Christmas 2024, A Time to Be Merry
The birthday of Jesus, King of the Universe
The Importance of Stars
Did you know that Star Street, emblazoned with stars, leads into Bethlehem? It symbolizes the star that led the Magi to the Infant Jesus. Mary, nine-months pregnant, and her husband, Joseph, may have come down this street as they entered the town for the census. Presumably the Magi also followed this route. Sadly, the usual […]
Christmas, Love Made Flesh
Well, I dusted off this post from 2013 and recycled it, for it’s worth repeating this year. Someone gave me a “Christmas card” that showed the billions of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. Pointing to one tiny dot was an arrow labelled, “You are here.” Pondering this picture makes me dizzy! It emphasizes the […]
Ideas for Observing Advent
We are in the first week of Advent. Already! The word advent means “coming,” and during Advent we reflect on and prepare for the three comings of Christ: in history in Bethlehem, in mystery every day in the Eucharist and in others, and in majesty at the end of time. While engaged in the flurry […]
Gifts and Givers
A very merry Christmas! May you celebrate Christmas heartily despite Covid! As we exchange presents this year, let’s remember that the best gift we’ve received is the gift found in the manger in Bethlehem. And as Fr. Tom Fanta once pointed out to the children of St. Dominic School, God wrapped his gift in a […]
Season of Love: Divine Intimacy
As promised, here is the first chapter of my book “A Love Affair with God: Twelve Traits.” Merry Christmas! 1 An Unlikely Couple To fall in love with God is the greatest romance; to seek him, the greatest adventure; to find him, the greatest human achievement. ~ St. Augustine Do you ever lie awake at […]
God’s Amazing Love at Christmas: Divine Intimacy
Christmas is a celebration of God’s love: “God so loved the world that he gave his only Son.” Just in time for Christmas I finished writing “A Love Affair with God: Twelve Traits.” Although one publisher considered the book “too romantic,” I was guided by St. John of the Cross and St. Teresa of Avila, […]
Ideas for Safe Celebrating
This year we are challenged to keep in touch with family and friends in meaningful ways in order to celebrate our holidays. My friend Roman Vaynshtok, founder of the Peace and Balance Reiki Center, emailed me the following suggestions that you might wish to adopt. Holidays ideas during the pandemic. First things are first. There […]
Christmas Musings
Mary Christmas and a Happy New Year! Here is a Christmas gift for you: Two reflections from my book Heart to Heart with Mary: Love Made Flesh December 24 My child, some things are so awesome that words fail us. Imagine what it was like to hold my newborn son in my arms knowing he […]
A Cat Christmas Story
In a Christmas letter this year, a friend whose pet cat had died recounted how she noticed a calico cat roaming her property. It was “small, skinny, and timid.” She didn’t take it into her house but let it return to the woods. Regularly the cat came around, and the woman brought it lunch by […]
