The Epiphany of The Lord
4 January 2004
Praised be Jesus Christ! Now and forever!
Dear Friends in Christ,
In our shopping malls, Christmas is a commercial season which runs from Thanksgiving Day to December 25th. But in the Church, Christmas is a liturgical season (called Christmastide) which runs from the Solemnity of the Birth of Our Lord to the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, and along the way there are many layers of Christmas celebration. Following the practice of ancient Israel, great liturgical feasts are celebrated over several calendar days as a single liturgical "day". Christmas and Easter are both celebrated for eight days (an Octave) as a single, great liturgical day. The number eight signifies the pluperfect work of creation and redemption: Sunday is both the first day of the week and the "eighth day", and an Octave in the scared liturgy expresses this notion of the fullness of God’s saving work in Christ. The Octave of Christmas runs from December 25th to January 1st, ending with the Solemnity of the Mother of God.
The first Sunday after Christmas is the Feast of the Holy Family, a celebration which teaches us the great dignity and high destiny of marriage and family life – the place in which the drama of salvation is played our most fully in our lives. January 4th is the Solemnity of the Epiphany of Our Lord, the great celebration of Christ’s first manifestation to the Gentiles, and the time between Christmas Day and Epiphany are the traditional Twelve Days of Christmas. In many cultures, the giving of Christmas gifts takes place at Epiphany to make abundantly clear that we give gifts at Christmas as a token of our love for Jesus Christ. Finally, Christmastide ends with the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, the celebration of the beginning of His public ministry and His public manifestation to Israel. At Christ’s birth the angels announced to the shepherds that He is the Savior, Messiah, and Lord; at His baptism in the Jordan, the Holy Spirit bears witness to His divine glory and the Father announces to Israel that the Son of Mary is the Son of God.
The commercial celebration of Christmas should never distract us from the profound meaning of the liturgical season of Christmastide. Let us resolve to teach our children, from earliest years, the full truth about the sacred mysteries of Jesus Christ revealed and celebrated with authentic and lasting joy in the great feasts of Christmastide. This is what it means to have a Merry Christmas!
Father Newman