December 28, 2025

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Visitors to Catholic churches this time of year often ask: why are we singing Christmas songs after Christmas? Since we’ll be singing carols for the next couple weeks, this is a good time to answer that question. Outside the Church, Christmas is often a secular season of materialism and consumer goods, that’s basically finished when the gifts are opened. But for Catholics, Christmas is a season of joy and fulfillment at the birth of Christ, that follows our Advent time of waiting. How long does a family celebrate a newborn child? As we all know, for a very long time—and the Church does the same for the birth of Jesus. In the Church’s calendar, the Christmas celebrations go for about two weeks. That’s where we get the old idea of the “12 Days of Christmas.” Christmas Day (December 25) celebrates Jesus’ birth; the Sunday after Christmas (December 28) celebrates the Holy Family in Bethlehem; the next Sunday (January 4) marks the visit of the Wise Men; and the Sunday after that (January 11) celebrates Jesus’ baptism by John the Baptist. Basically, the Christmas season celebrates the entirety of the Lord’s childhood and early years. I’d encourage everyone to take advantage of our 12+ Days of Christmas in your own families and prayers. Enjoy saying “Merry Christmas” to everyone you meet, since Christmas is too big of a feast to be celebrated in one day! May we all experience the joy of the intercession of Mary, the Mother of God, and our patron St. Thomas in this holy season. God bless,

Father Jantz