So Merry Christmas folks!
We are still in the Christmas Octave so it is still Christmastide on the liturgical calendar even if some grinches have already taken down their Christmas decorations!
In Ireland, the tradition is that no Christmas decorations come down until after Nollaig na mBan (Women's Christmas = Little Christmas = Feast of Epiphany on Jan 6th, and we still keep in on Jan 6th and don't move it around like some other countries do on their liturgical calendars!). So in part two of this weeks podcast, we continue with our Christmas reflections and Noirin Lynch shares some thoughts with us on Epiphany.
In addition to it still being within the Octave of Christmas, as it is the Sunday within the Octave it the Feast of the Holy Family and as it is 31 December it is also the vigil for the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God, which is also the World Day of Prayer for Peace with the annual papal message. Fr Luke McNamara gives us a reflection on the Crib and we are sharing on this Sunday to link to the feast of the Holy Family.
So on behalf of all the C&SI team, we continue to wish you a blessed Christmas and peaceful New Year 2024.