Epiphany

All around the neighborhood we see Christmas decorations come down the day after Christmas, or even on New Year’s Day but us Catholics keep them up through the twelve days of Christmas until Epiphany. What exactly is Epiphany? We celebrate the Magi (or three kings as they are commonly referred to) arriving to greet newborn Jesus. These wise men knew Jesus was special and traveled a long way to meet him. They had to go through the court of King Herod, who expected them to return and tell of news of the newborn. Instead, they went another way home so as not to have to reveal the divinity of Jesus to the king. Presents on epiphany to our children should not be just any present. The presents we give are to help our kids get to heaven. This year our kids get three presents: prayer cards with saints for role models (we give them cards of saints that mean something to them); prayer decade bracelets for girls, pocket decades for boys; and a letter to each for belief in self to do the will of God. We bought wooden cigar boxes from our local convenient store for the kids to paint and decoupage on Epiphany.