TLDR: The liturgical calendar for the Church year is divided into seven seasons in which we celebrate specific areas of Jesus’ life, ministry, and teachings. It starts with the season of Advent, which leads to Christmas and Epiphany. In this blog you will find some additional information about these seasons.
As a complement to our Guided Holy Eucharist Bulletin, on the first Sunday of each liturgical season, we will be publishing an accompanying blog, with a few specific features of the season. Two weeks ago, we started Advent. This blog will add additional information regarding Advent and the short season of Christmastide and Epiphany.
ADVENT: Think of a photographer’s camera with two lenses, one focuses on an immediate scene and the second on a faraway scene, towards the edge of the frame. This is what Advent invites us to do. From the Latin Adventus or coming, this season anticipates the joyful coming of Jesus at Christmas time. This is the immediate scene, but we also keep in sight the return of Christ at the end of days, this is the “yet to come” scene. Pay close attention to how the prayers and readings for the four Sundays build on the theme of the already (Christ has come) and the not-yet (Christ will come again.)
DATES FOR ADVENT: December 1-22 (Includes 4 Sundays)
SPECIAL SYMBOLS: Color Purple or Blue, Advent Wreaths, Lights, Celebratory/preparatory carols (Especially the Festival of Lessons and Carols), Nativity Scenes, Christmas Trees, gift giving and receiving, etc.
OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Christmas, the birth of Christ, was popularized not because Jesus was born on this day but because choosing December 25th for the Birth of Christ “Christianizes” a popular pagan religious celebration of the birthday of the sun, which was typically celebrated on this day. “Lacking any scriptural pointers to Jesus's birthday, early Christian teachers suggested dates all over the calendar. Clement. . . picked November 18. Hippolytus . . . figured Christ must have been born on a Wednesday . . . An anonymous document [,] believed to have been written in North Africa around A.D. 243, placed Jesus's birth on March 28"[1].
There are additional biblical proofs that make it extremely improvable that Jesus was born in December. Luke 2:8 tells us, “In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night.” According to experts, the temperatures in this part of the world during Winter fall below zero and the dessert winds make the task of shepherding at night impossible. Luke also tells us that Jesus was born during a time of census. These censuses would have never been conducted when temperatures drop below freezing and roads become almost impassable because of the rain and ice. A more compelling piece of biblical evidence pushes the birth to mid to late Summer. Luke 1:26-36 tells us that Elizabeth was six months pregnant when Mary visited her. Elizabeth’s husband, Zechariah had received a prophesy about the birth of his son, John the Baptist, while serving in the Temple, during the High Priesthood of Abijah (Luke 1:5). Jewish historians believe this service happened June 13-19 of that year. Assuming Elizabeth became pregnant soon after that announcement to her husband, Mary’s visit happened sometime in December or January, when she herself was about three months pregnant. This means that Jesus was born approximately six months later, or sometime during the Summer.
CHRISTMASTIDE AND EPIPHANY: This short season lasts twelve days and goes from Christmas day to the Feast of Epiphany. Imagine a beautiful piece of furniture covered with a dark sheet. As you pull the sheet slowly, the piece begins to be revealed, until you come to a full view of the object’s beauty. January 6, the Feast of the Epiphany, commemorates the coming of the Magi as the first manifestation (appearing/revealing = Epiphany) of Christ to the Gentiles, or in the Eastern Church, the baptism of Christ. The themes of the season reveal different elements of Christ’s identity and mission, helping us to “get to know” the child that was born for us.
DATES FOR CHRISTMASTIDE: December 25 - January 6 (The 12 days of Christmas)
SPECIAL SYMBOLS: The three wise men, the five-pointed star, a crown (sometimes three,) and a combination of the star and a crown.
OF SPECIAL INTEREST: Luke 2:41-52 is one of the options for the Gospel Reading for the Second Sunday of Christmas on January 5th. This is the only infancy narrative of Jesus we have in the New Testament. Here we see the 12-year-old Jesus debating the teachers of the Law in the Temple, busy taking care of “My Father’s Business!” Other than this story, we know nothing of Jesus’ first 30 years of life. This passage ends with a phrase I really love, “And Mary treasured all these things in her heart.” This is a small window into the future vocation and identity of this child as the Word of God who takes away the sin of the world. We don’t know why the other evangelists do not give us an infancy narrative, but this is an important story in Luke’s overall view of who Jesus is for the world.
I hope and pray that the Advent and Christmas seasons bless your life and the lives of your family in special ways. I will be praying for all of you. May the new-born child fill your days with joy. In Jesus’s name. Amen!
Fr. Roman +
[1] Sheler, Jeffrey, "In Search of Christmas," U.S. News & World Report, Dec. 23, 1996, p. 58
