Christmas Day is Just the beginning

It always amazes me at how fast the Christmas decorations are pulled down and put away at some peoples houses. Now I will admit to being a Christmas Junky but -still the 12 days of Christmas begin on Christmas Day (December 25) and end on January 5, eve of the traditional date of the Epiphany. Durint the 12 days of Christmas we remember some very important events .The Feast of the Holy Family, honoring Jesus, Mary and Joseph as a family. It is celebrated on the Sunday after Christmas.

The traditional end to the Christmas season is of course Epiphany. In fact in some Spanish speaking countries gifts are only exchanged on the eve of the Epiphany. One of my favorite Christmas traditions has to do with Epiphany. It is a time of blessing homes .The tradition developed on Epiphany, because the feast commemorates the time that the three kings visited the home of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Tradition names them Gaspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Traditionally after the blessing, the initials of their names were written in chalk on the back of the door. They were enclosed by the year and connected by a cross in this way: 20+G+M+B+08.

So the consumer driven "Consumas" ends on Dec. 26th. . The whole meaning of Consumas—commercial Christmas—is to sell stuff. The Christmas sales morph into after-Christmas sales. (At some stores the last stretch is a 12 Days of Christmas sale that begins on December 13, reinterpreting the 12 days that traditionally started on December 25 and ended with the coming of the Wise Men on January 6.) Christmas carols on the radio and Christmas specials on television disappear just when they should be beginning, according to the Church calendar. It is really in these days when Santa has returned to the North Pole and the wrapping paper is packed away that I enjoy the Christmas Season. There is nothing like an upbeat Christmas Carol to help one clean, and I still insist we all eat together on Epiphany to celebrate family. Santa may only bring presents to those who are good-But Jesus died for us all-even someone like me, a flawed teacher and struggling wife and mother.

So you will have to forgive me-but its still Christmas and I am holding on to every precious moment. Can you tell I am humming a Christmas tune as I write:)