Merry Christmas! And here's one of my favorite Christmas hymns for your holy day.

 Out of the mouths of the young to touch our hearts with the true meaning of Christmas. 

May you and your family be blessed on this holy day.

Wishing All Readers a Very Merry Christmas!

 

Too Sweet Not to Repeat: Merry Christmas!

I posted this in 2011 and can't tell you who the friend was who sent the Christmas card now. But I love the message this precious picture sends and the message beneath it. I think it's worth repeating. We live in such ugly times with so much evil, but goodness still shines. Let us all run to the manger like the shepherds and kneel before Our Savior who came as a helpless baby to be loved and cuddled by His creatures even a lonely little pooch.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL OUR READERS FROM ME AND SUSAN!

A friend sent me this as an email Christmas card and I pass it on to you. Be sure to curl up with Jesus sometime Christmas day. After all, He's the reason for the season.

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard. During the night, someone came across this. An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep. He chose baby Jesus as his comfort. No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night.

We should all have the good sense of this dog and curl up in Jesus' lap from time to time. This is too sweet not to share.

No one mentioned that the dog breed is a "shepherd!"

Unto Us a Child Is Born; Unto Us a Son is Given!

Merry Christmas from Les Femmes! 

Welcome the Light of the World! Merry Christmas from Les Femmes!

Maybe next year the Vatican can feature one of these nativities. Wouldn't that be wonderful!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Esteban Murillo 

Rejoice and Be Glad: Our Savior is Born!

We've seen enough of the horrifying Nativity in St. Peter's Square. Let's look at some depictions of the Savior's birth that are beautiful and awe-inspiring. When I look at each of these pictures it makes me think of a Christmas carol. Don't you want to sing to the glory of God when you look at this? The only thing I think of when I look at the Vatican Nativity is the Nightmare Before Christmas!

Have a blessed and Merry Christmas. 

Rembrandt - O Holy Night!

Monday Morning and My Meandering Mind

• I had a weird dream the other night. My dad who died in 1985 was in it -- very real -- so real in fact that my dreaming self said, "He really looks like he's here; this is the most real dream I've ever had." He didn't say anything, but I've been praying for him and the other folks I recognized in the dream: a deceased brother-in-law, my oldest godchild, and a friend who lives on the West Coast. Very strange dream. 

• Thinking about Advent, I'm starting to get out the Christmas decorations little by little. We'll put up the tree next Sunday and each night when we light the Advent wreath we'll put on a Jesse tree ornament and read a corresponding Bible passage: the sun, flowers, and a few little stuffed animals for creation; apples for Adam and Eve; a Noah's ark ornament; a little baby in a basket (from my doll collection) for Moses, a bundle of sticks and a (butter) knife for Abraham and Isaac, a ladder (from the mouse house) for Jacob, etc. When our local grandchildren visit we'll let them add the Jesse tree ornaments. But we won't turn on the lights until we finish decorating the tree with our Texas grandchildren when they come a few days before Christmas. What a lovely season this is for celebrating the gift of family. 

Joy to the World the Lord is Come!

Merry Christmas 

to all our readers and your families. 

You are in our prayers during this holy season!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

The reason for the season: "Rejoice, for unto you is born a Savior, Christ the Lord!"

Small Town Blessings: Merry Christmas for One!

I love living in Woodstock! (The "other Woodstock") As I've gone around town the last few days I haven't been wished happy holidays or seasons greetings. No, the clerk at the post office and the cashiers at Sheetz and Rite Aid all wished me a "Merry Christmas." Even a local real estate office wishes me a "very Merry Christmas" on their sign board every time I pass by. There is something so much more human in a small town. We lived in Alexandria for about 38 years and, while it offered many amenities we don't have in Woodstock -- five nearby parishes with lots of daily Mass times from which to choose, many good restaurants, several nearby Malls, and a great choice among grocery stores -- I gladly accept their loss for a less anonymous place filled with real people -- that and all the animals grazing on the hillsides and the wide variety of birds coming to our feeders -- not to mention the beautiful mountains.

Is Your Heart Ready for the King?

He's coming tonight! A Blessed Christmas to you and yours!

Merry Christmas!

Does this not make you want to sing Angels We Have Heard on High? The celebration in heaven  and on earth is clear in Botticelli's painting, but what's also clear is the premonition of suffering as baby Jesus lies on a white sheet reminiscent of his shroud. Come, Lord Jesus, Savior of the world! Reign in our hearts!

A Big Corporation with a Big Heart: Pass On the Joy!

This is amazing. And note the Merry Christmas -- no Happy Holiday rhetoric. For those who hate capitalism, do you think you'd ever see this in a socialistic state? How many people are trying to sneak into commie countries? And don't you think many of those folks who received their gifts will pass on the joy by giving to others? Take a tag or two off your church's giving tree and remember that it's more joyful to give than to receive.

Rejoice! Your Savior is Born. Hosanna in the Highest!

Wishing You and Your Family a Blessed and Merry Christmas!

Murillo's Adoration of the Shepherds

Art teaches theology. Notice the light in this painting. It comes from the babe. He is wrapped in pure white like an infant clothed in the white garment of baptism. Everyone in the portrait is leaning toward Jesus in silent adoration their faces filled with reverence and awe and  reflecting back the glow of the baby who is the Light of the World. Even the ox is focused on the event as if to represent all creation bowing at the coming of the Savior. After the baby and Mary, the brightest image in the portrait is the lamb reminding the viewer that Jesus is the lamb of God called to be slain. The kneeling shepherd, in fact, wears the fleece of a slain lamb which reminds me that we are called to "put on Christ." If I had to choose one virtue illustrated by Murillo it would be humility. Our Savior coming as a tiny baby, Mary wrapping him in the humble garments she's made for him, the profoundly humble body positions of Mary, Joseph, and the shepherds Their humility teaches how we should approach the King of King and Lord of Lords - on our knees in adoration.

The ACLU Never Sleeps in their Zeal to Promote Intolerance....

against Christians. They will gladly promote atheism anywhere anytime.

Free Speech vs. Sound of Silence

Why not send the grinches at the ACLU a Christmas card. Enclose a prayer. It's becoming an annual rite and who knows what impact all those prayers can achieve against the enemies of God? Heap those burning coals of the Holy Spirit on their heads and pray for the graces of conversion to move their hard hearts. Don't forget to wish them a "Merry Christmas."

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT!

A friend sent me this as an email Christmas card and I pass it on to you. Be sure to curl up with Jesus sometime Christmas day. After all, He's the reason for the season.

A Nativity Scene was erected in a church yard. During the night, someone came across this. An abandoned dog was looking for a comfortable, protected place to sleep. He chose baby Jesus as his comfort. No one had the heart to send him away so he was there all night.

We should all have the good sense of this dog and curl up in Jesus' lap from time to time. This is too sweet not to share.

No one mentioned that the dog breed is a "shepherd!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM LES FEMMES