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 […]
LESSONS FROM THE MAGI: Finding Jesus in unlikely places
I can’t stop thinking about the Epiphany this week, as I — like the Magi — seek to find Jesus. The English poet T.S. Eliot imagined how those traveling kings might have looked back on their experience, years later. His poem is worth reading several times to catch the references in the second stanza: The Journey of […]
CHRISTMAS DAY: What Child is This?
“Christmas is really for the children,” wrote our friend Steve Turner in a poem that’s meant to get you thinking about how we celebrate our Christian holidays: Christmas is really for the children. Especially for children who like animals, stables, stars and babies wrapped in swaddling clothes. Then there are wise men, kings in fine […]
CHRISTMAS EVE: The First Noel
Christmas wouldn’t be the same at our house without a Bûche de Noël — that luscious chocolate sponge cake rolled with cream and decorated with chocolate icing to look like a log. Half the fun is making the garnish: tiny, realistic mushrooms piped from meringue and dusted with cinnamon. For me, it’s a nod to the […]
THE REASON FOR THE SWADDLING CLOTHS
I couldn’t stop looking at my boys last night, three fine young men suited up in jackets and ties (of their own choice!) for the Christmas concert. We’ve come a long way from the days when I struggled to get them into anything nicer than T-shirts. And it’s all about the clothes, isn’t it, when […]
FINDING THE KING IN A CATTLE SHED
“And in that region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night…. And the angel said to them, ‘Be not afraid…; for to you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you […]
MARY, STAR OF THE NEW EVANGELIZATION
Reflection on Evangelii Gaudium, nos. 284-288
Two months ago, I stood at the foot of the Cross – literally, at the spot where Jesus was crucified in Jerusalem. Golgotha lies within the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and it is crowned by an altar and chapels dedicated to the final Stations of the Cross. You can reach below the altar and […]
