{"id":192082,"date":"2015-12-29T07:45:51","date_gmt":"2015-12-29T13:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.austincnm.com\/?p=192082"},"modified":"2015-12-28T22:59:16","modified_gmt":"2015-12-29T04:59:16","slug":"home-holidays-reflection-octave-christmas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/home-holidays-reflection-octave-christmas\/","title":{"rendered":"Home for the Holidays: a reflection on the Octave of Christmas"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"IMG_1341\"\u00a0I know you might feel a little wilted, Reader, after all the Christmas presents and family and food (and sugar, etc.) I do too. I kind of like it though. The Octave of Christmas is a peaceful time.<\/p>\n

I deeply enjoyed Christmas Eve with my daughters and our boyfriends. It went well, and we were glad to be together. It was a simple evening. We had a family prayer service, a simple home made meal, and then we opened modest gifts.<\/p>\n

My daughters have the charming quality of loving everything I ever give them, and appreciating each detail. There was a lot of laughter and relaxed joy, and, at the end, the kids all left together. I could hear them laughing on the stairs as they went down. My boyfriend and I walked over to St. Mary’s for midnight mass.<\/p>\n

Christmas Day, family and friends came over at different times throughout the day for tea or coffee, \u00a0and home made bread and soup. It was nice.<\/p>\n

And now my little place is quiet. That is a good metaphor to me for this part of the season: the quiet house.<\/p>\n

We scurried to get ready for the big day. Then we had the big day, the beautiful day, of the Nativity. We enjoyed family and friends. We went to mass to celebrate. And now, during the Octave of Christmas, we have a special opportunity to slow down, to be still, and appreciate the gift of the Lord in simplicity of heart.<\/p>\n

It is pleasantly quiet, and Jesus is home for the holidays.<\/p>\n

At this writing, it is raining out and just a little cold. I have candles and roses around the house in the small sacred spaces I have set up to commemorate the coming of Jesus into the world. There are candles and roses around our Christmas tree, beside the Nativity scene, around the statue of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel (holding baby Jesus,) \u00a0and beside an open copy of the Gospels.<\/p>\n

Rain and candles give a reflective ambiance. I have enjoyed some quiet prayer time today, gazing at my Christmas tree and it’s multi colored lights in my quiet living room with the sound of the rain, coffee cup in hand, Christmas peace in my heart.<\/p>\n

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St. Teresa of Avila imagined the soul as a beautiful crystalline castle with Jesus in its center, enthroned in the heart.<\/p>\n

He is indeed home for the holidays and His home is right here, right now, in us. This is something He accomplished by His birth. He not only came among us and lived among us, but now and for eternity, He lives within us.<\/p>\n

The Church season of Christmas is a time to return to the heart, to enjoy His company there, and let Him enjoy ours.<\/p>\n

“The Father spoke one Word which was His Son, and this Word He always speaks in eternal silence, and in silence must it be heard by the soul.” ~ St. John of the Cross<\/p>\n

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*The Octave of Christmas<\/strong> is celebrated from Christmas day to January 1st<\/sup>, the\u00a0Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

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    \u00a0I know you might feel a little wilted, Reader, after all the Christmas presents and family and food (and sugar, etc.) I do too. I kind of like it though. The Octave of Christmas is a peaceful time. I deeply enjoyed Christmas Eve with my daughters and our boyfriends. It went well, and… [Read More]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":155,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[3036,3037,3035],"class_list":{"0":"post-192082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-blog","7":"tag-christmas-prayer","8":"tag-christmas-relfection","9":"tag-octave-of-christmas","10":"entry","11":"has-post-thumbnail"},"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":192033,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/192033\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":0},"title":"Sunday Says – December 27, 2015 Mass Readings and Reflection","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 27, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Sunday December 27, 2015 The Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph Lectionary: 17 The Sunday in between Christmas and Epiphany is traditionally celebrated in honor of the Holy Family. We continue in the Octave of Christmas. Reading 1 Sirach 3:2-6, 12-14 In this week\u2019s first reading, we hear from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Sunday Says"","block_context":{"text":"Sunday Says","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/podcast\/sundaysays\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunday Says Podcast","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/10\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":341536,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/tis-humility\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":1},"title":"Tis Humility","author":"Rachel","date":"December 26, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"A remark during the homily at midnight mass really struck me. The priest reflected how each Christmas is different, not because the Gospel story changes -indeed the story is everlasting - but because\u00a0we come\u00a0to Christmas each year a little bit different. Each year we bring with us the lived experiences\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2417-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2417-550x550.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/12\/IMG_2417-550x550.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":343651,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2016\/12\/sunday-says-podcast-january-1-2017-mass-readings-reflections\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":2},"title":"Sunday Says Podcast – January 1, 2017 Mass Readings and Reflections","author":"Steve Scott","date":"December 31, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The Octave Day of Christmas Solemnity of Mary, Holy Mother of God Sunday January 1, 2016 Lectionary: 18 (NAB Translation) Reading 1 Numbers 6:22-27 This week\u2019s first reading is from the book of Numbers, the fourth book in the Old Testament and part of the Pentateuch.\u00a0\u00a0 This particular passage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "ACNM"","block_context":{"text":"ACNM","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/atxcatholic.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/SundaySaysPodcast-logo-300x231.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":188350,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/5-ways-to-celebrate-a-christmas-of-mercy\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":3},"title":"5 Ways to Celebrate a Christmas of Mercy","author":"Crist\u00f3bal Almanza Herrera","date":"December 18, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m always amazed at the way most people in society are able to recognize the beauty of the celebration of Christmas, regardless of their religious perspectives. People are more open to discussions of morality and even of God. It seems appropriate for the season. This Christmas is unique among our\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ChristmasofMercy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ChristmasofMercy-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ChristmasofMercy-550x275.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/ChristmasofMercy-550x275.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1331286,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2018\/11\/christma-posadas-at-community-first-village-dec-15-2018\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":4},"title":"Christma Posadas at Community First Village – Dec 15, 2018","author":"ATX Catholic","date":"November 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Join us for the \"live\" Christmas Posadas at Community First Village Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 7:30 PM. Bring the whole family, friends, clergy and religious for this special Christmas celebration of communal song, prayer as we walk with Mary on a donkey and Joseph searching for lodging. Posadas is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Events"","block_context":{"text":"Events","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/events-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":186756,"url":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/2015\/12\/sunrise-dark-faith-advent-brightness-christmas\/","url_meta":{"origin":192082,"position":5},"title":"Sunrise: through the dark faith of Advent to the brightness of Christmas","author":"Shawn Rain Chapman","date":"December 15, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Traveling through Advent with grief this year has led to me to soul search about what Christmas is, and, in the process, to notice similarities between the journey of Advent into Christmas and the stages of the soul's progression into the heart of God. \u00a0According to Carmelite spirituality, \u00a0the soul\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Faith"","block_context":{"text":"Faith","link":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/category\/acnm\/blog\/faith-blog\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"photo by Renee Bork","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.austincnm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/12\/12016594_10205918857824426_849206572_n-550x413.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/155"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=192082"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/192082\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=192082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=192082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atxcatholic.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=192082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}