Everyone knows what we celebrate on Christmas Day, right?  The birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ!  So, what’s the deal with Christmas Eve?  What are we celebrating today?  Christmas Eve is a day for preparation and anticipation building to Christmas Day, but there’s more.  Tradition tells us that Christ was born at night.  Songs such as “Silent Night” and “O, Holy Night” continue to tell us this story.  That’s how the tradition of midnight mass came about on Christmas Eve– to proclaim Christ’s birth at midnight.  The candles represent the light in the darkness because Christ is the light of the world, shining in the darkness.

There is another legend that you may have heard.  It’s one I particularly like.  About fifteen years ago, a friend asked me if I was going to the barn at midnight to see if my horses would talk.  Unfamiliar with the legend of the talking animals, I inquired why they asked and they told me the legend of the talking barn animals.  Legend has it that Christ was born precisely at midnight on Christmas Eve.  Since only Mary, Joseph, and the barn animals were present to witness it, the barn animals began praising God for the Messiah’s birth.  Once the Shepherds arrived, they became silent.  According to the legend, barn animals everywhere are still able to speak in human language, but only at midnight on Christmas Eve once a year.  So, while children around the world were sneaking out of bed to see if Santa arrived or listening carefully for Santa’s reindeer and sleigh, I crept out to the barn at midnight that Christmas Eve.  I didn’t hear my horses talking, but I did see six magnificent animals laying down, sound asleep, and dreaming.  It was a beautiful, heart-warming, and peaceful scene.  I couldn’t help but picture the Christ-child in their midst and wonder about the scene in the barn 2000 years before.

Whether you are at home, in a church, or out in a barn, May God bless you richly and may you experience the peace, love and joy of Christmas!

Read Luke 2:1-20, and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally!

Annie

Today’s reading: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20