The Catechetical Review - Communicating Christ for a New Evangelization

Sleeping in the Barn on Christmas Eve

Authored by Catherine Fournier in Issue #33.4 of The Sower

It may sound strange but we want to sleep in a barn on Christmas Eve. After Christmas Eve Mass, we would put the children in the car, drive to a friend's farm and sleep in their hayloft, above the cows and sheep. We would leave the presents, decorations, and fancy clothes at home, and experience for ourselves what the birth place of Jesus was like.

Unfortunately, and I can't imagine why, the children aren't as impressed with this idea as we are. For the last three years, they've been yelling "No, No, No" whenever we try to discuss it. Well, yes, we'd miss the Christmas Eve feast at the grandparents, and yes, there's be no tree with presents in the morning. We could live without that for one year, couldn't we.

"No, NO, NO!"

The rest of this online article is available for current subscribers.

Start your subscription today!


This article is from The Sower and may be copied for catechetical purposes only. It may not be reprinted in another published work without the permission of Maryvale Institute. Contact [email protected]

Articles from the Most Recent Issue

Mary’s Motherhood: A Healing Balm in Our Modern Times
By Megan Madden
Free There ’s something particularly mysterious about the motherhood of Mary. Her fiat that shook the whole world as the uncontainable God chose to be contained within her womb. Her prompting at the wedding at Cana, “do whatever he tells you,” echoing through generations as if she is saying it directly to us. Her overwhelming trust in God as she... Read more
The Eucharist and Our Call to Mission
By Dr. James Pauley
Free What does it mean to receive the Eucharist, to enter into communion with Jesus? We catechists can be so (rightfully!) focused on explaining how the Eucharist is Jesus himself that we might not spend time with our students considering the ramifications of receiving this divine gift. What does receiving the Eucharist mean for us? Is it for our... Read more
The Passover and the Eucharist as Redemptive Sacrifices
By Ben Safranski
I suspect that most Catholics who have some familiarity with the Bible and the Eucharist could tell you that the Eucharistic celebration, rooted in the Last Supper, has connections with the Passover of Exodus and Jewish practice. We know that Jesus celebrated the Last Supper in the context of the Passover Feast and that he and his apostles used... Read more

Pages