Sunday December 1, 2024

FIRST SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Day 335: Run the Race — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 335: Jesus Teaches Us to Pray — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Solo Magisterio | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1934 – Sergei Kirov is assassinated, paving way for the repressive Great Purge, and Vinnytsia massacre by General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, Joseph Stalin.
2023-Executions are on the rise in the U.S., even as public support wanes
Twenty-four executions have been carried out in 2023 — five more than last year, the Death Penalty Information Center says. Meanwhile, 50% of Americans say the death penalty is applied unfairly.

Monday December 2, 2024

Day 336: The Council at Jerusalem — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 336: Jesus Hears Our Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Practical and Evidential Reason | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1244 – Pope Innocent IV arrives at Lyon for the First Council of Lyon.
1804 – At Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris, Napoleon Bonaparte crowns himself Emperor of the French.
2020 – Cannabis is removed from the list of most dangerous drugs of the international drug control treaty by the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs.
2023 –Israel says it has hit more than 400 targets in Gaza since end of truce with Hamas
The temporary truce that collapsed early Friday followed seven weeks of fighting in Gaza sparked by simultaneous attacks on southern Israel by Hamas militants on Oct. 7.

Tuesday December 3, 2024

Saint Francis Xavier, Priest

Day 337: The Importance of Love — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 337: Blessing, Adoration, and Petition — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Extraordinary Claims, Extraordinary Evidence | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1800 – United States presidential election: The Electoral College casts votes for president and vice president that result in a tie between Thomas Jefferson and Aaron Burr.
1901 – In a State of the Union message, U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt delivers a 20,000-word report to the House of Representatives asking Congress to curb the power of trusts “within reasonable limits”. The speech was not delivered in person.
1960 – The musical Camelot debuts at the Majestic Theatre on Broadway. It will become associated with the Kennedy administration.
2023-The shadowy Hamas leader behind the war against Israel
Yahya Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, is widely believed to have helped mastermind the unprecedented Hamas attack that changed the course of Israeli-Palestinian history.

Wednesday December 4, 2024

Saint John Damascene, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Day 338: Death Defeated — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 338: Intercession and Thanksgiving — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Unanswered Prayer | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

963 – The lay papal protonotary is elected pope and takes the name Leo VIII, being consecrated on 6 December after ordination.
1563 – The final session of the Council of Trent is held nearly 18 years after the body held its first session on December 13, 1545.
1619 – Thirty-eight colonists arrive at Berkeley Hundred, Virginia. The group’s charter proclaims that the day “be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
1881 – The first edition of the Los Angeles Times is published.
1918 – U.S. President Woodrow Wilson sails for the World War I peace talks in Versailles, becoming the first US president to travel to Europe while in office.
1945 – By a vote of 65–7, the United States Senate approves United States participation in the United Nations. (The UN had been established on October 24, 1945.)
1956 – The Million Dollar Quartet (Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash) get together at Sun Studio for the first and last time.
2023 –Mexican bishop: thief who stole Eucharist is excommunicated

Thursday December 5, 2024

Day 339: Priscilla and Aquila — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 339: Prayer of Praise — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin The Use of Alcohol | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1484 – Pope Innocent VIII issues the Summis desiderantes affectibus, a papal bull that deputizes Heinrich Kramer and Jacob Sprenger as inquisitors to root out alleged witchcraft in Germany.
1831 – Former U.S. President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
1847 – Jefferson Davis is elected to the U.S. Senate.
1848 – California Gold Rush: In a message to the United States Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirms that large amounts of gold had been discovered in California.
1933 – The Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution is ratified.
2023 –Boy walks 7 miles on muddy roads to receive confirmation, gets a blessing from the pope
2023 –Canonization cause advances for ‘God’s architect,’ Antoni Gaudí

Patrick Neve@catholicpat (Dec 5, 2023)
“Mary Did You Know” haters like:

What child is this??

Um it’s obviously Jesus, read the bible.

