Even the secular world knows the way it lives its Christmas takes a toll.  There is a movie called Christmas with the Kranks, not a classic, but it takes on the theme of skipping Christmas altogether to avoid the hassle that it brings.  Of course, for the world Christmas is but a day of maximum consumption, but for Catholics, Christmas should be a season.  If it is lived well, then Christmas should yield spiritual fruits.  For those who have the wrong idea of Christmas, it is another event they must get through.  An expression often used is “surviving the holiday season.”  Some people live and think in such a way and trying to survive Christmas can lead to depression.  The day after Christmas Day is the day of reckoning. The realization that the gift waited for a long time did not make us any happier.  There is a sense of emptiness. A sense of lack of fulfillment. Christmas (as the world proposes) came and went and there is nothing different. Perhaps only a sentiment of guilt, knowing so much time was spent on the wrong things.  It is not uncommon for people to have depression after the holiday season.  Whether is what is being proposed, guilt for overspending, overconsumption, overdoing it.  Sometimes the Christmas gatherings were not what was intended. Disputes often break out during such times.  And then some people may just have spent Christmas time alone.  All of these are symptoms of a Christmas spent by world standards. Today as the Epiphany is celebrated, the church offers another outlook.   Christmas is not over until Epiphany, and precisely the Epiphany that can bring a sense of fulfillment and closure to the Christmas season.  If a person lived well the Christmas season (and not just a day), the Epiphany will be the grand finale.  There will be a sense of satisfaction for having lived the Christmas season according to the standards of the Church.  It works, it brings fulfillment.  However, if a person lived the Christmas season with the standards of the world, there is still a chance to change the course with the readings of the Epiphany.  This year the focus can be on the rising star and the town of Bethlehem. Both images give some solace. For those who are exhausted, depressed, and feeling down because of the way they lived Christmas, the images talk about rising above to a new level of understanding of self.  The star it mentions was rising. A person can rise from the ground, can rise in splendor.  The cloud of darkness will dispel. From being cast down, they will raise their eyes to the light of Christ and even lead others to where Christ is.  The star truly shines only when in the presence of the Lord, the Child Jesus. A person may feel their star is about to burnout, a supernova, but coming closer to Christ, their light will shine more brightly.  A person feeling down because of the way they lived Christmas can be lifted again (slowly and gradually) using this powerful imagery of a rising star.  The second image is the little town of Bethlehem. After Christmas, a person may feel very little.   The self-esteem is low.  However, even when a person may feel very small, God can make greatness out of smallness.  God chose the little town of Bethlehem to become incarnate.  Even when a person may feel they have nothing to offer, God can use that person in His saving plan. We are put in this world for a reason, and sometimes just causing a person to smile is worth living.  When a person feels this little because Christmas was not lived well, then the Epiphany again offers powerful imagery to start living differently for the rest of the Ordinary Time.