Welcome! As you journey through these Twelve Day of Christmas we invite you to use this approach, which works well for individuals and groups of all ages.

Light a candle. Pause to remember the presence of God filling you with Light and Love.

Pray this Opening Prayer:

Radiant Creator, awaken me to your presence.
Jesus, Light of all Lights, kindle love in my heart.
Spirit of Illumination, guide my path today.

Christmas Reflection for the Day:

In those days a decree went out from Emperor Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. All went to their own towns to be registered. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to the city of David called Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David. He went to be registered with Mary, to whom he was engaged and who was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for her to deliver her child. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in a bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. (Luke 2:1-7)

The God of the Element’s guarding,
The loving Christ’s guarding,
The Holy Spirit’s guarding,
Be cherishing me, be aiding me. (traditional Celtic prayer)

Merry Christmas!

During this adventure of the Twelve Days of Christmas we will discover that “Christmas is not not just a long season of shopping followed by one day of partying; it is twelve days of adventure that beckon us to a lifetime of incarnational living.” (Bruce Epperly)

Thought for Today: Jesus is born in an occupied land, not unlike today’s Palestine, and Jesus confronts the Herods of his time just as we must confront the Herods of our own. The Christ takes flesh in the challenges of human history, humbly in a stable, among the forgotten peoples of the world… His birth challenges us to embrace God’s novel possibilities in our time: the dream of Shalom, of wholeness for all people. (Adapted from Bruce Epperly)

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Set your intention for the day. Say: Today I will let the New Year invite me to embody fresh spiritual practices of prayer, meditation and service.

Daily Christmas Prayer: God of ages past and hopes to come, awaken me to what is Holy NOW and give me vision for the future. Help me join my care for myself, family, friends and nation with care for the entire world. In the name of our God who makes all things new. Amen

Together on the Journey,

Katie Martinez

P.S. Some of us are reading along in the short devotional book, Thin Places Everywhere: The Twelve Days of Christmas with Celtic Christianity.