Friday December 6, 2024

Saint Nicholas, Bishop

5 things to know and share about St. Nicholas

Day 340: The Power of the Holy Spirit — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 340: Scripture and the Liturgy — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Reincarnation and the Bible | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1865 – Georgia ratifies the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
1882 – Transit of Venus, second and last of the 19th century.
1921 – The Anglo-Irish Treaty is signed in London by British and Irish representatives.
1922 – One year to the day after the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty, the Irish Free State comes into existence.
1973 – The Twenty-fifth Amendment: The United States House of Representatives votes 387–35 to confirm Gerald Ford as Vice President of the United States. (On November 27, the Senate confirmed him 92–3.)
2017 – Donald Trump‘s administration officially announces the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
2023 –Former Speaker McCarthy says he’s leaving Congress at end of year
2023 –‘Time’ magazine names Taylor Swift its 2023 Person of the Year The 33-year-old international pop star has been playing to massive crowds on her Eras Tour and has garnered attention for her budding romance with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Andrew Petiprin@AndrewPetiprin (December 6, 2023) The best Christmas pop song of all time by far is Wham’s “Last Christmas.” Crazy to learn it was kept out of the number one spot in 1984 by “Do They Know It’s Christmas,” which is just terrible, even compared to other celebrity charity songs of that era. I actually preached on “Last Christmas” once when I was an Episcopal priest. Pretty cheesy “give your heart this year to the One who isn’t going to give it away” kind of thing. I think it was well received! Of course, George Michael sings on both.

Saturday December 7, 2024

Saint Ambrose, Bishop and Doctor of the Church

Day 341: Eternal Weight of Glory — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 341: The Theological Virtues — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin How Many Good Works? | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1787 – Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the United States Constitution.
1930 – W1XAV in Boston, Massachusetts telecasts video from the CBS radio orchestra program, The Fox Trappers. The telecast also includes the first television advertisement in the United States, for I.J. Fox Furriers, which also sponsored the radio show.
1941 – World War II: Attack on Pearl Harbor: The Imperial Japanese Navy carries out a surprise attack on the United States Pacific Fleet and its defending Army and Marine air forces at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
1965 – Pope Paul VI and Patriarch Athenagoras I simultaneously revoke mutual excommunications that had been in place since 1054.
1995 – The Galileo spacecraft arrives at Jupiter, a little more than six years after it was launched by Space Shuttle Atlantis during Mission STS-34.
2023 –House votes to censure Rep. Jamaal Bowman for pulling fire alarm Since January, the chamber has seen the removal of a member from a committee, the first ouster of a speaker in history and the expulsion of a lawmaker for only the third time since the Civil War.
2023 –Hunter Biden is indicted on federal tax charges A federal grand jury in the Central District of California returned the indictment charging the president’s son with three felony tax offenses and six misdemeanor tax offenses.

Sunday December 8, 2024

SECOND SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Day 342: Generous Hearts — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 342: Trinitarian Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Imprecatory Psalms | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1854 – In his Apostolic constitution Ineffabilis Deus, Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogmatic definition of Immaculate Conception, which holds that the Blessed Virgin Mary was conceived free of Original Sin.
1864 – Pope Pius IX promulgates the encyclical Quanta cura and its appendix, the Syllabus of Errors, outlining the authority of the Catholic Church and condemning various liberal ideas.
1980 – John Lennon is murdered by Mark David Chapman in front of The Dakota in New York City.
2013 – Metallica performs a show in Antarctica, making them the first band to perform on all seven continents.
2023 – Treasures destroyed and masterpieces in vaults: War’s toll for art in Israel and Gaza After the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, curators in Israel raced to lock their most precious museum items into safe storage. In Gaza, the fighting has caused damage to more than 100 cultural landmarks.

Melody Lyons@melodymlyons (Dec 8, 2023) We made cranberry orange scones for the feast day. So good. I have several cups of fresh cranberries left. What other recipes should we try?

