Day 9
On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me . . .
Nine ladies dancing.
Adding to the good food from yesterday, we now have dancing. Don’t these dancers evoke images of the great Christmas ballet, the Nutcracker? Not only are there at least nine ballerinas dancing, there are mice and nutcrackers and swords and more dancing. Can’t you hear Tchaikovsky’s music of the Sugar Plum fairies?
Whether you like ballet or any kind of dancing, you will like what these nine dancers can represent. We talked earlier about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (seven swans). Today, we recall the Fruits of the Spirit.
Although we immediately think of things like apples, bananas, and pears – this sort of fruit is different. It’s the result of something. What’s the fruit of studying for a test? The fruit should be a good grade. As the Holy Spirit works in our life, we see fruit. Galatians 5:22-23 states, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” The Catechism actually lists three more. To find out what they are, check out paragraph 1832.
