Today’s the last day of Christmas.  Five weeks ago my family spent a day in the mountains choosing a tree for the mass of Christ and to make decorative wreaths.  This morning the tree stands in the corner next to the dining table.  Just as green and full of leaf as the day we began to decorate them.  I like the symbolism and ritual of having a tree in the house.  Life lived, life taken, life eternal is wrapped around the tree such that we, the tree and family, become one in creational siblingship.

Dia de Reyas is tomorrow.   Before long, we’ll head over to the local panadería to pick up the Rosca de Reyas we’ve ordered.  For days they’ve been preparing Three Kings Bread for the community and today the panadería will be busy, festive, and full of life.  I enjoy Dia de Reyas nearly as much as the mass of Christ for many reasons; most of all though, the people of many cultures come to celebrate as one community.  Additionally, the day reminds us that the mass, the celebration of Christ, the mystery of creation does not end on the twelfth day of Christmas.  Rather, the celebration continues into ordinary time with the daily epiphany of creational life.

The pan/bread of the Kings Ring or crown that holds a hidden baby figurine within symbolizes the fullness of our creation.  Wheat, water, salt, flour, yeast, (decorative candied fruits), and the Christ figurine become one and singular within breaded Rosca de Reyas.  Epiphany begins in the ordinary days when the entwined siblingship of tree and flour and Christ allows the mundane to become eternal.