Christmas Cards: A Chore or a Chance
A friend of mine spends Christmas Day writing her cards. For one thing, this spares her from re-mailing cards to people who have moved. Another friend sends his cards in July. That way his card gets more attention and also reminds people of the Savior in the summer. Whether you purchase Christmas cards or create them yourself, Christmas cards can be a way to spread the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus, at Christmas time. Although a card with a cute reindeer or a lovely snow scene may be appealing, art and a Scripture verse related to the nativity event keep the focus on Christ. Likewise for stamps. Fortunately religious stamps are still available for Christmas. Do you decorate your envelopes with stickers? Why not use religious ones for this religious feast day? Since we pay almost a half a dollar to send each card, we can get our money’s worth by tucking something inside, such as a small flat gift, or a Christmas prayer or reflection. We might also give the gift of our time and write a note on the card or a duplicated letter with a personal note added. After all, Christmas might be the only time we are in touch with most people. Don’t you appreciate cards more when they include more than a signature? Writing others at Christmas gives more joy to those who receive our cards.
What about the many Christmas cards we receive? Display them for sure: Stand them on shelves or tape them around doorways. Each day your family might take one card and say a prayer for the person or family who sent it. Save photo cards in a special album. Recycle other cards by sending them to an organization that can use them. Here is one: St. Jude’s Ranch for Children Recycled Card Program, 100 St. Jude’s Street Boulder City, NV 89005. The children make new cards from all kinds of greeting cards and sell them to raise money for various programs. Send only fronts of cards that have blank backs. Cards from Hallmark, Disney, and American Greetings can’t be used.
You might recycle cards yourself by using them to make your own cards, gift tags, bookmarks, coasters, place mats, place cards, or jigsaw puzzles. Another option is to cut out pieces from them and use them to decorate gift boxes and scrapbooks.
A bit of history: Christmas cards originated in 1843 in Victorian England. In those days, people were obliged to answ
er letters. Sir Henry Cole received a daunting stack of letters at Christmas because he had many friends. In addition, postage was only a penny! To solve the problem of answering all of these letters, he hired J.C. Horsley, an artist, to paint a Christmas picture. Cole had this picture printed on stiff paper and sent out a postcards. In 1915, a company that would become Hallmark, realized people wanted more room to write, so the posted cards were replaced by book-like cards. By the way, notice that on both sides of Cole’s original card are scenes of people helping the needy.
What special Christmas card customs do you have?
St. Nicholas aka Santa Claus in the Year of Mercy
On December 6 we celebrate the feast of St. Nicholas, when I hold my annual party for local convents in the tradition of my religious community. We inherited this celebration from the Sisters in Holland who helped form us German Sisters of Notre Dame. The feast entails gingerbread bishops, apple tarts, oranges, popcorn balls, bags of goodies, the singing of “St. Nicholas Day” and “Jolly Old St. Nicholas,” and a prayer to St. Nick.
I was introduced to this feast my first year in the convent, when we usually had silent meals. Suddenly at supper, a figure with a miter and crosier appeared at the door and a creature clothed in black slithered around the floor, hitting our legs with branches. These were St. Nick, who rewarded the good, and Ruprecht, who punished those who did wrong. (Neither of these come to my party!) Through the centuries, St. Nick, a generous bishop, evolved into the gift-giver we know as Santa (Saint) Claus (short for Nicholas). St. Nicholas makes a perfect patron saint for this year of mercy that Pope Francis declared.
Watch and Wait in Advent
On Black Friday I ventured out to find a new watch and immediately located the right one. However, it needed two links removed in order to fit. “Just a minute,” the clerk said as she tinkered with the links. She continued to say that for over an hour. At one point I volunteered to try to replace the first screw that was only slightly larger than a filament, while she took care of other customers. I removed my glasses to better aim the screw into the teeny hole where it belonged. Bent over the glass-covered counter, I squinted to focus on the near-invisible slit on the screw that the little screwdriver was to go into. I also tried not to lose the tiny screw, which sadly happened for a time. After about a half hour, success! Now my clerk was taking care of a man and woman. The computer seemed to be causing her trouble. There was still another link to remove. As I paced in the aisle, the man strolled over and commented, “You have the patience of Job. What is the difference between an in-law and an outlaw?” After I asked, “What?” he said, “One can be locked up.” Then he proceeded to say, “Two men offered to deliver a pizza to the pope. The man chosen promised to split the tip with the other man. When he returned, he did—He made a vertical line with his hand.” That fellow customer did not know me from Adam, yet he took the time to brighten my frustrating morning. (more…)
Is Christ Your King?
We’ve just celebrated the Feast of Christ the King, the climax of the church year. My religious province in Chardon, Ohio, was named Christ the King and used to celebrate this day in grand style, complete with the majestic song “Christus Vincit” in four-part harmony. In those days the feast occurred in October when the surrounding countryside was ablaze with autumn leaves. In my religious community, when the time came to receive a religious name, it was the custom to submit three name choices, usually those of saints. The general superior in Rome would then select your name, and you would celebrate your name day on the saint’s feast day. Because I had my heart set on having the Feast of Christ the King as my name day, I came up with thirty-two names that stood for him. Some were unique, such as Inri (for the sign on the crucifix, the acronym for Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews). Rana, which is “king” in modern Indian, made my list, until I discovered it meant “frog” in Latin! (more…)
Give a Fig and Care
This week I heard two homilies in a row in which a priest mentioned a fig tree. That was the inspiration for this blog. I like Fig Newtons but never ate an “undried” fig until Sister Regina Alfonso brought some home from Tennessee. In Scripture fig trees are a sign of peace and prosperity. Our expression “I don’t give a fig” stems from the fact that fig trees were abundant. It means “I don’t care.” Caring is important, something that human beings do. When one of my nephews had the habit of saying, “Who cares?” my sister fined him a quarter each time he said it. These days people all over the world are caring about those who were affected by the horrendous events in Paris. We sympathize with their suffering and sorrow. The three colors of the French flag are cropping up all over, an attempt at “comforting the sorrowful.” (more…)
