12 ideas for Living Christmas Well

Written By Michelle LaSart

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We live in a world that’s forgotten Christmas Day is the first day of Christmas, not the last. Even if we’ve observed Advent pretty well, for some reason it can feel a little trickier to stick the landing on the Christmas season. Fear not! Here is some inspiration to help you prayerfully and joyfully live out the whole Christmas season: December 25th - the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord (Date varies from year to year, but generally the 2nd Sunday of January in the United States).

  1. Go to Church

If you enter Walmart on December 26th and they’re trying to sell you Valentine’s candy, it’s going to feel like Christmas is over. Conversely, if you step into a Catholic Church, it’s still going to feel very, very Christmas-y! In fact, the week following Christmas Day, the Church considers each day a, “mini Christmas.” Whether it’s going to daily Mass more frequently, or simply saying hello to Jesus in the tabernacle, stepping inside a Church is a wonderful way to sustain the celebration of Christmas. If your church hosts Adoration, try to stop in! There is no more perfect time to adore the Lord than Christmas. Plus, there are many great feasts all week long, including:

  • December 26: Feast of St. Stephen, the first martyr.

  • December 27: Feast of St. John the Evangelist

  • December 28: Feast of the Holy Innocents

  • First Sunday after Christmas (Or Dec. 30 if Christmas is on Sunday): Feast of the Holy Family

  • January 1: Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (a Holy Day of Obligation)

2. Pray Christmas Prayers

Another great way to pray with the Church is to do Liturgy of the Hours. Pick morning, evening, or night prayer, and find prayers that radiate the joy of Christ’s coming. You can find the Liturgy of the Hours HERE.

Other simple ways to pray during Christmas are:

  • the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary

  • Spend time with scripture

  • Look HERE for a list of beautiful Christmas prayers.

  • Contemplating religious art - HERE is a collection that would make a great seasonal coffee table book. Or this one:

  • The Art of Christmas

3. Keep up your Decorations

If you’re used to taking down your decorations shortly after Christmas Day, I’d encourage you to follow the Church’s lead, and keep them up until at least Epiphany, or even better, until the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord - the official end of the Christmas season.

One way you can use your decorations to meditate is by setting wise men apart from the rest of the Nativity scene. Then, in the days leading up to Epiphany, have the wise men come closer and closer, until they reach the Holy Family on the Feast of Epiphany.

4. Music

Growing up, my family wasn’t the most polished group of singers; but every Christmas, we caroled our hearts out around my Mom’s piano. Singing is a natural way to rejoice. While you don’t have to go caroling around the neighborhood (although I’ve done it, and it’s fun!) singing a Christmas hymn at home is one way to keep the joy of Christmas well. HERE is an inexpensive song book you could have a few copies of for anyone who wants to sing along.

Of course, if singing isn’t your thing, listening to your favorite Christmas playlist is a great option, as well!

5. Christmas Books & Movies

My husband and I have always loved reading aloud to one another, and Christmastime is no exception. While there are many great longform works revolving around Christmas, we tend to read a lot of short stories. Here are some great collections of Christmas stories:

Of course, there are so many versions of the Christmas story we love to read to our children, as well! These are all ones I’d like to add to my collection:

6. Feast Intentionally

Something I want to be intentional about this Christmas season is feasting intentionally, versus mindlessly eating. I want to plan for a treat after dinner, rather than snacking all day. It makes it feel special, therefore more enjoyable.

7. Look At Lights

You can still see a lot of Christmas lights on at least through New Years Eve, so this is a good activity you can do out and about that still feels Christmas-y after Christmas Day. Check to see if there are any homes in your area with special displays and maybe even their own radio station!

8. Have a party

Gathering with friends and hosting is another way that truly helps set the Christmas season apart. One year, we hosted a few families for Chinese food on Epiphany (Inspired by the three Kings being from the Orient). My husband pulled out the guitar for some carols, and we played some Christmas trivia. We look back on it as one of our favorite hosting experiences!

9. Have an immediate family celebration

We travel to visit extended family for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and often longer. While it’s meaningful for us to see our families, we also want to start some of our own immediate family Christmas traditions.

So now every year, we pick a day, usually in the week following Christmas Day, and make that our own little Christmas celebration. Roasted duck, our own little gift exchange, and music have been a few staples thus far. If you also are out of your home for most of Christmas Eve and Day, I’d highly recommend starting your own traditions and an intimate family gathering!

10. Spread out the presents

One thing we that helps remind our kids it’s still Christmastime is giving them their presents gradually. This doesn’t have to make it more expensive! We honestly do so many thrifted books for our children. Gift opening looks a little different from year to year, but we try to save one present to give them on Epiphany, since that’s the celebration of the Magi bringing gifts.

11. Do Good Works

Who needs you to bring the joy of the Christ Child into their lives? Try to pick one person or group of people in your life that needs you to bring Christ’s joy to them.

Our first child was born at the tale end of December, but was actually due on Christmas Day! Unfortunately, that meant we couldn’t travel to be with family; yet it also allowed us to visit some local friends in an assisted living - it was the last Christmas on this earth for one of them! I brought orange rolls, Andrew brought his guitar, and we got to be a joyful part of someone’s last earthly Christmas. God is good!

Here are a few suggestions on how to give time for others this Christmas season. I’ve included all things that involve interaction with the people you’re serving, because you’ve probably already been asked for money by a hundred different charities, so let’s focus on the gift of time.

  • Volunteer to play games, music, or read a Christmas story at a nursing home.

  • Bring food to a family who has a new baby.

  • Call a relative you know is lonely.

  • Reach out to anyone you know who is grieving.

  • Help at a food shelf.

  • Give extra attentiveness to someone at a gathering who isn’t your all-time favorite relative or coworker, or who often gets overlooked and gossiped about by others.

  • Put the phone away whenever possible.

  • Spend extra quality time with your children, spouse, or others around you.

  • Write a letter to a prisoner or soldier.

12. Make time for the things that are life-giving for you

Remember the feeling of being on Christmas vacation as a kid? There was mountains of time to do all the things we loved; yet as adults with busy careers or parenthood, we can forget to do what is truly life-giving for us, and it hardly feels like a vacation. So this Christmas, whether it’s a much-neglected hobby, spending time outdoors (cross country skiing for me, please!) or trying something you’ve always wanted to try, let this season of joy be the time you truly recreate! Plan for it! Even if it’s a small thing, you’ll be so glad you did it. Maybe you even set aside 15 minutes or an hour each day. Give glory to God by using the talents and experiencing the joys in life that He gave you!

I hope you’ve found one or two things that will help you keep Christmas well this year. Merry Christmas, and God bless you!

Michelle LaSart
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