Dear Friends,
Merry Christmas!
This is the third day of Christmas; if I could, I would give you all three French hens!
As you know, though the world outside of church treats Christmas as a one-day extravaganza, the church in her wisdom celebrates Christmas as a twelve-day season that only ends on the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6. During the Season of Christmas, there are multiple feast days; yesterday, we celebrated the Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr of the church (also Boxing Day in England); the Feast of St. John today; the Feast of the Holy Innocents tomorrow; and the Feast of the Holy Name of Jesus Christ on January 1.
In other words, we are in a season of celebration, which is entirely appropriate given what we celebrate, not Santa (though we love him), not general goodwill (though we could use more of that), but that God loves us so much that God had to join us, had to become entangled with us, not just in a spiritual way but a bodily, molecular, blood-and-guts kind of way. It takes at least 12 days to celebrate that wild, mad, joyous truth.
So, keep the twinkly lights up, keep singing the carols, keep giving gifts and telling stories and throwing parties. Keep the creche out, and move the Magi around the house so they end up at the stable on January 6. And come to church where we will “keep the feast” each Sunday—lights, joy, the Eucharistic feast, and Christmas carols to keep the party going.
Merry Christmas, Friends. See you in church!
Faithfully, Suzanne+
P. S. John Betjeman’s poem Christmas captures the wonder of it all in a way that resonates even for the world weary.