Let's Read and Celebrate Christmas Together

Jen Frost invites you to join the free Liturgical Living Book Club and discuss your celebration of Christmas.

Can you believe we’re well into the Advent season already? There’s a piece of me that’s truly enjoying the extra quiet that the uniqueness of this year is bringing into our home. Our calendar isn’t packed of Christmas parties, gift exchanges, and cookie swaps; instead, we spend our evenings playing board games, putting together puzzles, or racing through the cold air back and forth from the house to the hot tub.

My Advent has been enriched this year, too, by so many of you. A few weeks ago, in early November, we met as a group to talk about Chapter 2 in Make Every Day Blessed: Living the Liturgical Year. We talked about how we often spend more time on Pinterest planning for a three-hour party than we do in planning for an almost 30-day season!

I enjoyed hearing about each of your traditions and how you celebrate the Advent season; it’s these nuances in our shared faith that we appreciate the most. The Spirit speaks to each of us differently, and that difference is expressed in so many of our unique traditions!

Our next book club is coming up on December 14th, and we’ll be diving into Chapter 3: Christmas. Two thousand years ago, a tiny baby was born to a simple carpenter and his young wife. The couple, alone in an overcrowded town, sought shelter from the cold in a stable among animals. There the baby was born – a tiny little boy who would one day save us from death. This small child would come to fulfill all the Old Testament prophecies, and we easily draw the connections between him and so many of the prophets and kings who came before him.

One of my favorite parts about the Christmas season is that it isn’t just a one-day celebration. While many of our neighbors have their trees at the curb by December 27, we know the party is just getting started! We celebrate so many special days, like:

• 12/25: Feast of the Nativity of the Lord
• 12/26: Feast of Saint Stephen
• 12/27: Feast of St. John the Evangelist
• 12/28: Feast of the Holy Innocents
• 12/(Sunday after Christmas): Feast of the Holy Family
• 12/31: New Year’s Eve / extended exposition of the Eucharist
• 1/1: Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary
• 1/3: Memorial of the Holy Name of Jesus
• 1/5: Twelfth Night
• 1/6: Epiphany

… doesn’t seeing this make you excited? It does for me! The Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy says it best: “the richness and complexity of the mystery of the Lord’s manifestation” are brought to life in so many of the traditions we have and share year after year with our families!

Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign; the young woman, pregnant and about to bear a son, shall name him Emmanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

I invite you to join me on December 14th 19th at 4pm PST / 7pm EST as we dive more into Emmanuel, discuss the meaning of Christmas, dig into Scripture to better understand this special season, and share how we celebrate in our own homes. Our lovely book clubs will be hosted by Our Sunday Visitor, so no special software or social media accounts are needed; simply click here, and you’ll be directed to the free registration link. Copies of the book are available here.  

I am *so* looking forward to seeing you at book club and sharing our Christmas traditions and stories as we prepare for this season together. May you continue to have a blessed and beautiful Advent season!

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While many of our neighbors have their trees at the curb by December 27, we know the party is just getting started! #catholicmom

This book, Make Every Day Blessed, is the sixth book in the Stay Connected Journals for Catholic Women. Each of the books in this series is designed to enrich your faith life through the richness of scripture. Images above come from my Jesse Tree Quilt and Mary and Jesus Quilt patterns.

Copyright 2020 Jen Frost
Images copyright 2020 Jen Frost. All rights reserved.