The Wonder and Joy of Christmas: Tips for a Peaceful Holiday
- Catholic Charities
- 6 hours ago
- 5 min read
By Michelle Connor Harris, Psy.D.
Executive Director
St. Raphael Counseling, a ministry of Catholic Charities
Bring to mind your best Christmas memory. Was it receiving a particular gift that you longed for? Decorating the Christmas tree? Maybe it was baking Christmas cookies with your mom and getting to lick the last bit of frosting from the spatula. If you’re a parent, perhaps you recall the giddy anticipation of your children on Christmas Eve and their excitement on Christmas morning when they opened their new toys.
As adults, we so often lose this sense of wonder and joy. The wide-eyed, happy feelings of youth can get replaced by cynicism associated with living in the “real world.” We easily get caught up in the consumer-driven, accomplishment-based mindset that our society promotes — buying all the right gifts, attending all the right parties with all the right outfits and bringing the right homemade dessert (or apologizing because you picked up a store-bought treat instead — how could you?!). If you have kids, you know the list of holiday to-dos increases exponentially with each child. How many Christmas cookies, popsicle sticks, pipe cleaners, candy canes, glitter pens and jingle bells can one family reasonably bring to school?!
By the time we’re done buying all the classroom craft items, cute holiday outfits and gifts for everyone from the mailman to our mothers-in-law, more than 35% of Americans will go into financial debt during the holiday season. This situation only compounds the stress we experience, primarily after the holidays have passed… but we can think about that later.
Sometimes, in our desire to be faithful Catholics, we even put pressure on ourselves to do Advent well, turning an opportunity for being joyful into more tasks on our list — reading the right book, saying the right prayers at the right time in the right place and attending the right parish events. While prayer and interior preparation are always a good thing, our motivation and approach may not always be helpful; our mindset may even contribute to unnecessary feelings of guilt.
As Christians, we of all people should be resisting the temptation to make the season about mindlessly doing things, even church-related things. We should be setting the example on how to live out the season with — you guessed it — JOY! We’re the people living counter-culturally during every other season (who else has storage bins full of saint costumes?), so why not go all in on making the Christmas season truly about the joy that the birth of Jesus naturally inspires?
Suggestions for enjoying a less expensive holiday that is filled with fun:
Host a gingerbread competition with friends or family. Consider having a theme that appeals to your group, like Star Wars. Make sure to have judges and prizes for winners!
Ask people in your family or friend group to all give homemade gifts and see what creativity and artistry are hiding beneath the surface!
Plan a scavenger hunt where kids search for a series of clues before finding their present at the end. More fun and fewer presents!
Go in with family, friends or coworkers to adopt a family in need rather than buy gifts for yourselves. The St. Raphael staff participates in this initiative every year through Catholic Charities' Adopt-a-Family program, and it is extremely rewarding.
If you are willing to try embracing joy in a new way this season, here are some suggestions to help make that a reality.
Return to a Sense of Wonder
See the world through the eyes of a child. If you grew up in a place that snowed, there was nothing more exciting than hearing the words "snow day!" Ironically, when the adults in charge determined it was too cold and snowy to go to school, all we wanted to do was go outside in the cold and snow. Building igloos, sledding or having snowball fights was so fun! Once we got too cold or tired, we would go home and have a cup of hot chocolate, which was even better if it had those dried-up marshmallow pieces. On snow days, none of us was thinking about how we'd get our homework done or whether we could get through the entire math curriculum on time. We just embraced the gift that had been given and enjoyed the time to its fullest.
If you're wondering how to return to a sense of wonder, pay attention to your own children, your students or watch a movie like Big or Elf. Children find many things amazing because so much is new to them. If you have ever traveled somewhere and been filled with a sense of awe and wonder — perhaps at the sight of a cathedral that took centuries to build or at a natural wonder like the Grand Canyon — recall that feeling and allow it to permeate your heart and mind. Anything can be appreciated as an amazing work of God's infinite love for his people if we approach it with childlike wonder.
Remember that Babies Bring Joy!
When someone shares the news of a pregnancy, the typical reaction is one of excited congratulations. It is truly a miracle when a new person is formed in a mother's womb. Once that baby is born, we can't help but marvel at their very existence. New parents will even spend hours watching a newborn do nothing but sleep! People instinctively smile when they see a baby. We're hard-wired to react to new life with joy.
The fact that Jesus — our Savior! — comes in the form of an infant, a gift from the Father, should make us all smile and feel a sense of happiness.
Put aside any "issues" you have with God and just imagine Jesus as a baby. If you need a reminder, look at your baby picture, pictures of your children or a funny baby video or two. Allow that pure feeling of joy at seeing a baby's face warm your heart.
Be Intentional and Fully Present
Bring your childlike sense of wonder and the feeling of joy at the sight of the baby Jesus to your present moment and share these feelings with the people around you. Thoughtfully choose how you will spend your time this season and intentionally bring an attitude of joy to those events — both inside and outside of your home. It takes effort and intention to do this, but it will make all your encounters more enjoyable for you and for everyone around you.
Focus on Gratitude
We all have so many things to be grateful for! What if one prayer this season sounded like:
Heavenly Father, thank you for gifting me with the birth of your Son, my Brother and Savior, Jesus. Help me to experience the joy of this gift more deeply and share it with everyone I see today.
A Joyful Christmas Gift
God, as our Father, wants to give us the precious gift of his Son. And like any good father, he wants to see us revel and delight in this gift. I encourage you to intentionally adopt a childlike sense of wonder, a joyful attitude and a grateful heart this season. Imagine if we each did this — if we each went all in on joy? I bet amazing things would happen!
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We'd love to see how your families and you go all in on joy this Christmas! Share your photos with us here!
