ADVENT TIME IS HERE, BY GOLLY!: Okay, I have now officially shot my bolt as far as Vatican-gay-priest-stuff goes. So why not a post about fun Christmas stuff I love?

Favorite Christmas movies, in order: “It’s a Wonderful Life.” I expected it to be saccharine, and only watched it because of Jimmy Stewart. It’s actually a hard-earned, powerful story about what it means to be good.

“The Lion in Winter.” Ferocious, brilliant from start to finish, despite being bleaker than three-day-old D.C. snow.

“Gremlins.” C’mon, you love it too! A genuinely poignant, creepy, low-rent fable. (The sequel, “Gremlins 2: The New Batch,” was funny and flashy, but lacked the emotional commitment that made the original so awesome.)

Favorite carols, in rough order: “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silent.” Incarnational and spooky.

“Hark! The Herald Angels Sing!”: 1. “God and sinners reconciled.” 2. “Hark!” Hee. How can you not love a song that starts with “Hark!”?

“O Holy Night.”

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” Poignant, longing, a reminder of our abiding neediness.

“In the Bleak Midwinter.”

“We Three Kings.” How can you not love this unforgettable, rousing account? “King and God and Sacrifice….”

“What Child Is This?” Such a beautiful tune. I love “Greensleeves,” and it’s even better as a carol.

Honorable mention, because you can’t not: The Pogues, “Fairytale of New York.” Such a hard-ass, beautiful song. Everything I love about my country, everything I love about this very strange and tempestuous life. I note that this song was narrowly beaten out for the Christmas 1987 UK #1 spot by the Pet Shop Boys’ cover of “Always on My Mind.” If anyone ever asks why I miss the ’80s, I won’t even bother talking about Reagan or Thatcher or JPII; I’ll just point out that little fact and rest my case.

Come Home for Christmas. From my church in DC:

Thursday, December 15, 2005 —–
Come Home for Christmas Advent Penance Service
12:10 PM-1:40 PM

I’ll bet there’s a church in your area doing something similar. Come home.

And the boys in the NYPD choir are still singing “Galway Bay,”
As the bells are ringing out for Christmas Day…