tiring though it would be, I wished it was Christmas all year round. But it wasn't the ham, the presents, or the shopping. What warmed my heart was the feeling. It was the anticipation, the excitement of preparing for a special day. Well, what's more special than the Second Coming? (Yes! That's how I started thinking after a few sessions of Coffee Break bible study.) I realized that as long as I kept Christ in my heart, the Christmas spirit is alive all year long! While we can't physically, make every day Christmas, we can and should re-create the best and most important part--the spiritual aspect.
So how can we make every day Christmas?
Christmas Miracle in Ordinary Days
Even into my adulthood, I looked forward to the Christmas holiday season which most people consider Thanksgiving to New Year's Day. I loved everything about it. The gathering of family, preparing feasts, shopping and wrapping presents, baking cookies, watching movies. So when all of the festivities ended, I was left feeling down. Maybe even depressed. I wasn't even aware of this until I moved to Phoenix. I had attributed my depression to the cold, dreary weather.
Tiring though it would be, I wished it was Christmas all year round. But it wasn't the ham, the presents, or the shopping. What warmed my heart was the feeling. It was the anticipation, the excitement of preparing for a special day. Well, what's more special than the Second Coming? (Yes! That's how I started thinking after a few sessions of Coffee Break bible study.) I realized that as long as I kept Christ in my heart, the Christmas spirit is alive all year long! While we can't physically, make every day Christmas, we can and should re-create the best and most important part--the spiritual aspect.
So how can we make every day Christmas?
- Begin each morning with a prayer. On Christmas we begin our day by greeting Jesus a happy birthday. The other 364 days of the year, we can still greet Jesus before we do anything else.
- Make a list & check it twice. Your Christmas list is thoughtful and others will thank you. The other 364 days of the year, you can make a list of what you're grateful for. (Or write it once, read it every day, and update as necessary).
- End the evening looking forward to something. On Christmas Eve you go to sleep knowing that Christmas day will bring joyful surprises. The other 364 days of the year, before you hit they hay, think of something you have to look forward to. It could be the vacation you've been planning or something as simple yet fulfilling such as an hour of peace at adoration.
- Share your Christmas spirit. Invite others to prayer and to reflect on their blessings. Have an optimistic attitude for if we truly believe that we are God's children then we have hope. Spend time with someone who may need to be uplifted. Give someone something to look forward to. Sharing yourself is the greatest expression of generosity.
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