Merry Christmas!

In your celebration of this Blessed Christmas Season …

… don't forget the most important Gift we have received.

'Tis Christ, the Lord.

Jesse Tree: December 25 - Merry Christmas!

(Note: This is a series of posts from 2008.)

Merry Christmas! Above is our last Jesse Tree Ornament, which we'll hang this morning.

1 And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. 2 This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, 5 To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

6 And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. 9 And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. 10 And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

11 For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. 15 And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.

16 And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. 18 And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Gospel according to Saint Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 1-19

What If I Fall Down There?

When I was in college, I had a professor who told us a story to illustrate how children see the world. He talked about the big sewer grates on St. George Street in St. Augustine, Florida, where Flagler College is located. He saw a small boy, probably about three or four, and the child was walking with his father. The boy stopped fearfully in front of one of the huge grates and held tight to his father's hand.

"Daddy," he asked, "what if I fall down in there?"

The professor stopped here and said, "It doesn't matter that physically the boy is too big to fall throught the grate. His kind obviously can't comprehend that. The father gave a perfect answer to this important question."

"If you fell down in there, I'd come in and get you," he said, and his son relaxed and felt it was safe to go on.

I recalled this story at Midnight Mass. Father K was talking about how God knew Man was in trouble, and He came for us - to save us. He is like the father on St. George Street, who calmed his son with the knowledge that he would save him if he were in trouble.


How God is like that with us!! Right from the Fall, God promised that Someone would come for us. Someone would come in and get us. All through the Old Testament, He makes this known again and again. "I'm coming down there to get you. Don't be afraid. Trust Me. I'm coming!"

This lesson should not be left in the past, though. When we're scared or on trouble, we must remember that God will come down and get us. He will lift us up. He will sustain us. He will help, even when we can't understand what He's doing.

Think about the boy. He trusted his father, but if he fell down the grate, he would be unable to see what measures his father was taking to get ready to come after him. And if the boy was crying loudly for help, it's also likely he wouldn't be able to hear his father calling down comforting words to him.

This is so much like when we pray for help from our Father in Heaven! We are so busy crying. We can't hear God answering us, trying to calm us. We do not trust Him enough.

This is a big lesson for me. I must learn to trust Him more. I must learn to listen for His comforting words while I wait for hte help that comes. Perfect help at the perfect time. HIS time. Not my own.

I have to remind myself that if I fall down in there, He will come down and get me.

[image credit: Flagler College, grate, Nativity of Our Lord]

Merry Christmas!

Happy birthday to our dear Lord!

Jesse Tree: December 25 (Christmas Day)

(Note: This is a series of posts from 2008.)

Merry Christmas! Above is our last Jesse Tree Ornament, which we'll hang this morning.

1 And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. 2 This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, 5 To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

6 And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. 9 And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. 10 And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

11 For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. 15 And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.

16 And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. 18 And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Gospel according to Saint Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 1-19

Favorite Songs

Fox News has a little video up about their least favorite Christmas songs. But I'd rather go with something The Anchoress asked:

What is your favorite song(s) at Christmas, and why?

Here are my answers. And, yes, it's plural because how can you pick a favorite? It's like picking a favorite child!

• "Silent Night" This is a beautiful piece, and it never fails to make me cry when I sing it at Midnight Mass. The third verse just melts my heart!
  
  Silent Night, Holy Night
  Son of God, Love's pure Light
  Radiant beams from Thy Holy Face
  With the dawn of redeeming Grace
  Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth!
  Jesus, Lord, at Thy Birth!
  
  
• "O, Holy Night" How can you not get chills when you hear them proclaim:
  
  Fall on your knees and hear the angels' voices!
  
  
• "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" I love this song for one of the last verses because it reminds me of what we're celebrating. It sums up the beginning of the Gospel the way the Alleluia Chorus sums up the end:
  
  Christ by highest Heaven adored
  Christ, the Everlasting Lord
  Late in time, behold Him come!
  Offspring of the Virgin's womb
  Veiled in flesh, the Godhead see!
  Hail, the Incarnate Diety!
  Pleased, as Man, with men to dwell
  Jesus, our Emanuel!
  Hark! The herald angels sing!
  Glory to the newborn King!
  
  
• "O Come, All Ye Faithful" I am tearing up right now as I think of when I'll sing the following tonight:
  
  Yea, Lord, we greet Thee
  Born this happy morning!
  Jesus, to Thee be all glory gi'en
  Word of the Father
  Now in flesh appearing
  O come, let us adore Him
  O come, let us adore Him
  O come, let us adore Him: Christ the Lord!
  