Monday December 9, 2024

THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE
BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
(Patronal Feastday of the United States of America)

Saint Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin

Day 343: God Uses Paul’s Past — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 343: Praying Through Mary — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Imprecatory Psalms | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1851 – The first YMCA in North America is established in Montreal.
1946 – The subsequent Nuremberg trials begin with the Doctors’ Trial, prosecuting physicians and officers alleged to be involved in Nazi human experimentation and mass murder under the guise of euthanasia.
2008 – Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested by federal officials for crimes including attempting to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
2017 – The Marriage Amendment Bill receives royal assent and comes into effect, making Australia the 26th country to legalize same-sex marriage.
2023 –With bison herds and ancestral seeds, Indigenous communities embrace food sovereignty Native Americans are returning to raising buffalo and plants that tribes have grown for millennia. It’s a way to reconnect with historic traditions, and to bring healthy eating to their communities.
2023 –Vatican unveils Nativity scene honoring St. Francis of Assisi and devotion’s 800-year-old origin

Fr. Joseph Krupp@Joeinblack (December 9, 2023)
Today, about 150,00 people will wake up for the last time.
Pray to be ready for when it’s your turn.
Pray for the grace to live as if that’s today.
Pray for the souls of those who go to judgment today.
Pray for those who will mourn.

#talkedtotheboss

Mrs. CatholicComedy@MrsCathComedy (December 9, 2023) One of the hardest parts of not celebrating Christmas yet isn’t waiting to decorate or avoiding the music. It’s the fact that once Christmas actually starts, all the events and activities stop. No light shows, concerts and shows, music, gingerbread displays, etc. Just cold.

Tuesday December 10, 2024

[Our Lady of Loreto]

Thinking Faith@ThinkingFaith (December 10, 2023) Today’s #anniversary of #ThomasMerton’s death, particularly as it falls in #Advent, is an opportunity to contemplate with him the action of the Spirit. https://thinkingfaith.org/articles/thomas-merton-embrace-difference… #onthisday

Day 344: The Thorn in Paul’s Side — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 344: Guides for Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Purgatory in 1 Corinthians | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1520 – Martin Luther burns his copy of the papal bull Exsurge Domine outside Wittenberg‘s Elster Gate.
1541 – Thomas Culpeper and Francis Dereham are executed for having affairs with Catherine Howard, Queen of England and wife of Henry VIII.
1684 – Isaac Newton‘s derivation of Kepler’s laws from his theory of gravity, contained in the paper De motu corporum in gyrum, is read to the Royal Society by Edmond Halley.
1768 – The first edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica is published.
1906 – U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in the mediation of the Russo-Japanese War, becoming the first American to win a Nobel Prize in any field.
1996 – The new Constitution of South Africa is promulgated by Nelson Mandela.
2023 –The hidden life of Nicholas Black Elk revealed in canonization process
2023 – Orphan rescued by Mother Teresa promotes cause of Minnesota nun

Friar Mario Conte@FriarMario (December 10, 2023) We must ask the Lord to take the blindness from our eyes, the weakness from our wills, and the hardmess from our hearts, so that our lives may be flooded by the grace of his coming.

When Advent Becomes a Challenge # 50

2024 and Advent are both coming to a close. When you get to the end it can be a challenge.

Lets run the race to the Finish line and close 2024 in a relaxing sprint towards Christmas and the new year. Lots of interesting facts and videos to make you laugh and think that

Wednesday December 11, 2024

Saint Damasus I, Pope

Day 345: One in Christ — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 345: Animated by Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Religion versus Relationship | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1925 – Roman Catholic papal encyclical Quas primas introduces the Feast of Christ the King.
1934 – Bill Wilson, co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous, takes his last drink and enters treatment for the final time.
1972 – Apollo 17 becomes the sixth and final Apollo mission to land on the Moon.
2020 – The Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization on the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, the first COVID-19 vaccine to be approved by the agency.
2023 – UPDATE: Woman to leave Texas to get abortion after state Supreme Court blocks ruling

David Murray@dvdmrryklly (Dec 11, 2023) I believe that most go to Purgatory. Few go directly to Heaven. Many (who reject God until the end) suffer eternal death.

Thursday December 12, 2023

Our Lady of Guadalupe

Fact or fiction? 9 popular myths about Our Lady of Guadalupe

Day 346: Fruits of the Spirit — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 346: Meditation and Vocal Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Security and Sonship | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1901 – Guglielmo Marconi receives the first transatlantic radio signal (the letter “S” [•••] in Morse Code), at Signal Hill in St John’s, Newfoundland.^[
1917 – Father Edward J. Flanagan founds Boys Town as a farm village for wayward boys.
2023 –YouTube restores HM Television’s channel, documentary on Sister Clare Crockett

William Hemsworth@w_hemsworth (Dec 12, 2023) You write because there’s fire in your bones. You’ve got to do this whether anybody ever reads it or not.

