Oddly enough I had a conversation with a group of friends over coffee at the local shopping centre. I was asked what I had been doing in preparation for Christmas. Well at this point in time I have done zilch, except that I have participated in the gathering of some items for the preparation of a hamper that was delivered to my local parish church in readiness for the Hamper Mass that was held last night. This Hamper Mass is an annual event that was instituted by the Family Group Movement within my parish of St. Bernadette. The number of hambers that are delivered for the Hamper Mass is in excess of 1000, and these hampers are distributed to families in a poor area of Sydney by members of St. Vincent de Paul.

One of my friends says that she puts up the tree on Dec 1, and that is when she starts her preparations. I am not in the habit of attending much in the way of Christmas parties, but there is a gathering of the members of my family group. This normally coincides with our wedding anniversary. Last year it was on the very date ;-) and we had a rather special celebration. Then we celebrate the birth of our second son ;-).

I reminded my friends that the reason that we have Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and that my focus is on preparing for the celebration of His birthday.