I would like to share with you a special Christmas tradition from our family. It goes back as far as I can remember.
My mother was a wonderful baker, especially at Christmas time. She would spend the weeks before Christmas diligently turning out one wonderful confection after the other.
Christmas stories. I have one for you. It’s about Mary. Wearing a baggy dress and a saggy sweater, she would enjoy an ice cream sandwich at the summer county fair just like the rest of us.
That’s where I would see her each year when I was growing up. She looked old and lonely, but obviously had not lost her taste for the sweet treats in life. Other than that, Mary was a mystery to me until one Christmas many years ago.
I think I may have become a news junkie. Maybe it is an act of rebellion because I see so many people my age getting out of touch with things. It’s almost as if they are saying, “Stop the world; I want to get off!”
I saw it 30 years ago with my mother-in-law, an intelligent, well-read woman, and now I see it in some members of the senior residence where I visit daily. It makes me want all the more to stay tuned in and in touch.
So I read two daily newspapers, two weekly Catholic diocesan papers, a weekly news magazine from cover to cover, and two monthly Catholic magazines. The reading helps bring focus and detail to the dozens of newscasts I see on TV.
A knock on a rectory door. The parish priest opens the door to find a young man holding a newborn baby.
The child’s mother had died, shortly after giving birth. The baby’s father, overwhelmed by grief, was unable to care for the child by himself.
Jesus, God’s Word, became flesh in order to ultimately offer us the gift of his heavenly home. In John 3:16, it is stated, “Yes, God so loved the world that God gave us his only Son so that whoever believes in him may not perish, but have Eternal life.”
A great Catholic writer wrote that, out of love for us, the mighty hands that created the sun, moon, stars, and planets and hurled them into space became a tiny baby with hands so small that they could not reach up to touch the noses of the sheep and oxen who warmed him with their hayed breath.
As we transition from Thanksgiving, into Advent, and on toward Christmas, I thought that it would be nice to give some thanks, speak of hope, and talk of joy.
One argument that is often made to justify destroying human embryos begins like this:
Suppose there is a fire in a fertility clinic. You are the only adult present, and there is a newborn baby and a tank of liquid nitrogen with 5,000 frozen embryos in the clinic. You can save only one of them before the place burns down — which would you choose?
When it comes to Christmas presence this year, no shopping is required. Body and blood, soul and divinity, the presence of Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist remains the real gift of Christmas.
We celebrate the gift of the incarnation of the Word of God all year long in the Catholic Church. However, our turbulent economy and times, this year, are signaling a Christmas where presents will be fewer and peoples’ needs will be greater.
Even so, just like all the times before, there will be abundant Christmas presence for everyone.
In his writing prime, Mark Twain reportedly earned five dollars for each word that he wrote in articles that were published.
Even without considering inflation, this is good pay. A friend once playfully sent him a letter with a five dollar bill enclosed. He requested that Mark Twain send him his favorite word.
The latest news out of the State Budget Office confirmed what most state government observers have feared for some time. Wisconsin is facing its most serious budget deficit on record.
Like their counterparts in Washington, state policy makers confront serious choices as they manage Wisconsin’s fiscal house.
Like other crises, financial difficulties can be defining. For it is the choices we make when faced with hard decisions that define who we are and say more about what we value. It is at such times that we are in greatest need of principles and values to guide our judgment and clarify our vision.
