Christmas celebrations often bring us together with people we don’t regularly see, or put us in situations or conversations that aren’t in line with our Catholic Faith. Sometimes, gatherings with friends, family, or work colleagues can be difficult and put our faith to the test. Father Gary Caster, author and Catholic chaplain of Williams College in Massachusetts, joined The Inner Life^® to discuss how we can prepare ourselves for these celebrations and keep Christ the focus of Christmas.

Keeping our Christmas celebrations Christ-centered and holy is a lot like asking Christ to be the center of our day each and every morning. “It’s the same way that we should begin every day … we should begin our day with prayer, but in a specific, intentional way, framing our day that our day is going to be spent with the Lord,” says Fr. Gary Caster.

“If we’ve been to them before in previous years, we kind of already have a sense of what’s going to be offered—the food, the drink—the people, the kinds of conversations. So it’s really just a matter of taking a few minutes before we head off to these celebrations to just refocus and redirect our intentions for our time there, to be mindful of other people and be present to other people. To enjoy the celebration without the celebration determining who we are and how we behave.”

“It’s great to go to these celebrations, but before we go or even on the way there, just take a moment, center yourself in who you are and why you are in Christ and prepare yourself that way. Then nothing really should come too strikingly out of the blue once you get there and you will be able to enjoy yourself in a deeper way since you’ve already centered yourself in the time you’re going to spend there in the Lord.”