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 Mary set out and went with haste to a Judean town in the hill country, where she entered the house of Zechariah and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the child leaped in her womb. And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And why has this happened to me, that the mother of my Lord comes to me? For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy.” (Matthew 1:39-45)

Your Creation is a million wondrous miracles,
Beautiful to behold.
I ask of you just one more miracle, to beautify my soul. (Robert Van de Weyer)

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: All Creation, fetuses and mothers, friends and enemies, pangolins and presidents, experiences God at its depths and deserves our care. In the complexities of life, let us delight in Creation and honor the experience of all God’s human and non-human children. (Bruce Epperly)

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Set your intention for the day. Say: Today I will look for Jesus and John in the face of every parent and child I encounter; I will prayerfully seek supportive relationships and political responses that honor the lives of children and mothers beyond my borders.

Daily Christmas Prayer: “Bless all the dear children in your tender care.” O Loving Mother of Creation, let us be midwives of holiness and health in our teaching, mentoring, parenting and grand-parenting, caring, and political involvement. Help us to glorify you as we honor each child and parent, as well as the child in ourselves. Let us leap for joy at your Incarnation in this good Earth. In the Name of the Mother of us all. Amen (Bruce Epperly)

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.