Relax It’s Almost Christmas on Christmas Eve LWIL # 51

Well it’s happening whether you are or not. And

What  Happen  Last Week and Year in Life

All ready happened so Relax It’s almost Christmas.

It’s Christmas Eve

Monday December 18, 2023

Tuesday December 19, 2023

Day 353: Sharing the Gospel — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 353: The Lord’s Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Religion as a Human Universal | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

• 1606 – The ships Susan Constant, Godspeed, and Discovery depart England carrying settlers who founded, at Jamestown, Virginia, the first of the thirteen colonies that became the United States.
• 1777 – American Revolutionary War: George Washington‘s Continental Army goes into winter quarters at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
• 1924 – The last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost is sold in London, England.
• 1924 – German serial killer Fritz Haarmann is sentenced to death for a series of murders.
• 1972 – Apollo program: The last crewed lunar flight, Apollo 17, carrying Eugene Cernan, Ronald Evans, and Harrison Schmitt, returns to Earth.
• 2023 –California Governor lambasted for canceling Christmas event

•  Quote of the Day

  Pope Francis@Pontifex (December 19, 2023) For the inhabitants of the Holy Land, a #Christmas of pain and mourning looms. We do not want to leave them alone. May we stand by them in prayer and tangible aid. The suffering of Bethlehem is an open wound for the Middle East and the entire world.

Wednesday December 20, 2023

Day 354: Partakers of the Divine Nature — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 354: The Prayer of the Church — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Catholic Teaching on Merit | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

• 1334 – Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII.
• 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
• 1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.
• 2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.
• 2019 – The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
• 2023 –Pope Francis urges humanitarian response to Darien migration tragedy

•  Quote of the Day

  Fr. Joseph Krupp@Joeinblack (December 20,2023)
  Please, please stop setting up false dichotomies.
  Anytime I’m stupid enough to post some thing about God’s love, I always get this “But you have to tell them to repent”.
  It need not be said that people tend to point this out when dealing with sins, they do not struggle with personally.
  God loves us.
  There’s a period at the end of that sentence, not a comma.
  It’s there because that’s a fact.
  It never, ever happens that I put a post up about our need to repent and people scramble to make sure everyone understands that God loves them.
  It’s actually OK for people who don’t sin in the same way you do to know they are loved.
  Whatever this is inside of you that is obsessed with the horrible prospect of someone knowing God loves them without simultaneously having someone point out that they need to repent, please allow me to tell you that you need to repent.
  Also, God loves you.
  Now, worry about your own sins.
  If you are like me, that should take enough of your time and energy to get you off of everyone else’s back.

Thursday December 21, 2023

Saint Peter Canisius, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Day 355: The Things of This World — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 355: Summary of the Lord’s Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Legislating Religious Views | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

• 1124 – Pope Honorius II is consecrated, having been elected after the controversial dethroning of Pope Celestine II.
• 1872 – Challenger expedition: HMS Challenger, commanded by Captain George Nares, sails from Portsmouth, England.
• 1879 – World premiere of Henrik Ibsen‘s A Doll’s House at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark.
• 1937 – Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the world’s first full-length animated feature, premieres at the Carthay Circle Theatre.
• 1963 – “Bloody Christmas” begins in Cyprus, ultimately resulting in the displacement of 25,000–30,000 Turkish Cypriots and destruction of more than 100 villages.
• 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 is launched from the Kennedy Space Center, placing its crew on a lunar trajectory for the first visit to another celestial body by humans.
• 2020 – A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn occurs, with the two planets separated in the sky by 0.1 degrees. This is the closest conjunction between the two planets since 1623.
• 2023 –Almost all Christians have fled southern Lebanon amid Israel-Hezbollah bombing
• 2023 –More bishops voice criticism — and support — for Vatican document on blessing same-sex couples

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•  Quote of the Day

  Steve Skojec@SteveSkojec (December 21, 2023)
  I’m sure you’re having fun. But have you ever considered that there might be more to life than this?

  I actually like being married and being a dad. I love my wife and my kids. No, I don’t get to do whatever the BLEEP I want whenever I want 24/7, but I get something in return that’s a lot more meaningful than hedonistic selfishness, no matter how fun it is.

