The shepherds returned,
glorifying and praising God
for all they had heard and seen,
just as it had been told to them. (Lk 2:20)
When people hear the word “octave”, they generally think music with its stanza of eight lines.
However, there is another definition of octave: an 8-day period of observances beginning with a festival day.
Today, we are in the Octave of Christmas. Each day, we treat the day as if it were Christmas. The trees in our churches are lit during Masses, we sing or recite the Gloria, we use any special Christmas insert of prayers at Mass.
It is Christmas.
The secular world in which we live would have you think otherwise.
The only mention of Christmas at this point in time is the 50-75% off sales that all the stores will be having in order to get rid of their Christmas merchandise in order to make room for Valentines Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and Easter merchandise.
Don’t get rid of Christmas so soon.
Let the peace and joy of Christmas, which should be in your heart, continue to speak to you.
Don’t put Christmas on some kind of internal clearance.
Celebrate it for all it’s worth.
Clear out, instead, all the “stuff” of the world so that there is even more room for the Lord.
FAITH ACTION: To whomever you meet today, greet them with a heart-felt “Merry Christmas!”