Practical tips for the festive season

Sydney
22 December 2002

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Practical tips for the festive season

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Practical tips for the festive season

By Teresa Pirola

Office Christmas parties … Christmas shopping ... Christmas carols … Christmas liturgy preparations … Sometimes it's as if most of our Christmas efforts take place during Advent, culminating with December 25 before we collapse in a heap and turn our attention to other things - like summer holidays. Then the shops are stripped of decorations, the sales are on and arts festivals too. Crash, boom. Christmas is over.

That scenario is not, of course, what the Church calendar has in mind. After a time of spiritual preparation (Advent), the season of Christmas begins with the Christmas Vigil Mass and continues through to the Epiphany, closing with the Baptism of the Lord. For nearly three weeks the Church focuses on its extraordinary claim of faith: that God has entered human history and brought salvation to the world. So, while our surrounding culture has all but forgotten Christmas, how can Christians keep the spirit of this sacred season alive? Here are five practical avenues to consider:

1. Enjoy some 'prayerful pauses'. How tragic it would have been if the shepherds in Bethlehem had been too busy tending their sheep to notice the choir of angels! This Christmas avoid getting too busy. Accommodate some 'prayerful pauses' into each day and bask in the glory of God in your midst. For example, gaze upon a baby - see the face of God in one so tiny and vulnerable. Stop to pray at the nativity crib in your local parish. Listen deeply to Handel's Messiah. Reflect on the Gospel for each day of the Christmas season.

2. 'Be there' for your family. Take time to be present to members of your own family. Resist taking work home. Substitute a frantic shopping spree with relaxed conversation around the barbecue. Phone someone you haven't seen lately. Or just 'be around' for whatever family time might arise spontaneously.

3. Focus on peace. Christmas is a fitting season to pray for peace in the world. It is, after all, the celebration of Jesus, 'Prince of Peace'. It is also the period in which we celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Peace and the solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1) who is our great advocate for peace. So don't despair if you read a headline about violence and bloodshed; instead grasp it as a call to pray for peace.

4. Let your home be a light to the neighbourhood. For the duration of the season let your home 'reek' of Christmas. Play Christmas carols. Display a scene of the Nativity. Light a candle each night as a symbol of Christ, light to a dark world. Pray a 'Christmas grace' at family meals. Involve children in simple festive tasks - like painting scenes of the magi to display on the fridge door. Ask yourself: when a non-believer visits our home, does he/she leave infused with the Good News of Christ's birth? .

5. Reach out. The Christmas season closes with images of the adult Jesus sent forth to love and to serve. In what ways will you go out to others this Christmas? Think, for example, of that bereaved friend you've been meaning to visit all year, but somehow never got around to. Or that gift to a charity you meant to organise last month but couldn't find time to. As things 'slow down' over Christmas, take a little of this relaxation time and offer it as a gift to others.

Please don't be overwhelmed by this list of suggestions. Just pick one area to focus on, offer your efforts to God and see where the Spirit leads. Through small but significant steps, may your Christmas be luminous, life-changing, redeeming.

Teresa Pirola co-ordinates The Story Source, a writing/ publishing ministry serving Catholic parishes and dioceses.