Welcome the Light!

January 6 -- The 12 Days of Christmas officially ended yesterday.  Now, most of us in this century have left Christmas behind long ago (or so it seems),  around the 26th or 27th of December.  So what's with these 12 days?  Well, in the Medieval Church calendar (back when there was only one church in most of Europe--the Roman Catholic Church--and by the way "catholic" merely means "universal")  the Christmas Season began on Dec. 25 and extended through Jan.5.

In fact, Shakespeare's play "Twelfth Night" was written for a celebration of the last day of Christmas.  In our modern world, we can't take 12 full days for Christmas (usually).  Another story I've heard is that as long as the Yule Log burned, the masters had to serve their servants, in observance of Christmas (the way Jesus came to be a servant, right?).  No wonder they went out and got the hugest log they could find!  The longer it burned, the longer the celebration--and service from the master!

So now what?  Well, Jan.6 marks the beginning of The Feast of the Epiphany.  What does that big word mean, you ask?  Well, it's like an enlightenment or a revelation.  Remember the old cartoons of a person with a light bulb over their head, showing they had a idea?  That's an epiphany.  And so, this feast on Jan. 6 marks when the Magi came to worship the Christ Child.  They had "seen the light" of His star in the east!  (By the way, in some countries, like Spain, children had to wait until Jan 6, The Feast of the Epiphany, to open their presents!)

Throughout the 6 weeks of the Epiphany Season (which ends at Ash Wednesday, by the way--more to come on that later...), the Bible lessons traditionally focus on ways we "see the light" of the promised Messiah in Jesus.  For example, when he turned water into wine at a wedding in Cana, Galilee; or when his true glory was revealed on the Mount of Transfiguration; or when he was baptized in the Jordan River, and the Holy Spirit came.  About 10 years ago, the Pope also added the "Luminous Mysteries" to the Rosary, and these are all related to the scripture lessons on Ephiphany.

I love the idea of the Light of the World coming during the darkest time of our year.  I know it's summer in the soutehrn hemisphere, but face it, most of us live in the northern hemisphere.  And if there are others out there like me, we need all the light we can get this time of year.  So Happy Epiphany!