Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’

How was your Christmas?

Thursday, February 8th, 2024
Christmas

In a December reflection, I mentioned of my plan to ignore the rush of Christmas. I was going to sit in the stable in silence and prayer with the holy child. It was going to be a personal retreat. But it didn’t happen. There were too many wise men and women, too many shepherds. The Read more

The humanity of Jesus

Thursday, December 7th, 2023
Jesus

This month, we celebrate the sacred birth in an animal shelter. Why such a lowly place? Our views about status miss the message, and we must wrap this birth in splendour – angel song, an unusual star, three kings coming to bow before the child. The wrapping continues until Jesus is lost under layers of Read more

I love Christmas time

Thursday, December 8th, 2022
Ash Wednesday

Setting up the Christmas tree that’s been stored away for 12 months in the top of the wardrobe makes me think, where has the year gone? I actually feel as if I’m back in July somewhere. Putting up the decorations triggers memories of Christmas’ that were either tough or wonderful, and final relief comes when Read more

52 Weird Christmas Gifts

Thursday, December 8th, 2022

Everything from costumes for guinea pigs to charcuterie gingerbread houses to kitty litter Christmas ornaments. Here are some of the strangest gift ideas available this year that are sure to please the nutters in your life.  Read more

Are celebrating Christingle?

Monday, December 5th, 2022

Christingles are usually held from the end of November through to February (Advent to Candlemas), with Christmas Eve being a particularly popular time for services.  During the service, each person takes a Christingle and the candles are all lit to create a warm, magical glow symbolising the light of Christ and bringing hope to people Read more

EU draft guidelines pulled after Vatican complains Christmas ‘canceled’

Thursday, December 2nd, 2021
Paris Discovery Guide

The European Commission (EU) has retracted its draft guidelines for internal communications, which propose substituting the “Christmas period” with “holiday period”. An outcry by conservatives and the Vatican led the U-turn on the policy, which termed the document an attempt to “cancel” Europe’s Christian roots. The EU Commissioner for Equality, Helena Dalli, said the draft Read more

In search of the immortal soul in a modern world

Monday, April 12th, 2021
immortal soul

Immortality has become the great question mark. The answer used to be provided at Easter, with the Christian climax in death by crucifixion, followed by resurrection. The Jesus story wrestled with death not being merely death. Today, however, the sacred meaning of Easter is little more than a dusty relic. For the secular modern age, Read more

What the hell kind of Christmas is this?

Thursday, December 10th, 2020
Christmas

Christmas time 1973 I was a newly-arrived seminarian in Japan. It was my first-ever Christmas away from home. The “economic miracle” of the country’s post-war recovery was in full swing. Before the end of the decade, a best-selling book would tout Japan as Number One. However, the miracle was not yet complete, even in the Read more

Christmas provides reason for hope during pandemic

Thursday, December 10th, 2020

Pope Francis says the Christmas season provides a reason for hope during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. During his Sunday blessing this week, Francis commented that the Vatican’s Christmas tree – itself a symbolic reason for hope – went up last week in St. Peter’s Square. Work is also underway to build the life-size Nativity scene Read more

‘Scandalous’ first Christmas card up for sale

Monday, December 7th, 2020

The first commercially printed Christmas card is up for sale – a merry Victorian-era scene that scandalised some who denounced it as humbug when it first appeared in 1843. The card, being sold online starting Friday through a consortium run by Marvin Getman, a US-based dealer in rare books and manuscripts, depicts an English family Read more