Owl! at the Library ��‍♀️@SketchesbyBoze (Dec 12, 2023) “how did people keep up with TV before the internet?” my young friend, we didn’t need phones. if you missed an episode, there would be one person in every classroom the next morning re-enacting the plot like a town crier

Bishop Robert Barron@BishopBarron (December 12, 2023) God is neither a thing in the world, nor the sum total of existing things; he is instead the unconditioned cause of the conditioned universe, the reason why there is something rather than nothing. Accordingly, God is not some good thing, but Goodness itself; not some true object, but Truth itself; not some beautiful reality, but Beauty itself.

Friday December 13, 2024

Saint Lucy, Virgin and Martyr

Day 347: Witness to Unbelievers — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 347: Contemplative Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin The Dating of Matthew | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1623 – The Plymouth Colony establishes the system of trial by 12-men jury in the American colonies.
1769 – Dartmouth College is founded by the Reverend Eleazar Wheelock, with a royal charter from King George III, on land donated by Royal governor John Wentworth.
2023 – People have been searching for this song from ‘The X-Files’ for 25 years. Until now A song playing in the background of one episode has fascinated and eluded fans for more than two decades as they sought to track it, and the musicians, down. Now that mystery has finally been solved.
2023 –Pope Francis celebrates 54 years as a priest

Saturday December 14, 2024

Saint John of the Cross, Priest and Doctor of the Church

Day 348: Rules for the New Life — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 348: The Battle of Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin God Is Unscientific? | Catholic Answers Podcasts

1780 – Founding Father Alexander Hamilton marries Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton at the Schuyler Mansion in Albany, New York.
1782 – The Montgolfier brothers first test fly an unmanned hot air balloon in France; it floats nearly 2.5 km (1.6 mi)
1972 – Apollo program: Eugene Cernan is the most recent person to walk on the Moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt complete the third and final extravehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
2012 – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting: Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook, Connecticut.
2017 – The Walt Disney Company announces that it would acquire 21st Century Fox, including the 20th Century Fox movie studio, for $52.4 billion.
2023-Away from Gaza, homes in south Lebanon bear the scars of Israel’s other front line A farming village in southern Lebanon sits on the edge of a parallel conflict to the war in Gaza, with Hezbollah militants fighting with Israel. Some Lebanese hold out hope for a permanent truce.

Sunday December 15, 2024

THIRD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Day 349: Holy Indifference — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 349: Temptation, Trust, and Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Binding and Loosing | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

687 – Pope Sergius I is elected as a compromise between antipopes Paschal and Theodore.
1791 – The United States Bill of Rights becomes law when ratified by the Virginia General Assembly.
1939 – Gone with the Wind (highest inflation adjusted grossing film) receives its premiere at Loew’s Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
1978 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter announces that the United States will recognize the People’s Republic of China and sever diplomatic relations with the Republic of China (Taiwan).
2023 –Salesian priest stabbed to death in Democratic Republic of the Congo

Monday December 16, 2024

Day 350: Faith and Works — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 350: Persevering in Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Objective Righteousness | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1905 – In Rugby Union, The “Match of the Century” is played between Wales and New Zealand at Cardiff Arms Park.
1968 – Second Vatican Council: Official revocation of the Edict of Expulsion of Jews from Spain.
2023 –Two women killed amid Israeli attack at Holy Family Parish in Gaza, Latin Patriarchate says

Tom@DigestTom (December 17, 2023) Every day I become more and more grateful for Pope Francis being at the helm of the universal church.

