Merry Christmas! Let the Christmas season begin!  I just love Christmas song.  Because of this I want to thank all the choirs for the wonderful music this weekend.  This week we have combined the bulletin for the 4th Sunday of Advent and the 1st day of Christmas because the last Sunday of Advent happened to be December 24th, the day before Christmas.  Why did I say the 1st day of Christmas?  That is because Christmas is not just one day but a whole season 12 days long.
 
Like I said earlier I love Christmas songs.  This year I particularly enjoyed the song title, “The 12 Days of Christmas.”  It reminded me of the joy of receiving gifts for twelve days from our true love.  Many cultures wait to open presents on the Epiphany of the Lord which happens every year on the 6th of January.  Epiphany is not a day of Christmas, but it’s own special day. So the first day of Christmas is the 25th of December, the second day is the 26th and so on until we get to the 12th day of Christmas on the 5th of January.  Trust me I counted them.
 
Jesus is our true love.  He gives us in the Church 12 days to celebrate his birthday.  Take the opportunity this year to celebrate the 12 days with your true love, Jesus, by bringing him the gift of your faith.  We will have two special celebrations outside of the normal calendar at 7pm on December 28 and January 4.  Come and sing!  Merry Christmas!