Our problem is we always spend Christmas with extended family. We may travel to Houston/El Paso/Wichita Falls, we may have two to 14 people (and a dog!) come stay with us. We might be in Austin alone (doubtful). We want to create a stable, family tradition, but it’s hard when the expectation is to either host a big group or travel.
Epiphany is our solution.
Benward's Door: Adoration of the Magi. photocredit: flickr/sacred_destinations
photocredit: flckr/fotokatolik
The Twenty-fifth day of December
when ages beyond number had run their course from the creation of the world, when God in the beginning created heaven and earth, and formed man in his own likeness;
when century upon century had passed since the Almighty set his bow in the clouds after the Great Flood, as a sign of covenant and peace;
in the twenty-first century since Abraham, our father in faith, came out of Ur of the Chaldee;
in the thirteenth century since the People of Israel were led by Moses in the Exodus from Egypt;
around the thousandth year since David was anointed King;
in the sixty-fifth week of the prophency of Daniel;
in the one hundred and ninty-fourth Olympiad;
in the year seven hundred and fifty-two since the foundation of the City of Rome;
in the forty-second year of the reign of Caesar Octavian Augustus,
the whole world being as peace,
JESUS CHRIST, eternal God and Son of the eternal father, desiring to consecrate the world by his most loving presence, was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
and when nine months had passed since his conception, was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem of Judah, and was made man:
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to the flesh.
O Emmanuel, king and lawgiver, desire of the nations, Savior of all people, come and set us free, Lord our God.
O King of all the nations, the only joy of every human heart; O Keystone of the mighty arch of man, come and save the creature you fashioned from the dust.
