On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me...
Merry Christmas Season! I pray that everyone has had a wonderful Christmas and is still in the Christmas spirit as our faith teaches us! We still are waiting for the Wise Men, but they are getting closer each day!
During Advent this year, I sat on a call with some RCIA team members and inquirers when the subject of Christmas came up, and one of our RCIA team members brought up the popular song The Twelve Days of Christmas, and just like last week, not having reflected before on what Jesus saw, the same applies for this song. Did you know that this song was written for the twelve days AFTER Christmas happened?! To prepare us for Epiphany, the walk the Three Wise Men made. Needless to say, I was stunned and super excited to dive deeper into this new revelation!
If you do not remember the lyrics, here is a refresher, and it is finally ok to belt out this song at the top of our lungs! The theory behind why this song was created dates back to England between the 1500’s and 1800’s whenCatholics were not allowed to be Catholic, or talk about the Catholic faith. It has been referred to as the underground Catechism to remind us of the different main points in our faith. They go as…
The partridge in the pear tree, naturally, represents Jesus Christ.
2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which gives the history of man’s fall from grace
6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments
8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed
What are your thoughts? Did you know this too, or were you as stunned and fascinated as I was? If I had known this many moons ago, it would have been the first thing I taught to families and parishioners to remind us of all the many blessings that are part of our faith.
I do not know about you, but this gives me a refreshed viewpoint on the waiting we do for the Wise Men to come to the stable and give their gifts to Jesus on Epiphany.
So, we are now on the fifth day of Christmas. How have you and your family celebrated these last few days? How are you preparing for Epiphany? We have seven more days to celebrate Christmas. How can you go out with a bang and give this glorious season the attention it deserves? Regardless, enjoy these last few days of 2020. We look forward to seeing you in 2021!
Join us in Live Mass from St. Austin webpage!!!
Click below to watch
Prayer for a Spiritual Communion
My Jesus, I believe that You are present in the Most Holy Sacrament of the altar. I love You above all things, and I desire to receive You into my soul. Since I cannot at this moment receive You sacramentally, come at least spiritually into my heart … I embrace You as if You were already there and unite myself wholly to You. Never permit me to be separated from You.
We will be celebrating Epiphany on Sunday, January 3. Here is a video and a TON of resources to get us ready for the Wise Men!
Click here to hear The Epiphany of the Lord. Father Dave explains that an initial public offering is when a company decides to go public. He relates this to the feast of the Epiphany in which we can say that the Church went public. He explains that the word “epiphany” means “manifested to the nations.” When the magi arrived, the news of the Lord became public to the nations. Epiphany encourages us to be entrepreneurial about our faith.
On Sunday, December 27, 2020, Bishop Joe Vasquez is asking us to celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph and the Inauguration of the Year of the Domestic Church in the Diocese of Austin.
Throughout the next year, we will focus on twelve monthly themes with accompanying resources. No matter whether your household is a home of one person or a family of many, we are all called to bear witness to and share the Gospel with our families and within our households. These monthly themed items will be ready to for parishes to utilize, implement or share on the first Monday of the previous month.
May we experience the merciful love of God throughout the next year as we grow in faith in our household, personal and parish family.
Throughout the next year, we will focus on twelve monthly themes with accompanying resources. No matter whether your household is a home of one person or a family of many, we are all called to bear witness to and share the Gospel with our families and within our households. These monthly themed items will be ready to for parishes to utilize, implement or share on the first Monday of the previous month.
May we experience the merciful love of God throughout the next year as we grow in faith in our household, personal and parish family.
Our first month is this month, December, where we remember the Domestic Church, our very own St. Austin's Catholic Church.
To get us ready for January, Vocations, we will be spending time getting to know our Paulist Vocation Director this week, as well as our very own Paulist Fathers, Deacons, and Associates this month.
Paulist Fr. Dat Tran is our vocation director. He seeks out and works with men around the United States and Canada who are discerning a vocation to serve the Church as a Paulist Father.
Fr. Dat was ordained a priest in May, 2011. In his first assignment, he served as associate pastor at St. Paul the Apostle Church in Los Angeles. After three years in that role, he became associate pastor at Newman Hall-Holy Spirit Parish at the University of California, Berkeley (where, as a student, he first met our community).
Learn more about Fr. Dat’s life and his own vocation story at this profile.