This question was posed to a faith sharing group that I was a part of many years ago.
One definition for tradition is a continuing pattern of culture beliefs or practices.
When I think of the tradition that goes back to the time I was a little boy in Italy I think of the five F’s; Family, Friends, Faith, Food and Fun (not necessarily in that order).
Family – as a little one, this was one of the few nights that you got to stay up late with family not in anticipation of opening gifts – something that didn’t occur until the Epiphany – but because ultimately you would get to go to midnight Mass. This night was called La Vigilia which meant The Vigil, a commemoration of the wait for the midnight birth of Christ. The family around the table would consist of five generations; great-grandparents, grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and the little ones.
Food – The principal and only place one spent the evening was around a table. There weren’t people in the living room or somewhere else because most houses didn’t have the luxury of too many rooms. The typical and customary Christmas Eve meal was meatless which dates from the medieval Roman Catholic tradition of abstinence and consisted of seven fish dishes which some say signified the seven Sacraments. I imagine the fish dishes varied from place to place but the one constant that just about everyone served was baccala, a dry salted cod that was bought weeks before and soaked in water for a number of days. (Note: if you should ever be called a baccala by an Italian friend, it is not a compliment. It denotes that you are a stiff.)
Friends – This was a time that was shared with friends and a time where you made sure that no one was celebrating alone especially the less fortunate or ones who had loved ones away for various reasons or had lost a loved one during the year. Interestingly, firemen, another F word, are taught to never leave anyone behind.
Faith – The celebrations that started out with family and friends gathered around table in each home ultimately would continue into a greater celebration where the community gathered around the Lord’s Table to be fed spiritually. The focus of the celebration centered on a mother, father, and the birth of a child – a family. A family of simple means and a child born in a manger, a child so special that he even commanded the attention of the animals nearby and caused the Angels to sing, Joy to the World, a joy that you can feel as the choir sings of Emmanuel, God with Us.
Fun – Prior to midnight Mass, part of the evening was spent around the table, the table where you just had this extended meal and now you were about to spend an hour or two playing a game called tombola. Tombola is very similar to Bingo. I recall playing this game strictly around the Christmas season. In anticipation I would begin to put aside a few cents at a time during the months leading up to it. I would go in my secret hiding place and come out with a few coins so I could play with the grownups. If perchance you had none an aunt, uncle or grandparent would offer to loan (they made you think that so you didn’t get accustomed to expecting a handout all the time) you some.
The game was always played after finishing the last part of the meal which consisted of having fruits and nuts. The table was cleared of everything except orange or tangerine peels and the various empty nut shells – you see we didn’t have the fancy daubers or little chips to cover the numbers on the tombola card – we improvised with the bits and pieces of orange or tangerine peels or the bits of empty nut shells. The game was fun and educational at the same time. The person calling the numbers wouldn’t say the number but use mainly religion related terms or events that were associated with a specific number; for instance if they said God you knew it was number 1, or if they said Christmas you knew it was number 25. Not all were religious related. Some derived from their ancient ties to numerology such as 22 which was a number that signified craziness. Most of the grownups would watch over the little ones card’s and would try their best to make them win. Yes you were tired because you were up well past your bed time but the adrenaline rush from being with a table full of people who loved you was wonderful.
Going back, if I had to prioritize and pick the most important of the F’s I would have to say it would be family – a family has the most important part in forming us from day one. It’s interesting that Cardinal O’Malley would mention family so much in the homily he gave at midnight Mass. Here are some excerpts;
For the family to be a school of love, it is necessary for the members of the family to have time together. This is often difficult in today’s world because of work schedules and the many demands on our time. Nevertheless, if the health of the family is going to be a priority, the family must come together, especially at the dinner table. The dinner table can be the altar in the home. More than all the negotiating tables at the United Nations or the White House, what happens at the dinner table can profoundly affect people’s lives and the future of society. When a family can pray together, get to know one another and share their aspirations and fears, they experience a sense of belonging, an identity. .
One of the best ways to revitalize the family is to recapture the sacredness of the Lord’s Day. At our Sunday Eucharist we gather as the household of the faithful. Together we witness to the world that Jesus Christ is risen and we recognize him “in the breaking of the Bread.” The miracle of the Mass takes place to forge us into a spiritual family, the Body of Christ, the Church.
Children need to see the faith lived in the lives of the important people in their lives. The selection of godparents and sponsors should reflect this concern to provide the children with role models whose lives and values allow the child to see our faith as a way of life, a life of spiritual relationships that bind us to God, to the saints, to all our brothers and sisters in the Lord.
What will the future bring? Much depends on our families and our ability to form new generations of families firmly committed to following Jesus Christ. To do that, we must love them very much, pray together, spend time together and teach our children how to love by showing them what love is. The star is over the manger. Let us go the Bethlehem to glimpse God’s love in the face of a child in a loving family.
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