Goodbye Christmas!

jWell, it's official, Christmas is finally over.  With the feast of the Baptism of the Lord we have officially closed the Christmas Season.  Today at Mass, our Celebrant went through the Rite of Baptism.  We renewed our baptismal promises and we were sprinkled with holy water as the congregation sang "Water of Life."  He alluded to the fact that it's very seldom that one remembers his/her baptismal day.  Even priests and nuns, he said.  I happen to know mine- November 30th, Feast of St. Andrew.  It  makes liturgical sense that "Ordinary Time" follows the Christmas Season.  After basking in the glory and graces received with the coming of the Lord, we are now brought into the arena of ordinary living.  After being overwhelmed with love and buoyed by the Christmas carols we sang at Christmas eve and Christmas day, we are now called to prove our love in the ordinary and everyday.  I am hoping that I learned something from the previous year.  I am hoping that I can at least be conscious of my imperfections, not to beat myself up over them, but to give me a sense of direction in what I need to pray for and strive for,  to please God and be a better person. It won't belong before we enter the Lenten Season (which is February 17- Ash Wednesday).  The older I get, the more conscious I am of the fact that there should be no "business as usual" in the spiritual life.  We either go forward or slip backward.  But even the awareness of slipping backward can be used as an occasion to acquire humility and confidence.  So, as St. Therese said, everything is grace.