Merry Christmas!

As Catholics, Christmas lasts much longer than just one day. Christmas begins with the vigil on Christmas Eve and comes to a close when we celebrate the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord on January 12th. We have quite a few days to celebrate the joy of the Lord in Christmas!

Christmas is often a time where we put out decorations, bake cookies, dress up and go to a beautiful Christmas Mass. At Christmas Mass, there’s often special songs sung and beautiful decorations. The way we get ready for Christmas represents the fact that we want to give our best to the Lord! Giving our best to the Lord and showing Him honor and glory is an important part of this season.

As we enter into the season of Christmas, we should remember that the Lord wants us at our best and at our worst. He wants us to give glory and honor to Him. But, at the same time, He wants us to bring any pain, suffering, and hardships that we may be facing right now and give it all to Him. Tell Him about your pain, suffering, and sin. He desires the rough parts of our lives. He wants beautiful parts of our lives, and the parts that aren’t so pretty. 

This Christmas season, let’s focus on giving God our praise and thanksgiving. Let's honor Him through the way we celebrate the Mass and the Christmas season. But, let’s remember that Jesus went through so much suffering and sorrow. He didn’t come into the world in a glamorous way. Let’s remember that He doesn’t just want the glamorous parts of our lives -- He wants to love you at your worst.

I hope you have a very merry and prayerful Christmas season.

In Christ,

Tabitha Jones

P.S. For more details about this topic, watch this Fr. Mike Schmitz video about Christmas! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YPtYR12K4c