Keeping the Christmas spirit alive
Today’s Gospel says that after three days, Jesus’ parents found him in the Temple. Scripture also tells us that Jesus rose again on the third day. What is the significance of the three days mentioned in today’s Gospel?
Today is December 29, more than three days after the celebration of Jesus’ birth. What happens now that the celebrations are over? The gifts have been unwrapped, the wrapping paper thrown away, the meals have been consumed, for some the Christmas decorations have been discarded, the official season of giving has been completed, family members have made the trip back to their homes and it’s time to get back into the same routine. How do we keep the Christmas spirit alive?
At Catholic Charities, three days could mean helping someone keep a roof over their head, or it could be critical time to address urgent mental health needs. Three days might see a change in legal status (after numerous years of waiting), or having temporary supplies to get through a disaster.
As we prepare in the next three days to enter a new calendar year, 2025, a year of Jubilee, may the Christmas spirit remain alive as we have hearts transformed and filled with God’s love. May the Christmas spirit renew our efforts to welcome the stranger among us with radical hospitality. May God’s love be overwhelmingly evident as we search for new ways to serve our community.
Pope Francis offers some insight into keeping the spirit alive in his Angelus address from August 16, 2015:
“Nourishing ourselves of that ‘Bread of Life’ means entering into harmony with the heart of Christ, assimilating his choices, his thoughts, his behavior. It means entering into a dynamism of love and becoming people of peace, people of forgiveness, of reconciliation, of sharing in solidarity. The very things that Jesus did.”
God created us to love as he has loved, and the challenge is to do it with a great vigor of love, support and empowerment for all his precious children. I pray that the Christmas spirit remains in our hearts and that we all stay constantly nourished for the journey ahead.
Cynthia Quintanilla is the executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Lubbock, Texas. She is currently wrapping up many years of studies for a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies from Catholic Theological Union. In her spare time she loves to cook and spend time with her grandchildren.