Advent and Christmas
7 questions about Christmas
1. Was Jesus really born on the 25th December? No he wasn’t. The date was in fact a pagan feast which celebrated the return of the ‘dying sun’ at the end of December. From then on the days would become longer. In about 354AD the …
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My Christmas Past, Present and Future
‘Don’t be such a Scrooge’. This character from Charles Dickens’ novel ‘A Christmas Carol’ seems to have been remembered more for his days as a miserable miser than his conversion to a generous man. Yet Scrooge did have a change of heart after he was …
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What Makes a Happy New Year?
At the beginning of this new year, the greeting ‘Happy New Year’ is on everyone’s lips. Yet do we really know what brings us real happiness, what we really mean when we wish happiness to others? God is happiness, He is the happiest Being. Those …
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The Dinosaur in the Crib
Our picture of a good crib is certainly one where Our Lady, St Joseph, baby Jesus and the animals are all present. However, it is not unknown for little children to insert other suspicious looking animals and toys into the crib. A dinosaur in the …
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Preparing for the Second Christmas
Preparing for Christmas involves many things decorations, cribs, trees, buying presents, cards and parties. However, the Gospel tells us how to prepare for the second and definitive Christmas, the return of the Lord. For most this will probably be on their departure from this world, …
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How to Live Advent
If something does not make much of a difference to us it is a waste of time to stop and ponder it. At the beginning of Advent the liturgy does not take us back to the events before the birth of Jesus but rather to …
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Christmas in Our Winter
The Everlasting Winter without Christmas “The White Witch? Who is she?” Asks Lucy. “Why, it is she that has got all Narnia under her thumb. It’s she that makes it always winter. Always winter and never Christmas; think of that!” (from the book – The …
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