  We own an old folks home. I see what’s coming. This life you’re living doesn’t last forever. It matters to have people who actually care about you because you earned that from them.

  Thy Geekdom Come��@ThyGeekdomCome  (December 21, 2023)

  “You Pope Francis apologists should just be cool and defect from Rome like us.”

  We believe in the papacy. We trust in the promise of Christ. You think we’re thrilled to be out here arguing with our fellow Christians with whom we agree on everything else solely because there’s confusion — which should never be there in the first place! — over this? You think we’re having fun? Of course not! The Church’s yes should be yes and her no should be no, but we’re trying to be faithful and shore up and strengthen the other faithful, not telling them why they should abandon ship like cowards and mocking them for holding fast.

  Maranatha! The Lord will come, He is coming soon, and when He does, will He find faith on earth? Or just gutless scoffers?

Friday December 22, 2023

Day 356: God Is Love — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 356: We Dare to Say — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Appearance of Age? | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

• 401 – Pope Innocent I is elected, the only pope to succeed his father in the office.
• 1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto and Choral Fantasy.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Savannah, Georgia, falls to the Union’s Army of the Tennessee, and General Sherman tells President Abraham Lincoln: “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah”.
• 1937 – The Lincoln Tunnel opens to traffic in New York City.
• 2017 – President Donald Trump signs the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017.
• 2023 –Yes, you need to go to Mass twice this weekend — for Sunday and for Christmas

•  Quote of the Day

  Pope Francis@Pontifex (December 22, 2023) In its genuine poverty, the #NativityScene helps us rediscover the true richness of #Christmas and purify ourselves from many aspects that pollute the Christmas landscape. It speaks to us of the birth of the Son of God, who became man to be close to each of us.

Saturday December 23, 2023

Saint John of Kanty, Priest

St. Francis and the story of the first Nativity scene

Day 357: Truth and Love — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 357: God, “Our” Father — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Christianity and Pacifism | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

• 1815 – The novel Emma by Jane Austen is first published.
• 1893 – The opera Hansel and Gretel by Engelbert Humperdinck is first performed.
• 1919 – Sex Disqualification (Removal) Act 1919 becomes law in the United Kingdom.
• 1955 – The first film adaptation of Väinö Linna‘s novel The Unknown Soldier, directed by Edvin Laine, premieres.
• 1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, lands at Edwards Air Force Base in California becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.
• 2023 –Catholic Church reportedly closer to getting its first samurai saint

Santa is NOT a Christian figure (youtube.com)

•  Quote of the Day

  Blessed Is She@blessedisshe__(December 23, 2023)  This week, visit Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament chapel. Hidden beneath the appearance of simple bread is the Bread of Life Himself. The same Jesus Who gave everything for you and offers everything to you waits for you in the tabernacle, gazes out… Find Inspiration in Advent Devotional – Blessed Is She

Sunday December 24, 2023

 FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Day 358: From Rebellion to Faithfulness — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 358: Who Art in Heaven — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin # 358 The Cumulative Case for God | Catholic Answers Podcasts

Here’s What Happen  Last Week and Year in Life.

Christmas Eve

In…

640 – Pope John IV is elected.

1294 – Pope Boniface VIII is elected, replacing St. Celestine V, who had resigned.
He was pope for five months from July 5 to 13 December 13, 1294, when he resigned. He was also a monk and hermit who founded the order of the Celestines as a branch of the Benedictine order.

He was elected pope in the Catholic Church’s last non-conclave papal election, ending a two-year impasse. Among the few edicts of his to remain in force was the confirmation of the right of the pope to abdicate; nearly all of his other official acts were annulled by his successor, Boniface VIII. On 13 December 1294, a week after issuing the decree, Celestine resigned, stating his desire to return to his humble, pre-papal life. He was subsequently imprisoned by Boniface in the castle of Fumone in the Lazio region, in order to prevent his potential installation as antipope. He died in prison on 19 May 1296 at the age of 81.

