Merry Christmas! Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph; the model for all Christian families; what a wonderful day to celebrate YOUR holy family!

We know very little about the early years of the Holy Family, but we do know they were refugees who faced serious struggles. It is comforting to know that even God's family had challenges and makes it easier to face the ups and downs within our own family. We hope on this feast day you take the time to acknowledge your family's many blessings. This has been a difficult year, but it is the love of family that keeps us moving forward. May God bless your family in many ways and may 2021 bring our world the hope of the Incarnation ...God is with us; Emmanuel!

SUNDAY READINGS: https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/122720.cfm

Family Stories:

• Nativity by Cynthia Rylant
• The Nativity by Julie Vivas
• The Strangers at the Manger by Lisa Hendy

Parent Article:

• Blog Post on the Holy Family values from Practicing Catholic: http://thepracticingcatholic.com/the-holy-family/
• The Holy Family and All Families: https://www.foryourmarriage.org/blogs/the-holy-family/
• Your Holy Family: https://www.catechist.com/your-holy-family/

For Teens: How to Honor Your Parents: https://fervr.net/teen-life/6-ways-to-show-love-to-your-parents

• Write a poem about the Birth of Jesus using this word bank: https://writeshop.com/christmas-word-bank-baby-jesus-is-born/
• Use these writing prompts about family:

1. Describe your favorite family tradition
2. Do you have a favorite cousin? Why do you like him or her so much?
3. What is your favorite thing to do with your mother? (or father?)
4. What have you learned from your mother? (or father?)
5. What makes your family special?

Sometimes families face challenges. Listen to these podcasts about family struggles, challenges and parenting

• Download this prayer for families from Sadlier publishing: https://go.sadlier.com/religion/feast-of-the-holy-family-prayer
• December 28 is the Feast of the Holy Innocents; on this day pray for the children of our world; especially those children who are in harm's way and pray, as well, for those who fight to protect children.
• January 1 is a Holy Day. It is the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God. This week, invite your children to practice the Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen and other Marian prayers as a devotion to Mary. Traditional Marian prayers can be found here: https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/marian-prayers-72
• Pray this prayer for Hope on New Year's Day: https://go.sadlier.com/religion/the-hope-of-the-world-prayer-card

On New Year's Day, Watch Full of Grace with your teens to learn more about Mary's Life. You can stream it on Amazon Prime or watch The Star with your younger children!

Choose one of these videos to watch and have a conversation about what you see and hear!

Keep the Christmas joy going by enjoying a family game of Nativity bingo together! Here are downloadable cards from joyfulcatholicfamilies.com https://joyfulcatholicfamilies.com/nativity-bingo/

Are you enjoying your new Christmas toys? Consider donating other gently used toys from years passed. Make room for your new toys by donating an equal number of toys to a worthy cause!

Have a fun family night with these games you can play with your Nativity set! Making the Nativity set more accessible to your children opens doors for conversation with little ones!

• Make a snowman family! https://www.armandhammer.com/en/for-everything-soda/no-snow-soda
• Download and color this image of the Holy Family: https://immaculateheartcoloringpages.wordpress.com/2017/03/08/holy-family-coloring-page/
• Make a family fingerprint tree together: https://funhandprintartblog.com/family-fingerprint-tree-keepsake.html
• Make play clay and build the Holy Family and your own family! https://go.sadlier.com/religion/christmas-story-figures-activity?hsCtaTracking=6ccd76bd-c656-4a85-8463-985c389de249%7C2a87087e-17a7-47d5-8d1f-e5e2160c6262
• Make a paper house with your family inside. Watch the video below to find out how:

• How did God choose each of member of your family to belong together?
• What are ways that I can show my family more love?
• Did the Holy Family have a perfect life? How is my family like the Holy Family?
• How do my parents make sacrifices for me just like Mary and Joseph had to make for Jesus?

OCTAVE: The eight day period during which Christmas is celebrated. These days, beginning December 25 and ending on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (January 1) are all considered Christmas days through the liturgy of the Church so every day within the octave is treated the same as the original Solemnity, the Nativity of our Lord. After January 1, Christmas DAYS are over but the Christmas season extends to Epiphany.

Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester

Debtor in Possession

Email: oec@dor.org
Website: oec.dor.org
Location: Diocese of Rochester, Buffalo Road, Rochester, NY, USA
Phone: 585-328-3210

See them all here!