  
• "The Little Drummer Boy" No, it's not a hymn as the rest of this list has been. But it's always made me cry, even as a child. When I was a little girl learning to play the piano, I learned this song. I played it with VIGOR! (Probably a bit more loudly than necessary or what is meant to be.) But I played it for Him, you see. I played my best for Him, and I'll bet He smiled at me, just like the boy in the song. This one is to remind us that no gift, when given to Christ with love, is too small for Him. He can take the simplest of gifts and magnify them.
  
  
  
• We aren't called to great things, but to do small things with great love. This song, as cheesy as some people might think it is, reminds us of that. And, in these times of economic difficulties for many, it's a good thing to remember at Christmas. We aren't called to give great, big gifts. We're called to give good gifts. And the greatest Gift is Love, which is freely given to all. The love we give our children (as well as the gift of faith) is the greatest gift they receive. When the toys they get this year are long gone and in a trash heap, it's going to be the love you gave them that lives on. They can do without another DS game. They can do without the iPod or the computer. But they can't do without our love.

Tell me in the comments:

What are your favorite Christmas songs, and why?

Also, don't forget to vote in the poll on cookies. I'll put the recipe up after Christmas. Because it's never too late to make cookies. ;)

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Christmas Light Hero

A friend of mine shared this with me.

Think I can get Travel Man to do this with our lights next year??

Tell Me What You Want, What You Really, Really Want!

I'm willing to type in some of the recipes I used for cookies (that aren't on Nestle's bags or oatmeal boxes, anyway).

But not all.

So tell me what you want for Christmas. Here are the nominees:

Weight Watchers' Chocolate Wafer Cookies (Do not be fooled by the WW label - these are so good, you'll never know they're only one point each!!)

Mocha Crinkle Cookies, with a strange-but-wonderful recipe.

Cappuccino Cookies, which can be rolled in chocolate sprinkles before you cut the log of dough, or baked plain, then dipped in melted semi-sweet or white chocolate chips.

Oh, how'd that get there? These are Dark Chocolate Mint Chip Cookies, and if you want it, you can get the recipe on the back of a Nestles' bag of Semi-sweet and Mint Chips. If you can still get the chips, that is. ;) Seriously, I threw the bag away, but don't they look lovely with a little powdered sugar on them? That sugar actually fell off the Mocha Crinkles while they were all cooling on the racks.

Lollipop Sugar Cookies. You saw the spread here, but this one was especially nice. Look how pretty the green sugar looks! These are FABULOUS, and just looking at them probably adds two inches to my thighs.

So...VOTE! What cookies do you want to see a recipe for?

What kind of cookies do you want a recipe for?
	Chocolate Wafers from WW
	Mocha Crinkles (Why do you keep calling the recipe weird, anyway?)
	Cappuccino Cookies
	Lollipop Sugar Cookies
pollcode.com free polls

Free Christmas Music!

Amazon has free Christmas music downloads, but I do feel obligated to warn you that they are not all really Christmas music. The Boxmasters' single seems anti-Christmas and actually has an "Explicit" warning on it!

That said, it's still free downloads, and their handy-dandy MP3 download tool makes it easier to do (and loads it straight into iTunes for you).

Don't worry (as I did) that you missed a few days...Amazon allows you to download all the songs so far this month!

There is a really pretty "Coventry Carol" available that I would highly recommend as a remedy to the noise and bustle that seems to be everywhere. Just look for the album cover you see to the left.

Remember!

My annual reminder for Christmas shoppers who boycott based on how you are wished happiness this time of year.

The Reason

I have been watching some classic (well, from my childhood) Christmas movies with the girls, mixed in with some more modern classics like the Santa Clause movies. And I said to them yesterday, "You know, one thing that bugs me about these movies is the attitude that you 'have to remember what Christmas is about,' with the understanding that it's about family and love and getting along and warm fuzzies with each other. Well, it is about Family and Love because it's about the Holy Family and the Love that is God. But it bothers me that all the movies made in recent years seem to focus on this idea that remembering what Christmas is about is about remembering that giving presents is better than getting them. Christmas is about Jesus coming as a child - the ultimate present."

Then I came home and read this piece at The Curt Jester (home of the lovely Advent wreath you see on my sidebar). He expounds on this very idea. Here's a sampling:

We hear about remembering the "Reason for the Season" from two sources. The secular source has an answer for this question on every made for TV movie pretty much shown for the next 23 days. The message is that family matters and that we should stop and smell the roses and remember what is important. Well as a message it is certainly a good one in that it has large aspects of the truth in it. Though this answer is also missing something. G.K. Chesterton once quipped about his friend George Bernard Shaw that he was like Venus de Milo in that "all there is of him is admirable." The secular view of Christmas which I held to most of my life is nice and cozy, filled with plenty of traditions, and strong on family. Though the modern "holiday" movie seem to be geared more towards broken families.

