Advance Posts for Rest of Advent and Christmas


I will be offline from Friday until after Christmas

so....

 I wish everyone a Happy and Peaceful Christmas 
and heartfelt thanks for all your friendship and support throughout the year.

So Thank you. Gracias. Merci. Salamat. Danke. Obrigado. And . . . Go raibh maith agat.

 I've posted a few links and some previous reflections for these coming Sundays 
( albeit different readings), for easier access and also a link to a Christmas Day homily.

THIRD SUNDAY ADVENT



  • Scripture readings for Sunday's Mass are here
  • Reflections from St Louis Centre For Liturgy here

FOURTH SUNDAY ADVENT


  • Scripture readings for Sunday's Mass are here.
  • Reflections From St Louis Centre For Liturgy here
No More Leaving

At
Some point
Your relationship
With God
Will
Become like this:

Next time you meet Him in the forest
Or on a crowded city street

There won't be anymore
"Leaving."

That is,
God will climb into
Your pocket.

You will simply just take
Yourself
Along!

From: 'The Gift'
                                                         Translated by Daniel Ladinsky 


  • CHRISTMAS CREED 


    * I believe in Jesus Christ and in the beauty of the gospel begun in Bethlehem.

    * I believe in the one whose spirit glorified a little town; and whose spirit still brings music to persons all over the world, in towns both large and small.

    * I believe in the one for whom the crowded inn could find no room, and I confess that my heart still often excludes Christ from my life today.

    * I believe in the one who the rulers of the earth ignored and the proud could never understand; whose life was among common people, whose welcome came from persons of hungry hearts.

    * I believe in the one who proclaimed the love of God to be invincible:

    * I believe in the one whose cradle was a mother’s arms, whose modest home in Nazareth had love for its only wealth, who looked at persons and made them see what God’s love saw in them, who by love brought sinners back to purity, and lifted human weakness up to meet the strength of God.

    * I confess my ever-lasting need of God: The need of forgiveness for our selfishness and greed, the need of new life for empty souls, the need of love for hearts grown cold.

    * I believe in God who gives us the best of himself. I believe in Jesus, the son of the living God, born in Bethlehem, for me and for the world.
    Author Walter Russell Bowie and I've discovered a nice illustrated version of this from here.

 CHRISTMAS DAY




  • My selection of Christmas poems from 2011 are here 
  • and from 2010 are here
  • More Christmas poems from Kingdom Poets site here.


Hope to be back online around 29th December...

The Complete text alone is here.

          and my prayer for this Christmas for all of you who visit here is 
from a letter of St Paul to the  Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV)

                                               "I pray that out of his glorious riches 
                                                 he may strengthen you with power 
                                                 through his Spirit in your inner being, 
                                                 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts
                                                 through faith.
                                                 And I pray that you, being rooted
                                                 and established in love,
                                                 may have power, 
                                                 together with all the saints, 
                                                 to grasp how wide and long and high
                                                 and deep is the love of Christ, 
                                                 and to know this love
                                                 that surpasses knowledge
                                                 that you may be filled
                                                 to the measure of all the fullness
                                                 of God."

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