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Category Archives: Christmas
American Magi, Vatican Babies
While American Catholics were doing Magi and hearts throbbing, Pope Francis was ahead of our game, baptizing infants in the Sistine Chapel. How long has that tradition been in place now? Dear parents, thank you for bringing your children here … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Church News
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EP 4 Preface on Christmas
I’ve blogged on Eucharistic Prayer IV before, like here. Nearly two years ago, I was thinking about it for Lent, but my pastor has chosen it last weekend as well as this morning for the Mass during the Day. Even … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Liturgy
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Open for Christmas
Open wide your door to the one who comes.Open your soul,throw open the depths of your heartto see the riches of simplicity,the treasures of peace,the sweetness of grace.Open your heartand run to meet the Sun of eternal lightthat illuminates all … Continue reading
Posted in Astronomy, Christmas
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2023 Coming
2023 liturgical calendar arrived today. But I mostly don’t use paper calendars. Still, I had to peek. When Transfiguration falls on a Sunday, it means an Advent/Christmas crash will follow, one of my favorite liturgical year alignments. For my new parish, … Continue reading
Camels As Ships
One interpretation of the “three ships” in the English carol is that they symbolized the camels, the “ships of the desert” presumably used by the Magi. Bethlehem is clearly not a port, and I think we do well to respect … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Music
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Titus or Timothy?
This weekend’s cycle C option for Baptism of the Lord includes a mask-up of the Night and Dawn readings from Christmas: Titus 2:11-14; 3:4-7. I wonder if a better option wouldn’t have been to include the credal statement from 1 … Continue reading
The Epiphany Sunday Dust-Up: It’s Golden
“It was fifty years ago today, US bishops moved a holy day.” I remember in my early days as a Catholic that Epiphany appeared on January second. It first happened in 1972 and it happened again yesterday. A not-too-deep look … Continue reading
Christmas Stamps 1973: Needlepoint and Madonna
I know it’s just an artistic design on a stamp from 1973, right, but if your tree ornaments were at this scale … well, that’s a nicely huge gingerbread cookie for munching. You can have those 18-inch candy canes. The … Continue reading
Hannah and Her Son
Over the years, I’ve experienced a certain vehemence about not using the cycle A readings every year in Lent on those third, fourth, and fifth Sundays. The feeling strikes me as equally strong to stick to the cycle A options every … Continue reading
The Feast Of Stephen
Somewhere in my deep memory, there was a preacher who spoke with approval of the dropping of the observance of Christendom’s first martyr the day after the festivity of the Nativity. Let’s not get caught up too much in celebrations, … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, Saints
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See What Love
I know that the holiday for gratitude was last month. However, I feel a swell of gratitude for family, friends, and faith community this year. A cycle C reading for Holy Family, in part, covers the whole meaning for me: … Continue reading
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Christmas Stamps 1972: A Coronation and a Santa
Check that painting above. Venture a guess as to what it might depict? For Catholics, it’s easy: the feast celebrated on the 22nd of August. This was the inspiration for the USPS “traditional” Christmas stamp. Specifically, a pair of musicians … Continue reading
Much Ado About Christmas
“You’ve been watching too many superhero movies,” said the young miss. I was telling her about my nightmare of getting kidnapped with her and her mom and being threatened with death in vats of acid, so there would be no … Continue reading
Posted in Christmas, fantasy, film
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Christmas Stamps 1971: Shepherds and a Partridge
Another 16th century Venetian, the one known as Giorgione, gave the US mail his Adoration of the Shepherds, once again courtesy of the National Gallery of Art. The USPS edited out the accompanying landscape. Obviously, way too large for such … Continue reading
Catholic Sensibility 
Real Epiphany
Today is a favorite day for many Catholics to utter an annual complaint that today isn’t an obligatory Mass attendance day. Frankly, except for the whining, I’m in agreement with this line of thinking. As a start. There’s more (or … Continue reading →