Christmas is a time to keep traditions

Christmas time is family time. I think a lot of people will agree with this. Around this time you will always hear people say something like: “I don’t like going away for Christmas, it’s a time to be with my family. I always stay home for Christmas.”

This is what we call tradition. A tradition is a repeating pattern of family experiences. Family traditions include rituals and events and meaningful celebrations that you do in your family. Like the celebration of Christmas.

Family traditions are important. They help you understand who you are: that you are part of a family unit, that you love one another, that you respect and honour one another, that you celebrate one another and make positive memories for everybody.

And this is what happens at Christmas time. Far from just wishing each other a happy Christmas and enjoying a lovely meal together, the tradition of celebrating Christmas reinforces the connection of family. You give a feeling of belonging, of being supported of being understood. You are part of something that is greater than yourself.

It is also at this time that we open our families to receive extended family members. And aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins and other extended family members can have a tremendous positive influence on the family.

I remember Christmas time as a child, when my aunts and uncles came to visit, there was a feeling of great celebration in the house. It was also a time when the normal rules of the house were relaxed a bit and we could play longer and walk further down the streets with our cousins and come back a bit later.

In our family we have found great strength in praying and worshipping together as a family. And I remember fondly the Christmas midnight Mass which we attended with great excitement. Going to bed early evening to wake up again at nine O’clock and getting dressed in our new clothes for the midnight Mass.

On our way back from Mass we would continue singing Christmas carols until the early hours of the morning. We would be in the lounge, while my mom was cooking the meat for the Christmas lunch and my dad going in and out of the kitchen tasting pieces of the meat.

Family traditions are important for strengthening family bonds, but somehow, these days, we are putting less emphasis on family traditions.

Let us continue with these traditions in one way or another and create the same feeling of family and belonging for our children and our grandchildren.