Tuesday December 17, 2023

Day 351: Draw Near to God — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 351: The Prayer of the Hour of Jesus — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin The Standard of Goodness | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1538 – Pope Paul III excommunicates Henry VIII of England.
1790 – The Aztec calendar stone is discovered at El Zócalo, Mexico City.
1903 – The Wright brothers make the first controlled powered, heavier-than-air flight in the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1969 – Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs.
2023- Pope Francis turns 87: one of the oldest popes in Church history

Albert Gim Juie Oon@OonAlbert (December 17, 2023) Daily reminder to go to confession and repent of your sins before it’s too late. You have today to repent. Every day after, every moment even, is an example of God’s great mercy that allows you more time. You are not measured by your failings. What counts is that you get back up.

Wednesday December 18, 2023

Day 352: Purified by Fire — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 352: Summary of The Battle of Prayer — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin A Fallible Canon? | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire “Yuan” (元 yuán), officially marking the start of the Yuan dynasty of Mongolia and China.
1892 – Premiere performance of The Nutcracker by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
1944 – The Supreme Court of the United States issued its decision in Korematsu v. United States supporting Franklin D. Roosevelt‘s Executive Order 9066 which cleared the way for the incarceration of nearly all 120,000 Japanese Americans, two-thirds of whom were U.S. citizens, born and raised in the United States.
2019 – The United States House of Representatives impeaches Donald Trump for the first time.^[
2023-Trial begins for Jimmy Lai, Hong Kong Catholic activist imprisoned for 3 years
2023 –U.S. bishops: Vatican declaration does not change Church teaching on marriage
2023 – St. Januarius’ blood miraculously liquifies again in Naples

Marvin Williams@marvinlwilliams (December 18, 2023)

Friends, let’s stop wasting energy and being anxious about controlling how other people feel about us.

When we are not defined by other people’s opinions of and feelings about us, we will be okay with people misunderstanding us.

Thursday December 19, 2024

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

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.

Friday December 20, 2024

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

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.

Saturday December 21, 2024

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

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?

Sunday December 22, 2024

FOURTH SUNDAY OF ADVENT

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

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.

Monday December 23, 2024

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.

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)

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

Tuesday December 24, 2024

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.

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

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.

Wednesday December 25, 2024

THE NATIVITY OF THE LORD (Christmas)

Day 359: John’s Apocalypse — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 359: The Seven Petitions — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Keeping the Sabbath | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1492 – The carrack Santa María, commanded by Christopher Columbus, runs onto a reef off Haiti due to an improper watch.

1559 – Pope Pius IV is elected.

1621– Governor William Bradford of Plymouth Colony (now in Massachusetts) forbids game playing on Christmas.

1642 Sir Isaac Newton is born.

1717 – Pope Pius VI is born (d. 1799)

1758 – Halley’s Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley’s prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time.

1775– Pope Pius VI promulgates the Encyclical INSCRUTABILE (On The Problems Of The Pontificate)

For the same reason you should undoubtedly always give special attention to the beauty of the house of God and the splendor and dignity of objects dedicated to the divine service. Such beauty and splendor often greatly inspire the faithful, and draw them to the veneration of sacred realities. It would be very improper for the bishop’s house to be cleaner and furnished more tastefully than the abode of holiness, the palace of the living God. It would make no sense to see holy vestments, adornments for the altar and all the furniture in the church worn out with age and torn or dirty, while the bishop’s table is well laden, the priest’s clothing very clean and finely coordinated

1776 – George Washington and the Continental Army cross the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, New Jersey, the next day.

1809 – Dr. Ephraim McDowell performs the first ovariotomy, removing a 22-pound tumor.

1831 – The Great Jamaican Slave Revolt begins; up to 20% of Jamaica’s slaves mobilize in an ultimately unsuccessful fight for freedom.

1831 Louisiana & Arkansas are first states to observe Christmas as holiday.

1862 40,000 watch Union army men play baseball at Hilton Head, South Carolina

1868 – Pardons for ex-Confederates: United States President Andrew Johnson grants an unconditional pardon to all Confederate veterans.

1890 – Robert Ripley, American anthropologist and publisher (d. 1949)

1899 – Humphrey Bogart, American actor (d. 1957)

1902 Pope Leo XIII, at his annual Christmas reception, endorses the Christian Democratic movement now emerging in Europe as an attempt to offer an alternative to more radical movements

1914 – A series of unofficial truces occur across the Western Front to celebrate Christmas.

