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How the Church Messes Up Christmas!

Okay good now I have your attention. Every year we decry the materialism of the season, how it's being co-opted, and how Christmas is being pushed more and more into Advent. As I'm doing our liturgical planning for the Christmas season I realize how the Church itself is partially to blame. Quite honestly, after December 25th the season gets pretty depressing. For a quick look at the calendar - December 26th commemorates St. Stephen - a Deacon and Martyr (he gets stoned to death), December 27 is St. John, and the reading involves Jesus reinstating Peter and chewing him out at the same time, and December 28th is the feast of Holy Innocents - yup we celebrate when King Herod killed all the young boys under the age of two. Then for the Sundays themselves: In the first Sunday after Christmas we read John 1:1-18, which is lovely if you have a degree in theology, but in general it takes a lot to understand what's going on. The second Sunday has several options for readings, One is the Epiphany Story, the other is Joseph and Mary's flight to Egypt to avoid Herod's massacre, and the other is Jesus getting lost in the temple when he's twelve.

Now let's look at the season around us. People start singing Christmas Carols in November because they speak to a deep part of our soul that longs for that miraculous moment. I can't imagine a single person who's not moved by Hark the Herald Angels Sing or O Holy Night. We make our preparations so we can carve out time from our ordinary hectic lives and be with our families, wishing each other love and joy. We want Peace on Earth and Good Will Towards All. These aren't bad things. Granted the gift giving is a bit extreme but the other sentiments are right along with the Gospel.

The strange dichotomy here is that the Church sets aside twelve days for the Christmas season but just like the world around us, drops the mystery of the Christ Child on December 26th. The real shame is that there are several Bible passages that go unread in public worship that would be magnificent for this season. I think there are some things we can do if there's a worldwide effort to do them.

1 - Let's move the feasts of the Martyrs to some more appropriate dates. I'm sure there's a reason why they are where they are but I honestly don't know them. So let's put the feast of St. Stephen after Pentecost, which is actually when these events occurred. St. John, with its corresponding readings should be celebrated late in the Easter season, and before Ascension Day. Finally let's put Holy Innocents AFTER the Epiphany. The sequence of events is: 1: Jesus was born, 2: Wise men came to visit, 3: Herod killed all the boys. Let's have the feasts follow the Biblical sequence.

2 - Now that we have some room, let's include some of the amazing infancy stories during those twelve days. I'm going to say we just plain double the readings for The Presentation on the Second Sunday after Christmas. The season is about joy, about God coming to earth and us experiencing that miracle. In the Presentation Stories the infant Jesus is presented in the Temple and two individuals, Simeon and Anna experienced that joy and the miracle. In a sense, we can capture the spirit of Christmas through those stories. For the first Sunday after Christmas, we aught to read the first chapter in Matthew (Yes I know vv 18-25 are read on Advent 4 Year A - however once every three years is not enough in my opinion. Besides, the current lectionary doubles John 1:1-18 within days - let's switch it.)

This kind of approach let's the Bible narrative unfold throughout the season. We would get to experience the mystery of Christmas from many different angles and experience the joy at the same time. It would take a huge effort to make the kind of changes I'm suggesting, but I hope everyone will take some time to think about it. Perhaps celebrating the season this way would have an impact on the Christmas season in general, and truly make it last for the twelve days set aside for it.

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