Advent & Christmas News
Pope: Bethlehem's Divine Light Covers the World
Vatican Information Service • 12/30/2008
Jesus was born for everyone, and just as Mary, in Bethlehem, offered Him to the shepherds, so on this day the Church presents Him to all humanity. VATICAN CITY (VIS) - At noon on the Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord, the Pope gave his traditional Christmas message and imparted the "Urbi et ...
Octave: St. Joseph, A 'Man’s Man', Calling Men to Jesus
By • Catholic Online • 12/28/2008
We need to learn to give our “Yes” to the God whose Love invites our participation. Joseph is our teacher on this way, a true 'Man’s Man', calling all men to follow Jesus. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - “Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary; of whom Jesus was born, he who is ...
Celibacy Doesn't Preclude the Joys Of The Holidays
By • Catholic Online • 12/28/2008
At Christmas, I get to see in a short season all of the things that make being a priest such a wonderful life. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - It never ceases to amaze me how many people offer their condolences to me during the Christmas season. Oh, they really don't realize what they're ...
Octave of Christmas - The Feast of the Holy Family
By • Catholic Online • 12/28/2008
The silence of Nazareth should teach us how to meditate in peace and quiet, to reflect on the deeply spiritual, and to be open to the voice of God’s inner wisdom and the counsel of his true teachers. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - During the Octave of Christmas we celebrate the Feast of the ...
Octave of Christmas – Feast of St. John the Evangelist
By • Catholic Online • 12/27/2008
St. John sometimes described himself as the disciple whom Jesus loved. To this “son of thunder” as he and his brother James were named, relationship was everything. WASHINGTON (Catholic Online) – James and John, the sons of Zebedee, left their father and the fishing trade first to follow John the ...
The Days After Christmas
By • Catholic Online • 12/26/2008
In the Church we don't have one day of Christmas, we enjoy a season; eight days of celebration and rejoicing during the Octave of Christmas, ending January 1. The tradition of Western Christians, in particular, incorporates the time from Christmas until the Feast of the Epiphany and even to ...
Pope Benedict: The Grace of Christmas: 'To All' and 'For All'
By • Catholic Online • 12/25/2008
The Official English full text of Pope Benedict XVI's 'Urbi et et Orbi' Christmas Message to the Church and the World. ROME (Catholic Online) - Catholic Online presents the full official text of the Holy Father's Christmas Message to "the Church and the World". Thanks to Rocco Palmo and ...
A Christmas Story: 'Have You Seen the Baby?'
By • Catholic Online • 12/25/2008
Sometimes a familiar sight can be seen with new eyes. Hope comes when you realize that Jesus, the baby in the manger, was truly God the Son, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. WASHINGTON, DC (Catholic Online) - “Ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for all the hard work you’ve put in on ...
Merry Christmas: Incarnate Love is Born Today
By • Catholic Online • 12/25/2008
Let us become a Christmas people offering through the witness of our lives the greatest gift of all, Jesus Christ, to a world waiting to be born again. CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Catholic Online) - Our Christmas Eve Gospel tells the wonderful story. Rooting this birth in the real family history and lineage ...
Commentary: Jesus - The true reason for the season
By • Catholic Online • 12/25/2008
Christmas can transcend circumstances when we remember that the reason for the season is Jesus! “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost nipping at your nose…” Washington, DC (Catholic Online) - This was not my Christmas in 1969. As a part of the United States Navy, I was stationed on the ...