1924 – Rod Serling, American screenwriter and producer, who created The Twilight Zone is born. (d. 1975)

A word to the wise to all the children of the twentieth century, whether their concern be pediatrics or geriatrics, whether they crawl on hands and knees and wear diapers or walk with a cane and comb their beards. There’s a wondrous magic to Christmas, and there’s a special power reserved for little people. In short, there’s nothing mightier than the meek, and a merry Christmas to each and all.
– Rod Serling

1938 George Cukor announces Vivien Leigh will play Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind”

1941 – World War II: Battle of Hong Kong ends, beginning the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong.

1946 – Jimmy Buffett, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, and actor.

1946 – W. C. Fields, American actor, comedian, juggler, and screenwriter (b. 1880)

1955 Pope Pius XII writes MUSICAE SACRAE an encyclical on sacred music & popular music.

Music is among the many and great gifts of nature with which God, in Whom is the harmony of the most perfect concord and the most perfect order, has enriched men, whom He has created in His image and likeness. Together with the other liberal arts, music contributes to spiritual joy and the delight of the soul.

On this subject St. Augustine has accurately written: “Music, that is the science or the sense of proper modulation, is likewise given by God’s generosity to mortals having rational souls in order to lead them to higher things.”

1957 Richard Starkey (later better known as Ringo Starr) receives his first drum set.

1962 USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR.

1962 “To Kill a Mockingbird”, a film adaptation of the novel by Harper Lee, directed by Robert Mulligan and starring Gregory Peck, is released (Gregory Peck – Best Actor Academy Awards 1963)

1963 Walt Disney’s “The Sword in the Stone” is released.

1964 George Harrison’s girlfriend Patti Boyd attacked by female Beatle fans.

1967 Singer Paul McCartney & actress Jane Asher get engaged.

1968 Frank Borman’s Christmas reading while orbiting the Moon.

1971 The Kansas City Chiefs hosted the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Divisional Game which the Dolphins won, 27-24, in double overtime after 82 minutes and 40 seconds of play. Over four decades later, that game remains the longest NFL game ever played.

1977 – Silent slapstick king of comedy Charlie Chaplin dies. (b. 1889)

1983 1st live telecast of Christmas Parade at the EPCOT Centre, Disney World Florida.

1988- Terrorists take over Nakatomi Plaza but are therted by undercover cop John McClane.

1991 – Mikhail Gorbachev resigns as President of the Soviet Union (the union itself is
dissolved the next day). Ukraine’s referendum is finalized and Ukraine officially leaves the Soviet Union.

1992– Chaplin starring Iron Man’s Robert Downey Jr. premiers.

1995 – Dean Martin, American singer and actor dies. (b. 1917) He was born in Steubenville Ohio, home of Franciscan University.

1996 1,500-year anniversary of Catholicism in France commemorating the baptism of Clovis I in Rheims.

1997 For 1st time US movie box office receipts pass $6 billion.

1999 Opening of doors of St. John Lateran by Pope John Paul II.

2003 The ill-fated Beagle 2 probe which was released from the Mars Express Spacecraft on December 19, disappears shortly before its scheduled landing.

2006 – James Brown, American singer-songwriter (b. 1933).

2008– The Tom Cruise film Valkyrie premieres. It is about a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

2020- Due to the closure of most cinemas, Wonder Woman 1984 premieres on HBO Max and Pixar’s Soul on Disney +.

A suicide bomber detonated a recreational vehicle (RV) bomb in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, United States, injuring eight people and damaging dozens of buildings. It took place at 166 Second Avenue North between Church Street and Commerce Street at 6:30 am, adjacent to an AT&T network hub, resulting in days-long communication service outages.

People near the RV heard gunshots, and loudspeakers on the RV warned them to evacuate before the explosion, which was felt miles away. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) determined the bomber was 63-year-old Anthony Quinn Warner, a Nashville resident believed to have acted alone.

