Conforming (phase 2), God So Loved the World - The Birth of Jesus (step 9), session 6

He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation; for in him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities -- all things were created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. He is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the first-born from the dead, that in everything he might be pre-eminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross. - Col 1, 15-20

We are fast approaching the end of the Christmas season. In former days, before they removed the Baptism of the Lord (and the wedding feast at Cana) from the observance, it would be over already. Now the Baptism of the Lord closes the Christmas season. Since we cut a real tree each year, ours almost never survives that long. I undecorated it and took it outside the other night. However, we have left the rest of the decorations out until the conclusion of the season.

I see why the retreat would remind us, after we have focused so long on the birth of Jesus of Nazareth, that his existence is from everlasting to everlasting. We of course see this in the previous session's reading from St. John's gospel, and will likely get another reminder in the next session, which uses the beginning of the first epistle of the beloved disciple.