May the Wonder of Christmas Last All Year Long!

By the time you read this the Christmas Season will have begun. For my family that means a gathering of 25 -30 extended family members at our house. As put in place by my dearly departed mother, it will be filled with prayer, readings, and Christmas carols - a 'little liturgy' as one priest friend described it. The final song, in honor of Marie-Luise Atherton, will be Silent Night sung in German.

We will then continue on to a generous meal of various dishes, some recipes brought over from Germany and others added as the years progressed. Everyone who attends contributes in some way. We don't focus on gifts much, so the children will exchange gifts from a drawing we did on Thanksgiving and the adults will play a hearty round of Silly Santa - a much kinder version of Dirty Santa in that every gift is something you wouldn't mind taking home with you - no pranks. This way, each person - adult or child - takes home one nice gift.

This melding of cultures, practices, and generations will continue to grow and evolve even after we are long gone. May God bless this family of ours with abundant graces - enough to last throughout the coming year. My prayer is for a continuation of life in the Faith we all hold so dear - until He comes again to take us Home.

Birgit J