When Christmas Preparations Truly Matter
It all began the day after Thanksgiving, on Black Friday. Navigating the sales and offers for material goods, many of which will be discarded the next day I was buried in the confusion of the season which hadn’t even started yet. The police were on high alert as the potential for violent clashes at retail outlets across the country was high.
The Hope of Advent
I held it together until the morning after our beloved family puppy had gone missing. Up until then, I was all action: printing “lost dog” flyers, helping my husband canvass neighborhoods where she’d last been seen, and consoling our three children who were understandably yearning to find her.
We Are Blessed to Know the True Wonder of Christmas
Secularism Cannot Replace Christmas The day after Thanksgiving, I returned from Portugal. My wife and I decided to stay a few extra days after our Fatima pilgrimage group departed to spend the holiday with some friends. It was not a holiday there, but something jumped out at me; advertising for Black Friday was everywhere. This […]
Contemplate with Mary in the Silence of Advent
By Donal Anthony Foley Advent is Our Time of Preparation for Christmas Advent is our time of preparation for Christmas. During Advent, there is a change of tone in the daily readings at Mass, when we shift from a focus on Christ’s second coming at the end of time to one that considers His first […]
November, the Month of Awareness and Gratitude
by David Carollo – The month of November starts with the great feast of All Saints Day, which directs us to look to the many holy people who have been elevated to the altar and stand as examples of how we need to live. We have our favorite saints, those who we look up to, […]
The ‘O Antiphons’ – Expressions of Messianic Hope
The Great Advent Antiphons, or ‘O Antiphons’, from the 6th century, are chants that call upon the titles given to Christ by the ancient prophets.
The Expectation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and other Advent feasts
by Donal Anthony Foley – While Advent is principally a time of preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ into the world 2,000 years ago, we also find, in a secondary sense, a focus on the person and role of Our Lady. This becomes clear if we examine some of the Marian feast days, which […]
The O Antiphons – Expressions of Messianic hope
by Donal Anthony Foley – As Christmas Day approaches, it’s good to adopt the mind and spirit of the Church in anticipation of this great and festive event. One way we can do this is by following the Mass readings of the days from Dec. 17 to 25 and by reflecting on what are known […]
