EPIPHANY - Last chance to open Christmas gifts!

De Maria | 01/06/2016

Photo By: Flickr/Waiting For The Word=The Wise Men 40

Don't quote me. But for many people this is the end of Christmas.

I know that we, speaking of my family, traditionally take down our Christmas tree on this day. Until I began to study my faith and then, oops!

We still take down the tree and the lights. But we continue to greet everyone with "Merry Christmas!"

In other countries, for instance, in Mexico, this is when the Three Kings brought presents to the Baby Jesus. Therefore, this is the day when they exchange gifts.

I don't know if this is unique to our homeschooling group. But when our kids were young, some of the families in our group had taken to giving presents on both, Christmas Day and the Epiphany. It worked out really great for us. We gave our children their presents on Christmas Day. Then we got together with our friends on the Epiphany and exchanged gifts with them, then.

Years have passed, the kids are grown and the tradition just fell away. But it was great while it lasted.

This worked out for another reason. It is not why we did it, but…we could take advantage of the sales on black Friday, Saturday and Cyber week, which is in the latter part of November, early part of December. And also take advantage of the After Christmas and after New Year sales. And then, exchange gifts.

Hey, if my wife’s gonna shop. She may as well get bargains. Just sayin'.

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About the Author

De Maria

website

My name is not, De Maria. But De Maria is who I am. About 30 years ago, the internet was new. And many of us, including my wife and I, considered it the Beast of Revelations. Therefore, we stayed off of it. But, one day, after experiencing a very powerful conversion back to the Catholic Church and the Spirit, being strong within me, made me yearn to teach the Faith. Little did I know, how little I knew about the Faith I practiced.

Becoming a Catechism teacher took me back to the days when I was young and hungry for knowledge. But in those days, no one wanted to be bothered answering my questions. And I believe that is one of the reasons why I fell away. No one could explain the Faith to me in a manner that was satisfactory. I didn't want to be that type of Catechist. I wanted to understand so that I could pass on my understanding. But it soon became obvious to me, that I didn't understand very much at all.

Then, one day, someone said, "why don't you ask for explanations on the Internet? There are lots of knowledgeable people there." So, I investigated. And, thanks be to God, I found a now defunct website for Catechists. I learned so much from them. I can't ever repay them.

But, back to my pen name, De Maria. Back then, most of us distrusted the Internet. And this forum for Catechists did not permit us to use our real names. They required pen names. So, since I love Our Lady, I took her name. (I am a guy, by the way.) In the grand tradition of male Saints who have adopted Our Lady's name, for instance, St. Louis "Marie" de Montfort and St. Alphonsus "Marie" de Liquori. And that's who I am. I believe that I belong to Mary and that I am sent by her to preach about her Son.

Besides this website, I have two more. Washed, justified and sanctified in the Sacraments of the Catholic Church and CatholicBibleTalk.