Celestine was canonized on 5 May 1313 by Pope Clement V. No subsequent pope has taken the name Celestine.

The next pope to resign of his own accord was Pope Benedict XVI in 2013, 719 years later.

1777 – Kiritimati, also called Christmas Island, is discovered by James Cook.

1800 – The Plot of the rue Saint-Nicaise fails to kill Napoleon Bonaparte.

1818 The first performance of “Silent Night” takes place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

1865 – Jonathan Shank and Barry Ownby form The Ku Klux Klan.

1870– During the Franco-Prussian War, a French soldier leaped out of his foxhole in the midst of the battle and began singing the carol “O Holy Night.” He was soon joined by other Frenchmen, and all gunfire ceased. The Germans answered with a carol of their own, and for one day the battle stopped and men on both sides celebrated Christmas.
Ace Collins,  Stories Behind the Great Traditions of Christmas (Stories Behind Books)

1880 – Johnny Gruelle creator of Raggedy Ann and Andy is born. (d. 1939)

1906 – Reginald Fessenden transmits the first radio broadcast that included a phonograph record of Ombra mai fu (Largo) by George Frideric Handel, followed by Fessenden playing Adolphe Adam’s carol O Holy Night on the violin and singing Adore and be Still by Gounod, and closing with a biblical passage: “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to men of good will” (Luke 2:14).

1913 – The Italian Hall disaster in Calumet, Michigan results in the deaths of 73 Christmas party participants (including 59 children) when someone falsely yells “fire”.

1914 – World War I: The “Christmas truce” begins.

1924 – Albania becomes a republic.

1927 – Catholic Mystery writer Mary Higgins Clark is born. (d. 2020)

1939 – World War II: Pope Pius XII makes a Christmas Eve appeal for peace.

As the Feast of Christmas recurs year by year the message of the crib of Bethlehem sounds in Christian ears with accents of a holy joy which is ever new and ever finds a tender echo in Christian hearts; it is the message of Jesus, light amidst the darkness. To a world plunged in the gloom of tragic error it brings the light of Heavenly truth; to a humanity enduring the pangs of a deep and bitter sorrow it gives abundance of joyful hope; to the children of Adam shackled in the bonds of sin it brings assurance of deliverance; to those countless hosts of suffering and afflicted ones who see their happiness lost and their energies broken in the storm of hatred and strife now raging, it gives promise of mercy, love, and peace.

And the bells which ring out this message in every continent do more than recall a Divine gift bestowed upon humanity at the beginning of the Christian era; they also proclaim a consoling and present reality, a reality as eternally young as it is ever vital and life-giving: the reality of the true light which enlightens every man that comes into this world, the light which will never fade.

1968 – Apollo program: The crew of Apollo 8 enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures.

1973 – District of Columbia Home Rule Act is passed, allowing residents of Washington, D.C. to elect their own local government.

1973 – Twilight creator Stephenie Meyer is born.

“Before you, Bella, my life was like a moonless night. Very dark, but there were stars, points of light and reason. …And then you shot across my sky like a meteor. Suddenly everything was on fire; there was brilliancy, there was beauty. When you were gone, when the meteor had fallen over the horizon, everything went black. Nothing had changed, but my eyes were blinded by the light. I couldn’t see the stars anymore. And there was no more reason, for anything.”
― Stephenie Meyer, New Moon

1979 USSR Invades Afghanistan.

1980 – Witnesses report the first of several sightings of unexplained lights near RAF Woodbridge, in Rendlesham Forest, Suffolk, England, United Kingdom, an incident called “Britain’s Roswell“.

Now that we have looked at what happen The Night Before Christmas let’s look at the day of day’s itself, the Day before the Feast of St. Stephen  and also Boxing Day. 

2023- Christmas Eve worshippers to face security screening at Cologne cathedral as police cite attack risk | AP News

•  Quote of the Day

  Catholic Sat@CatholicSat (December 24, 2023) Roráte, cœli, désuper, et nubes pluant iustum: aperiátur terra, et gérminet Salvatórem. Cœli enárrant glóriam Dei: et ópera mánuum eius annúntiat firmaméntum.