2023

Midnight Mass in Bethlehem: Patriarch addresses Gazan Christians, calls for end to war

Pope Francis on Christmas: Saying ‘yes’ to the Prince of Peace means saying ‘no’ to war

Jesuit astronomer remembers the first Christmas in space

O Little Town of Bethlehem… Pennsylvania? The story of ‘Christmas City USA’

Full text: Pope Francis’ homily for Christmas 2023

Brothers and sisters, tonight we might ask ourselves: Which God do we believe in? In the God of incarnation or the god of achievement? Because there is always a risk that we can celebrate Christmas while thinking of God in pagan terms, as a powerful potentate in the sky; a god linked to power, worldly success, and the idolatry of consumerism. With the false image of a distant and petulant deity who treats the good well and the bad poorly; a deity made in our own image and likeness, handy for resolving our problems and removing our ills. God, on the other hand, waves no magic wand; he is no god of commerce who promises “everything all at once”. He does not save us by pushing a button, but draws near us, in order to change our world from within. Yet how deeply ingrained is the worldly notion of a distant, domineering, unbending, and powerful deity who helps his own to prevail against others! So many times this image is ingrained in us. But that is not the case: our God was born for all, during a census of the whole earth.

Pope Francis@Pontifex (December 25, 2023) The message of Bethlehem is indeed “good news of great joy”. What kind of joy? Not the passing happiness of this world, but the joy that consoles hearts, renews hope and bestows peace. It is the joy of the Holy Spirit: the joy born of being God’s beloved sons and daughters.

Thursday December 26, 2024

Saint Stephen, The First Martyr

Day 360: Heavenly Worship — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 360: Hallowing God’s Name — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Evolution and the Benefits of Religion | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1723 – Bach led the first performance of Darzu ist erschienen der Sohn Gottes, BWV 40, his first Christmas Cantata composed for Leipzig
1919 – Babe Ruth of the Boston Red Sox is sold to the New York Yankees by owner Harry Frazee, allegedly establishing the Curse of the Bambino superstition.
1941 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day in the United States.
1966 – The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga, the chair of Black Studies at California State University, Long Beach.
2023 – Blind from birth, Sister Chiara Antonella shares her story of music and prayer

Fr. Ryan Hilderbrand@FrHilderbrand (December 26, 2023) Anyway, I’m not a big fan of the Basilica of St. Paul Outside-the-Walls (it looks like a fancy bus station), but I love that there is a large side chapel to St. Stephen in it. The ultimate in “no harm, no foul.”

Paulie and Stevie are best buds in heavenly glory.

Friday December 27, 2024

Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist

Day 361: Judgment and Repentance — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 361: The Kingdom and Will of God — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Homosexual Unions Not Marriages | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1836 – The worst ever avalanche in England occurs at Lewes, Sussex, killing eight people.
1935 – Regina Jonas is ordained as the first female rabbi in the history of Judaism.
1983 – Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Ağca in Rebibbia‘s prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter’s Square.
2004 – Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet.
2023 –Actor Lee Sun-kyun of Oscar-winning film ‘Parasite’ is found dead in Seoul South Korean actor Lee Sun-kyun, who played a rich entrepreneur in the Oscar-winning film Parasite, was found dead on Wednesday. Police suspect he died by suicide.

Mary Pezzulo@mary_pezzulo (December 27, 2023) You know what’s better than a Trump Rally? Stepping on a Lego, falling into a vat of spoiled milk, getting puked on by a toddler who’s been eating peanut butter as you step out of the vat, and then the moment you get in the shower to clean it all off someone flushes the toilet.

Saturday December 28, 2024

The Holy Innocents, Martyrs

Day 362: The Woman Clothed with the Sun — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 362: Our Daily Bread — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin A Multiplicity of Gods? | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1832 – John C. Calhoun becomes the first Vice President of the United States to resign. He resigned after being elected Senator from South Carolina.
1846 – Iowa is admitted as the 29th U.S. state.
1958 – “Greatest Game Ever Played”: The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the first ever National Football League sudden death overtime game at New York’s Yankee Stadium to win the NFL Championship.
2023 –Catholic speaker John O’Leary gets the Hollywood treatment of his life story
2023 –Rescued by Mother Teresa, Minnesota man now shares his incredible stories of two nuns

Fr. Thomas Petri, OP@PetriOP (December 28, 2023) In his poem, The Mystery of the Holy Innocents, Charles Péguy imagines the innocents playing with their palms and crowns under the Altar of God. God himself guesses the children are playing hoops, but isn’t sure since they don’t seek His permission on the games they play. They don’t need to—such is the simplicity of His Paradise. What a wonderful and contrasting image of the Holy Innocents from the perspective of eternity. Herod meanwhile dies, and Josephus reports that there were celebrations in the streets. Worldly power comes and goes. God and His saints remain. And they play.

