At this holiday season ritual plays an important role in the life of any family

Celebrating Christmas as a Family

Our celebrations express something about what we value, just as the way we live our lives reflects who we are. In our parishes we gather to celebrate the Advent season and prepare our hearts and lives for the coming of Emmanuel, God-with-us. In our families, most of us know that this season is a hectic time of checking items off to-do lists and filling in dates on our calendars. We get caught in expectations of the “perfect” Christmas that we have created out of our family traditions, culture, habits, advertising and economics and our own intention and invention. We end up doing too much shopping and wrapping, too much baking and cooking, too much party-going and entertaining. By the time the season is over, we are often physically, emotionally and financially exhausted…..and often disappointed.

What might Christmas become if we each stopped long enough to ask ourselves: What makes Christmas meaningful? How can Christmas satisfy the deepest yearnings of our hearts? What kind of celebration of Christmas would give expression to your family values? What will Christmas hold for our family this year?

On this page, you’ll find several ideas to consider as your family is intentional in its plans to your celebrate God’s birth among us this year. May each of our celebrations honor God-with-us and strive for the peace on earth Jesus came to proclaim.

10 Tips for a Simpler, More Meaningful Christmas

1. Plan ahead. Instead of going on auto-pilot the day after Thanksgiving, hold a family meeting to decide what the group really wants to do and who's going to do what.

2. If you need a symbol for giving (in addition to Jesus and the Three Wise Ones), learn about St. Nicholas. Santa Claus has been completely taken over by commerce.

3. Avoid debt. Refuse to be pressured by advertising to overspend.

4. Avoid stress. Give to yourself. Don't assume that things have to be the same way they've always been.

5. Draw names rather than everyone giving something to everyone else in your giving circle. Set a ceiling for each recipient. Give children ONE thing they really want, rather than so many gifts. If need be, pool funds.

6. Give appropriate gifts. Get to know the recipient. Give what they want to receive, not what you want to buy.

7. Give alternative gifts. Give 25% of what you spent last year to the needy... individuals or groups locally, nationally or internationally. Buy crafts and clothing from developing countries at alternative gift markets, not from commercial importers, so that the artisans receive a fair price for their work. Give of yourself, not just "stuff" - a coupon book for future services (such as baby-sitting or an "enchanted evening"); something baked, sewn, handmade, composed, etc.; or a family service project, such as working together at a soup kitchen.

8. Celebrate Advent for four weeks before Christmas.

9. Put the gifts under the tree shortly before opening them. Then take turns opening them around the tree, not all at once, so that each gift can be admired and each giver thanked.

10. Make changes slowly but persistently. Don't try to change everything and everybody all at once. The resistance will make you feel defeated and lonely.