Thanksgiving vs. Christmas

Jesus, help me be grateful for Thanksgiving, but look forward to Christmas! Amen.

When Jesus was ready to start teaching, John the Baptist reminded people to get ready and to show they were sorry for their sins by being baptized. "The one who's coming is much greater than I am," John said. "I don't even deserve to untie His shoes! And I'll just baptize you with water, but He can baptize with the Holy Spirit."

Now that you're done stuffing yourself with stuffing, you're probably thinking about Christmas. Before Thanksgiving, you might have been excited about the big meal. Now that a bigger holiday is coming, you're already forgetting Thanksgiving just happened.

John the Baptist and Jesus were like Thanksgiving and Christmas: In this week's Gospel (Mark 1:1-8), people are excited about being baptized by John -- until John tells them someone better is coming!

Thanksgiving is a simple holiday about being grateful for the good things in your life. Christmas can seem a lot more exciting: Some kids are in Nativity pageants; some make or buy gifts for their families; some get their pictures taken with Santa or write letters about presents they dream of getting; some sing carols everywhere they go.

Like Christmas is more complicated than Thanksgiving, Jesus was a lot more complicated than John the Baptist. John taught people the basics about God, but Jesus was God's Son! Jesus could teach a lot more. John could only baptize people with water, but Jesus could bring the Holy Spirit into their lives to be with them always.

When Christmas comes along, kids turn away from the fun of Thanksgiving and look forward to more fun at Christmas. That's not a bad thing; John, who knew Jesus was more important than he was, advised people to turn to Jesus.

We still celebrate Jesus' coming on the holiday we get most excited about: Christmas Day!