Views of a new Catholic in an old world on the joy and inexhaustible meaning found in the Faith
Sorry guys, but after reading the USCCB’s response to the ridiculous proposal by Seizure to rip our religious freedoms away, I just can’t help but share this tune with you. After all, we have a long standing tradition of holding fast, and not knuckling under. [Read more...]
In the photograph above, you see the original Señor Santo Niño statue that Ferdinand Magellan gave to the Rajah Humabon and his wife Humamay when he arrived in Cebu in the Philippines. The Rajah and his wife, see, became Catholics and allies of Spain. Sure, there was intrigue and trickery, alliances and bloodshed along the way, and in the Philippines, Magellan would lose his life. [Read more...]
Before I was a Catholic, I didn’t put much stock in the name of Jesus. Sure, I knew that Mary had been told to name her son this by the angel Gabriel. I kind of knew that Isaiah had mentioned a name, and that it was Immanuel which, according to the Matthew, meant “God with us.” [Read more...]
It’s the second day of Christmas, and it’s Monday too. So you all know what that means? Music, of course. And as the Christmas season lasts until the Feast of the Epiphany, I can still cue up a few videos in celebration. [Read more...]
This, in a nutshell, is why I became a Marine.
“It’s a reminder of why we became Marines in the first place. So that our family and friends are able to celebrate the holidays – freely. It makes us happy to know they can, even if we are all the way out here in Kandahar, Afghanistan, away from our loved ones.”
—Gunnery Sergeant Charles V. Westall, USMC [Read more...]
A Blessed Christmas to all, from my family to yours. May the miracle of the Incarnation kindle within you the everlasting light of Our Lord and Savior. Here are some thoughts to share from my patron saint, and a song.
From the Thirty-First Homily of St. Macarius the Great (aka, “my” Abba), [Read more...]
And that is good enough for me. Especially because smarter, more capable, and more knowledgeable folks spell it all out for me too.
Fr. Dwight Longenecker: Christmas, Pagan Romans, and Frodo Baggins.
Jake Tawney: The Dating of Christmas.
Alexander Pope: Messiah
And, of course, Linus reciting the passage from St. Luke.
Isn’t Govert Teunisz Flinck’s painting, Angels Announcing the Birth to the Shepherds (1639, oil on wood) beautiful?
Be of good cheer!
UPDATE: Mike Flynn’s letter to the editor.
A reflection for December 9, 2009 from The Little Blue Book: Advent & Christmas Seasons 2009-2010. I have no idea who wrote it, but after yesterday’s Gospel reading, it hits the mark.
“I said if I were going to do a Christmas show, we have to use the passage from St. Luke (about the birth of Christ).”—Charles Schultz, creator of the “Peanuts” comic strip
On this day (December 9) in 1965 (I was two years old!) the classic “A Charlie Brown Christmas” premiered on TV. It was based on the infancy narrative of St. Luke. In the plot, Charlie Brown tries to find the true meaning of Christmas. Linus recounts the story of the birth of Jesus.
The program won an Emmy and a Peabody Award, and led to more than thirty additional Peanuts TV specials. [Read more...]
Yes, yesterday was Sunday but you know what else it was? It was the Feast of St. Barbara. As a former member of November Battery, 5th Battalion, 14th Marine Regiment, let me tell you something: This is a feast day celebrated throughout the entire US Armed Forces in the Artillery Community. Knowing that, doesn’t this prayer intention make more sense? [Read more...]
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