The Feast of the Epiphany

Advent has come and gone and the Christmas season is drawing to a close. Life has been busy in our home yet we've managed to spend some moments reflecting on God's great love for us as evidenced in the Incarnation. Each year I fall in love again with the beauty and simplicity of the Infancy narratives as I share them with the children in the atrium - their joy and wonder ignites my own and I thank God for the little ones.

This weekend we celebrate the Epiphany. As a mom, I think of Mary with the toddler Jesus - watching his first wobbly steps, picking him up when he falls. I wonder at her openess and trust, saying "yes" to parenting God! What were her thoughts when foreigners complete with entourage showed up at her humble abode with gifts for a King?

With my children at home, I will again bake a "crown cake." We will read and reflect on the readings for the day:

• Isaiah 60:1-6
• Psalm 72
• Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6
• Matthew 2:1-12

I'll also invite them to read CCC 528: ....In the magi, representatives of the neighboring pagan religions, the Gospel sees the first-fruits of the nations, who welcome the good news of salvation through the Incarnation.

We might discuss the gifts, look up some background and ponder their meaning.  Later on in the week, the younger kids are working on an Epiphany lapbook, with ideas from Willa, found here.

On Saturday Evening, the kids leave out hay for the camels, and the Wise Men show their gratitude by leaving a small gift, generally a religious book or activity.

On Sunday evening, we'll do our annual house blessing - provided I remember to bring home the Holy Water ;-)

Books in our Book Basket:

Mary: The Mother of Jesus 

The Legend of Old Befana 

We Three Kings 

The Stone: A Persian Legend of the Magi 

Humphrey's First Christmas 

The Story of the Three Wise Kings by Tomie dePaolaT

    

Collect: May the splendor of your majesty, O Lord, we pray, shed its light upon our hearts, that we may pass through the shadows of this world and reach the brightness of our eternal home. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

~ Beate

November 2012

"Family, become what you are."

John Paul II, Familiaris Consortio

As a busy mom, I often feel that my plate is already too full and the thought of adding just one more thing is beyond daunting! Yet the Church throughout history has called the home a “domestic church” and emphasized that parents are the primary educators of their children. So what does that mean in the home?

In these pages, I hope to share ideas and practices that busy families can easily incorporate in order to more fully live life in the domestic church.

"The Holy Family is an icon of the domestic Church,

which is called to pray together."

~ Pope Benedict XVI General audience 12/28/2011

Do you have a specific space set aside for prayer in your home? It could be as small as a part of a bookshelf or as elaborate as a whole table – the top of the piano or the window bench in the kitchen. Our prayer space is covered with a piece of cloth to signify the liturgical time period and  generally holds the bible, a vase for flowers the children bring in from outside, a statue and a candle. Right now, we also have a prayer book for the Year of Faith, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, and the YouCat unless it’s migrated to someone’s room. Since it’s November and we celebrated All Saints and All Souls, I’ve added a book of saints and photos of family members who are no longer with us.

           

This space helps draw our family into the ebbs and flows of the Church Year.

A few November ideas:

• Create a "thankful" tree:Cut leaf shapes out of red, green, yellow and orange construction paper.

1. Have each family member write down something they are thankful for on one or more leaves.
2. Hang the leaves on branches you've placed in a vase or create a painted tree on a large piece of paper you can hang on the wall. Either of these would be appropriate for the Jesse tree during Advent.
3. Offer thanks to the Lord for His many blessings in our lives.

• Visit a cemetery and pray for those who died. 
• Remember that ordinary time is a time for celebrating the mystery of Christ in all its fullness, as we gather together with friends and family, much as Christ would have done during His earthly life.
• Bake a King cake for the Feast of Christ the King (November 25.) I use a yellow Bundt cake recipe and decorate it with Jolly Rancher "jewels" and candy stars.

                                                         

Here is a lovely post by Willa about the Feast of Christ the King - a compilation of her words, quotes from Chesterton as well as two posts, and the readings for the day.

                                                                                                                                             ~ Beate

"Besides the times of year that have their own distinctive character, there remain in the yearly cycle thirty-three or thirty-four weeks in which no particular aspect of the mystery of Christ is celebrated, but rather the mystery of Christ itself is honoured in its fullness," 

~ Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year # 43