As I perused the December 2025 edition of “The Priest” magazine (and sadly, the last of the print edition), I came across the following byline that struck a chord with me: “Celebrating the Nativity doesn’t end by December 26.” As I proceeded, then, to read the opening paragraph of an article by D. D. Emmons, I was struck by its content. It stated:
“It’s inevitable that within a day or two following Christmas Day, we hear someone ask, ‘How was your Christmas?’ It’s a common, ice-breaking question. But for Catholics, we often hesitate before we answer because in the back of our mind, we are thinking, ‘But Christmas isn’t over.’ The person asking the question thinks of Christmas being one day. Indeed, in the Church, we celebrate the Christmas season until the feast of the Baptism of Jesus. This includes the period of the Twelve Days of Christmas, sometimes called Christmastide. Catholics believe we need extra time to contemplate the miracle of the Nativity, of the virgin birth. After more than 4,000 years following the Creation and fall of Adam and Eve, God came down to earth through His Son to offer us eternal life. Now, because of His birth, death, and resurrection, the gates of heaven are opened.”
This one paragraph got me thinking about how often one might hear the comment, “It’s so hard to enjoy Christmas! It’s such a busy time.” However, what Emmons’ writing suggests to me, at least, is that there is time to enjoy Christmas. As the journalist writes, “The joy of the Nativity cannot be confined to one day or even to a liturgical season.” Nevertheless, I would be quite satisfied if I could take the Christmas liturgical season as an opportunity to unpack and bask in the light and potential that the Nativity of the Lord carries to a waiting world.
How might you and I do so? I would like to suggest — using some of the key moments of our celebration of the Lord’s Incarnation — to encounter the “joy to the world” it carries with it. So, after Christmas Day itself, the next time the Church gathers as a family of faith would be on the Lord’s Day — Sunday, December 28 — which is dedicated to the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph. This year, our gospel will focus on the “Flight into Egypt” (see Mt 2: 13-15, 19-23) — not the most festive of topics, but one to which families can relate as they face trial and tribulations in their own daily living, including during what is often spoken of as, “the most wonderful time of the year.” There are some who might disagree with this designation. Yet, the Word of God reminds us that even in moments of personal darkness, God promises to light the way!
The next time we are invited to gather as church for the celebration of the Eucharist is New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day, as we are invited to join Mary, Mother of God, in pondering what this infant named “Jesus” is all about and his effect on our lives and the life of our world. The first day of the New Year is also designated as the “World Day of Prayer for Peace.” This year’s theme, chosen by Pope Leo XIV, is “Peace be with you all: Towards an ‘unarmed and disarming’ peace.” This greeting spoken by the Risen Lord at His resurrection is our own invitation to open our doors to Christ and to carry him into a human society and world so much in need of peacemakers.
On the Sunday following January 1, the Church in the United States will celebrate the Epiphany of the Lord (celebrated in other countries on January 6). Here we will encounter one of my favorite Christmas stories, the arrival of the Magi from the East (see Mt 2:1-12). For me, this is an occasion not only to consider what gift I can give to the Lord each day of the new year, but even more, to reflect on how my own encounter with Jesus sets me on a different path in my life.
During the week after the Epiphany are found some of my favorite gospel readings of the year showing how Jesus manifests himself to us along the road of life.
All of this leads up to the final Sunday of the Christmas Season on January 12 and the Baptism of the Lord. On this day, we hear the voice of the Father announce to the world, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased” (Mt 3:17). The baptism of Jesus is the occasion on which he is equipped for his ministry by the Holy Spirit and proclaimed to be the Son of God. It signifies as well for you and me, the meaning of our baptism and the call to discipleship — to life in God — that is the heart of the Christian life.
These reflections on “Christmastime” lead me to share with you one of my favorite poems of the Christmas season:
When the Song of the Angels Is Stilled
by Howard Thurman
When the song of the angels is stilled,
When the star in the sky is gone,
When the kings and the princes are home,
When the shepherds are back with their flocks,
The work of Christmas begins:
To find the lost,
To heal the broken,
To feed the hungry,
To release the prisoner,
To rebuild the nations,
To bring peace among people,
To make music in the heart.
Since this is my last column of 2025, I want to wish you and yours a most blessed Christmas season and a new year full of grace! Be assured of my prayers in these coming days of festivity and throughout 2026. God bless everyone!
