| Each day
of the Christmas season, we offer a brief Daily Prayer. For help in using the Daily Prayer, read this Guide to Daily Prayer. |
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Daily Prayer:
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Christmas is a Season, not simply one day
What
this First Week Offers Us December 26, the day after Christmas, is the Feast of St. Stephen, the first Martyr. The reading from Acts takes us into the story of his being stoned by an infuriated crowd. On December 27th, we traditionally celebrate the Feast of St. John, Apostle and Evangelist. This apostle's name is associated with the wonderful tradition and writings that receive his name. This week, our reflection is framed by the wonderful words of the First Letter of John and the story from the Fourth Gospel of Simon Peter and "the other disciple whom Jesus loved" ran to find the empty tomb on Easter morning.
On December 29th and 30th, we enter into the story of the Presentation in the Temple, and where we meet Simeon and Anna, the last of our prophets that seem to step into the pages of the New Testament. Their faithfulness and hopeful expectation are signs for us of who this child will become for us. This week we keep asking for the grace to celebrate his coming among us. Each of us can keep growing in a sense of freedom and joy over the gift we have been given to know God's love for us and presence with us more deeply. It is a week of gratitude. However, if our celebration of the days before Christmas and Christmas Day itself were busy or even difficult, then this can be a week of recovery and added time to let Our Lord come into our lives where we need him to come. Make use of the other resources we offer here, on the left side of this page, or on the site index.
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While
so many of our cultures only celebrate the build-up to Christmas,
as a faith community we celebrate Christmas for two full weeks. And,
there is much to celebrate here, much to go deeper into. Too often,
the days before Christmas are too busy to enter into the meaning of
this feast and to chew the daily scriptures and the graces that are
offered us, in our concrete life circumstances. This week is a time
for us to enter into the stories of very special saints who are associated
with the Birth of our Lord because of their innocence: our first martyr,
the Disciple Jesus loved, and the Holy Innocents. Then we return to
the days after Jesus' birth.
On
December 28th, we celebrate the Feast of the
Holy Innocents. This celebration takes us back into the infancy
narrative of Matthew. The account of how Jesus begins his journey
to become one with us, is powerfully told as a journey of Jesus' entering
into the journey of his people, with the flight into Egypt and the
horrible slaughter of the innocent children. This very difficult scene
is important for us to reflect upon as we imagine the unborn and the
newly born who are so unjustly deprived of dignity and life today.