Melissa Cecilia@MelissaCeciliaG (December 28, 2023)If I ever delete my Twitter/X account, I’ll have “This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things” by Taylor Swift playing in the background. Because, yes.

Sunday December 29, 2024

THE HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH

Saint Thomas Becket, Bishop and Martyr

Fifth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

Day 363: The New Covenant Priesthood — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 363: Forgive Us Our Trespasses — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Antipopes | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1607 – According to John Smith, Pocahontas, daughter of Powhatan leader Wahunsenacawh, successfully pleads for his life after tribal leaders attempt to execute him.
1913 – Cecil B. DeMille starts filming Hollywood’s first feature film, The Squaw Man.
1937 – The Irish Free State is replaced by a new state called Ireland with the adoption of a new constitution.
2023 –Vatican announces art contest for Stations of the Cross to be displayed in St. Peter’s Basilica
2023 –2023 witnessed continued attacks on pro-life pregnancy centers, churches

Pope Francis@Pontifex (December 29, 2023) God so greatly desires to embrace our lives that, infinite though he is, he becomes finite for our sake. In his greatness, he chooses to become small. This is the wonder of #Christmas: the unprecedented tenderness of a God who saves the world by becoming incarnate.

Monday December 30, 2024

Sixth Day within the Octave of the Nativity of the Lord

Day 364: Christ’s Sacrifice Once for All — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 364: Deliver Us from Evil — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin The Cosmic Teapot | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1902 – The Discovery Expedition under Robert Falcon Scott attained a Farthest South at 82°17′S in Antarctica.
1936 – The Flint sit-down strike hits General Motors.
2006 – Former President of Iraq Saddam Hussein is executed.
2023 –What countries did Pope Francis visit in 2023 and what did he say?
2023 –Here’s where Christians continued to face persecution in 2023

FrJosh �@tweetmobb (December 30, 2023) My associate is a wild man who will go out of his way, at any time, to fill a need. He just came in with a bunch of wood & said “some old lady on the rez just told me she can’t have fires bc she has no kindling” & now I can hear the sound of a handsaw coming from the workshop.

Tuesday December 31, 2024

[Saint Sylvester I, Pope]

Day 365: The Beginning and the End — The Bible in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) – YouTube
Day 365: So Be It — The Catechism in a Year (with Fr. Mike Schmitz) (youtube.com)

Daily Defense Podcast With Jimmy Akin Ancient Scriptures | Catholic Answers Podcasts

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

1759 – Arthur Guinness signs a 9,000-year lease at £45 per annum and starts brewing Guinness.
1790 – Efimeris, the oldest Greek newspaper of which issues have survived till today, is published for the first time.
1857 – Queen Victoria chooses Ottawa, then a small logging town, as the capital of the Province of Canada.
1878 – Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1878 – Karl Benz, working in Mannheim, Germany, files for a patent on his first reliable two-stroke gas engine. He was granted the patent in 1879.
1879 – Thomas Edison demonstrates incandescent lighting to the public for the first time, in Menlo Park, New Jersey.
2000 – The last day of the 20th Century and 2nd Millennium.
2009 – Both a blue moon and a lunar eclipse occur.
2020 – The World Health Organization issues its first emergency use validation for a COVID-19 vaccine.
2023 –4 kernels of wisdom from Pope Benedict XVI’s last message to the world.
2023 –Thousands of ‘Star Singers’ continue tradition of bringing Christ’s blessings for new year
2023 – CNA’s top 10 Catholic stories of 2023

Pope Francis@Pontifex (December 31, 2023) A year ago, Pope Benedict XVI ended his early journey, after having lovingly and wisely served the Church. We feel so much affection, gratitude and admiration for him. He blesses and accompanies us from Heaven.

This Month in Life December 2024

2023