On several of the blogs this year I have been reading great posts about simplifying our Advent and Christmas season. These postings have really caused me to stop and ponder on our own family's traditions.I am currently re-reading this fabulous book The Year & Our Children: Catholic Family Celebrations for Every Season
, and in my older edition Mrs. Newland articulates so perfectly what I have been desiring for our family for quite sometime now...."We were a typical American family stirred by an uneasiness it was hard to define. It had to do with the desire to draw closer to the Church and what she was doing as she moved from one season to another, but we didn't know how to explain it..."
"To see that the Church lived the year made the difference. To see ourselves as part of the Church, and therefore with a year to live, was the clue. Christ is our life. If we would pattern our life after anything it should be after His life. But we share His life in the life of the Church. We had the pattern all the time in the daily life of the Mystical Body, and didn't know it.
This is how we started 'living the Church year'. It began, for us, with an Advent wreath and reading the fine print in the missal; after that, we read everything we could get our hands on that would help us. One by one the seasons of the Christian year began to shape our prayer and our activity, and shed light on how we were to use the doctrine. We were a long time reaching the point where we fell naturally into the practices we now use to celebrate feasts and keep vigils. Because it was new to us, we were awkward, even embarrassed. This is something we meant with all our hearts; one is afraid to be caught posing at something so precious to us. So it entered us slowly, this "Christianizing of our life."
It was a relief to see that it took several years before these practices became comfortable. Being the only Catholics on both sides of our family right now we feel that awkwardness but Mrs. Newland gives us hope for future years.
As our family has grown it has really allowed us grow in our own faith. We have grown more and more tired of all the commercialism and materialism that the secular world constantly pushes on us especially during this time of the year. Limiting our television viewing has helped tremendously but we've also had to work hard to instill habits of giving and sacrificing with attitudes of love and joy.
We have grown tired of unexpected nuisances like all this lead poisoning found in children's toys made in China. Consequently if you want a comprehensive list here is a wonderful sight and if you are wondering about symptoms this sight has some helpful information. We've been working harder on focusing our attentions towards homemade gifts that come from the heart rather than purchased from a store shelf.
Most of all we have wanted to pass on the true meaning of this Christmas season.
- It isn't about getting but giving.
- It isn't about Santa Claus but about the birth of our Savior.
- It isn't about spending the holiday time doing what "I" want but rather it is about spending it with those that we love like family and friends!
- It isn't about that great high on Christmas morning from opening all those new presents to then feel that depressing low the next day when you know it is all over and in a couple days it will all be packed up and gone.
Anyone who has experienced what it is like to have a newborn come into the family will know that that feeling of excitement and awe last for weeks and months, there aren't any sad or depressing feelings. Our Christmas season should be filled with this same joy and excitement that lasts for weeks because Christmas night is when a newborn baby comes into all of our homes and best of all it is our Lord!!
Last year Katherine from Living Education posted some excellent thoughts and ideas on this topic. In the past we too have felt that we celebrate Christmas in Advent and then when the actual Christmas Season arrives, we are ready to pack everything up and move on. So like Katherine's family we too began to make the necessary changes.
We started by putting up our tree on the second Sunday of Advent, but until Christmas Eve our tree has not been a Christmas Tree but an Advent Tree. Our Advent tree is decorated in the liturgical color of the season, all symbolizing the sovereignty of Christ. This year we added the apple ornaments as visual reminders for why Christ had to come in the first place. Next year we will add homemade ornaments of saints that celebrate their feast days in this special season.
On Christmas Eve, when the season of Christmas begins, we undress our Advent tree and after Mass we have a tree trimming party where the kids get to redecorate it with all of our traditional Christmas ornaments, lights and our beautiful 'twelve days of Christmas' tree skirt made by my gifted and talented mother in-law. Then we put the baby Jesus in His 'Kris Kringle Crib' that has been so carefully filled with soft hay (yarn) made by all those good deeds throughout the Advent season.
Fortunately, this new tradition last year brought a whole new excitement and joy that did last beyond Christmas day right up until the Feast of Epiphany. This year we have added a couple more Advent decorations like a front door wreath and mailbox greenery. Again these are all decked out in the purple colors then Christmas Eve we will replace the purple with our traditional red, green and gold decor. I don't think a little tasteful evangelizing is such a bad thing especially in this neighborhood of ours - LOL!
Again Mrs. Newland articulates so well what our family is experiencing...
So true! And I can't think of any better way to teach my own children these golden nuggets of wisdom and truth.
