Christmas Archives - Page 19 of 25

The First Day of Christmas Advent. The Origins of Advent.

11/15/2016

By Fr. Patrick Henry Reardon In the Roman Catholic Church and other Christian churches of the West, the several weeks prior to Christmas are known as Advent, a name from a Latin word meaning “coming.” It happens that the beginning of Advent always falls on the Sunday closest to November 30, the ancient feast day (in both East and West) of the Apostle Andrew. Among Christians in the West, this preparatory season, which tends to

Twelfth Day of Christmas, Looking Toward Epiphany

01/05/2016

Meditation: Looking Toward Epiphany Epiphany! Theophany! Two good Greek words expressing and proclaiming to the world the showing forth of God in His fullness. Epiphany is the showing forth of God because it was there, at the Baptism of Jesus, that all three Persons of the Holy Trinity appeared together for the first time. The Father’s voice testified from on high that Jesus is the Son of God. The Son accepted his Father’s testimony, and

Eleventh Day of Christmas, Conversations with Abba Isaac: For the Health of Soul and Body

01/04/2016

By Father Micah Hirschy For the past week a disturbing phenomenon has been taking place. The usually quiet and relatively uncrowded gym of which I am a member has been full of people and excited chatter! When I heard one of the regulars whisper to another about how all these “New Year resolution types” were filling the gym, I realized why I could never use my rowing machine. It made perfect sense. Many people make

Sixth Day of Christmas, Meditation: The Work of Christmas Now Begins

12/30/2015

Meditation: The Work of Christmas Now Begins As we take down our Christmas decorations to store them in the attic or the basement, let us be careful not to take down Christ. He was meant not for the attic, but for the living room of your heart and mine the year round, After all, His presence with us is what Christmas is all about. Thomas Curtis Clark wrote, What do we observe on Christmas Day?

Fifth Day of Christmas, 14,000 Innocent Children: Christmas Has a Cost

12/29/2015

By Andrew Estocin Christmas can be too comfortable sometimes. As the Nativity Season unfolds, churches are celebrating the birth of Christ. Gifts are being shared, kitchens are busy preparing traditional foods, and retreat speakers have returned home from their visits to parishes. While all these events may be well intentioned, they frequently point us in the direction of nostalgia rather than a living faith. Nostalgia can often be unhealthy. The more we focus solely on

Fourth Day of Christmas, The Wise Men

12/28/2015

Meditation: The Wise Men When the wise men learned of the plot of King Herod to kill the Christ Child, they did not come back to Jerusalem, but “went another way,” according to St. Matthew. What did Matthew mean when he wrote that the Wise Men “went back another way?” No doubt he meant that they took another route so as to frustrate Herod’s murderous intentions. But is there not more to the words than

Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent, For so has God Loved the World (Part II)

12/24/2015

But the road from Bethlehem to Zion is long, and is leading us through Gethsemane and Golgotha. Already in Bethlehem the newborn Godchild is presented with funeral offerings by the Wise Men from the East. “Today God leads the Wise Men to worship through the star, prefiguring His three-day burial in gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” The very doors of the Bethlehem cavern are nearly stained with the innocent blood of the children who were killed

Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus

12/14/2015

Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus The Gospel of Matthew begins with a long list of Hebrew names that give the family tree of Jesus on the human side. As we read these names some two thousand years of history pass in review. At the end of the list we find the name above every name, the name of Jesus. The procession passes through the centuries and comes to rest at Bethlehem. “Joseph, son

Eighteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part III

12/02/2015

By Father John Parker The Angels are rejoicing and proclaiming the Good News. The Magi, journeying from afar, bear their gifts foreshadowing the divinity, sovereignty, and humanity of Christ. The shepherds, the first Jews to believe, explain what they have seen and heard, leading others, too, to wonder! As we make our way, as if in a spiral towards the center of Rublev’s Nativity, we are greeted by a strange pair. A couple we wouldn’t

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Christmas is Already Easter

11/20/2015

In Jesus, God achieved the perfect synthesis of the divine and the human. The incarnation of Jesus demonstrates that God meets us where we are as humans. God freely and fully overcomes the gap from God’s side. The problem of redemption is already resolved once and for all, long before its dramatic illustration on the cross. Bethlehem already revealed that it was good to be a human being. For the Christian, spiritual power is always

Tags

The First Day of Christmas Advent. The Origins of Advent.

Twelfth Day of Christmas, Looking Toward Epiphany

Eleventh Day of Christmas, Conversations with Abba Isaac: For the Health of Soul and Body

Sixth Day of Christmas, Meditation: The Work of Christmas Now Begins

Fifth Day of Christmas, 14,000 Innocent Children: Christmas Has a Cost

Fourth Day of Christmas, The Wise Men

Fortieth Day of Christmas Advent, For so has God Loved the World (Part II)

Thirtieth Day of Christmas Advent, Meditation: You Shall Call His Name Jesus

Eighteenth Day of Christmas Advent, Journey to Bethlehem, Part III

Sixth Day of Christmas Advent, Christmas is Already Easter

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