Psalm 23:5 NLT

'You prepare a feast for me in the presence of my enemies. You honour me by anointing my head with oil. My cup overflows with blessings.'

After Thanksgiving, Advent begins and our tradition is to decorate the Oratory for Christmas over the weekend following Thanksgiving. We are mindful of the journey we enter in making our pilgrimage to the crib and Jesus’ birth through December.

Celebrations are wonderful, for they have a triple aspect. They obviously take place in the present moment. We interact with each other and with God, and engage with the present reality. Celebrations also look back at all God has done through history, and enable us to reflect on our own journey from faithlessness to faith. Looking back, we can see the battles that scarred us and the ways God encouraged and sustained us, even as we were blinded at that time. Finally, they look forward to the great banquet that awaits us all as we sit down with God in glorious celebration of the fulfilment of all things in him.

Our decorations are playful. We have a wonderful, carved Santa we picked up in Assisi, birthplace of St Francis. So, among the usual suspects gathered around the nativity scene, Santa takes his place. We also move the characters towards the crib through Advent. Mary and Joseph arrive after the animals are all set up. The shepherds make their way through the house to arrive Christmas Eve, and of course the Magi don’t make it until Epiphany. This was always something our daughter greatly enjoyed, slowly moving the characters towards the stable through the period of watching and waiting which is Advent. It gives a physical sense to the journey and time passing as we await the incarnation.

The whole Oratory will be filled with Christmas music, the sounds of laughter as we celebrate, dress the house and tell our familiar stories from past Christmases, and in doing so recover many of the insights and encouragements that these stories were the fruit of.

QUESTION: How might you use the story of Christmas to create a celebratory mood within your own home?

PRAYER: O God of all joy, we delight in you and your great salvation.