The other "reason for the season" message of course comes from Christians in that Christ is the reason. This might seem like a no brainer emphasis, but it is one more and more lost in the materialism and confusion of the Christmas season. Family is important and the Holy Family is even more important. Christ did not become a child so that we could have warm thoughts about each other in a non-specified holiday season. Christ did not become fully man to vacation among us. ...

What are we doing to combat this idea, to focus on the real meaning of Christmas?

Our family does a Jesse Tree - and these are the only ornaments we've got on the tree until Gaudette Sunday. We are in the wrapping-up process of The Great Adventure Bible Study. We pray daily. We attend at least one extra Mass each week. Next week, we'll be participating in the National Night of Prayer for Life.

And we do our best not to get caught up in the madness that Christmas shopping can be. We try to keep our gifts for each other at a minimum when we can (though I admit to getting more than the last couple of years, but a lot of that is turning out to be things the girls need), and Santa only brings three gifts for each of them, to symbolize the gifts of the wise men to our Lord.

What are you doing to keep your focus on Christ this year? What are you doing to remind others of the real Reason for the Season?

No Holiday Mail for Heroes

I am so bummed out.  I got all excited that we could send Christmas cards to soldiers, and I thought they would be going local.  Turns out that the Holiday Mail for Heros had a caveat that I did not know about until today.

 Holiday cards should be addressed and sent to:

Holiday Mail For Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456

Cards must be postmarked by December 10 , 2008.  Cards received after this date will be returned to senders.  For more information, please visit Redcross.org/holidaymail. You can also leave a message on the Red Cross Service to the Armed Forces Facebook Wall.  [emphasis mine -ed]

I had no idea until I got all six cards our family sent out.  How on earth did I miss that part of it?

Of course, that's because anything after that won't get there by the "end of the holiday season."  But Christmas goes until the feast of the Baptism of our Lord, which is Sunday.  (Or, if you're going the other route, until the Epiphany, which was yesterday.  I've heard both.  Take whichever you like better.  My tree is up until this weekend, anyway, because Epiphany was in the middle of the week.)

I guess I'll have to pay more attention next year, eh?

Christmas Surprises

The girls had saved up their own money for Christmas, then selected gifts for each other based on a limit Travel Man and I put for them.  They wound up selecting nearly identical presents for each other - warm and fuzzy socks to wear in place of slippers!  Here's a picture of their footsies together.

Today is the Last Day of Christmas!

Happy Epiphany Day!

Christmas Pictures

Santa brought a game called "Skittles" for the girls, in which you spin a top and try knocking down pins placed  on the board, which has compartments the top needs to move in and out of to get to the pins.

It is as big a hit as the light sabers that make noise and light up (and pop out at the touch of a button) and the Mario Kart for Wii.

We had a lovely Christmas ham (spiral, honey, delicious!) with mashed sweet potatoes, green beans, and rolls.  Simple, but delicious.  

I hope your Christmas Season (which has only just begun, remember!) is a blessed one.

Tidings of Great Joy

Merry Christmas!  Above is our last Jesse Tree Ornament, which we'll hang this morning.

1 And it came to pass, that in those days there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that the whole world should be enrolled. 2 This enrolling was first made by Cyrinus, the governor of Syria. 3 And all went to be enrolled, every one into his own city. 4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem: because he was of the house and family of David, 5 To be enrolled with Mary his espoused wife, who was with child.

6 And it came to pass, that when they were there, her days were accomplished, that she should be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him up in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock. 9 And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear. 10 And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, that shall be to all the people:

11 For, this day, is born to you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord, in the city of David. 12 And this shall be a sign unto you. You shall find the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes, and laid in a manger. 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army, praising God, and saying: 14 Glory to God in the highest; and on earth peace to men of good will. 15 And it came to pass, after the angels departed from them into heaven, the shepherds said one to another: Let us go over to Bethlehem, and let us see this word that is come to pass, which the Lord hath showed to us.

16 And they came with haste; and they found Mary and Joseph, and the infant lying in the manger. 17 And seeing, they understood of the word that had been spoken to them concerning this child. 18 And all that heard, wondered; and at those things that were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart. 20 And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God, for all the things they had heard and seen, as it was told unto them.

Gospel according to Saint Luke, Chapter 2, Verses 1-19

Matt Bors Tells the Consumeristic Christmas Story

What?  That's not how it went down?

Politcally Correct Seasonal Greetings

Thanks, Esther!

And don't forget!!!