Holidays and Holy Days

Here you will find musings related to Advent and Lent, Christmas and Easter along with reflections prompted by holidays like Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, and the onset of summer. It’s also a place for thoughts on Holy Days and related topics like the communion of Saints and the Sacraments. Posts are pictured with the most recent first. Look for season-related series or start with one of these popular reflections:

WHO DESERVES MERCY?

The man lies on a stretcher, desperately in need of medical attention. He’s not far from the door to the hospital, but no one will admit him. It’s a Union army hospital—and the man is a Confederate soldier. A nurse tries in vain to get him help. Finally she cries out, fiercely, “Everyone deserves mercy!” That dramatic scene was part ...
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THE LORD BRINGS LIGHT TO THE DARKNESS

Some situations just never get better. And I wonder: God—where are you?? We’re two weeks into Lent and the darkness is starting to settle in. I’m feeling the effects of self-denial and am not enjoying it. But worse is the longing for resolution to a long-standing problem. Lord—this is crushing me! I cry. Where is the end? I am trying ...
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NOT BY BREAD ALONE: How to live by the word of God

I wasn’t thinking of Lent when I scheduled our annual baking day in the old wood-fired oven. The home we meet in was originally a boarding school, built in 1830 just as the side-flue oven was invented. The 7’ deep, brick-lined oven heated by a fire in an adjoining chamber provided ample room to bake the bread needed to feed ...
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CREATE YOUR OWN DESERT FOR LENT … and seek Christ in his Word

I just spent the most boring hour of my life at Jiffy Lube, waiting for an oil change and car inspection. There were no magazines or pictures to look at, so I was stuck with my own thoughts. All around me, people were absorbed in their phones. Not even the three-year-old twins beside me offered a diversion, as they had ...
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WISHING YOU A BLESSED CHRISTMAS SEASON

Many of our neighbors are putting their lights and decorations away, but for us Catholics, Christmas has just begun! It started with the Christmas vigil masses and continues through the next three Sundays: The Feast of the Holy Family on December 30 Epiphany on January 6 The Feast of Jesus’ Baptism on January 1 During this time, we’re invited to ...
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THE GIFT OF THE STAR

“This time, I will praise the Lord.” That’s what Jacob’s wife Leah said in Genesis 29 as she named her fourth baby Judah, which means “praise.” “This time, I will praise the Lord.” This time. Because she named her first three boys for her pain: Reuben (“see, a son”) because “surely now my husband will love me;” Simeon (“God has ...
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IS HE HERE YET? Calling for Jesus with the O Antiphons

Is it Christmas yet? Is baby Jesus here? We have children in the house this year, and their excitement is contagious. Can we open the Advent calendar? What’s coming next?! For three weeks we’ve been getting ready, and they’re starting to think it’ll never come. When we light the last candle – it’ll be almost here, I say. Then light ...
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FIND PEACE THIS ADVENT

The house up the street from us was fully lit for Christmas the day after Thanksgiving, a decorated tree twinkling in the front window. It’s lovely! But I admit my blood pressure goes up when I see it. My to-do list for December is so long, I won’t be getting to decorations for a couple of weeks. When did the ...
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THANKS (FOR NOTHING?): LEARN THE POWER OF PRAISE

It was the week before Thanksgiving and we were anything but thankful. Everything that could go wrong had, it seemed. We were broke, deep in debt, stuck in a bad job, a thousand miles from home and expecting our second child at any time. Mother came out to help and together we cooked a turkey and set out the china ...
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Holidays and Holy Days

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