Tag: silent night

On
Bishop Robert C. Morlino, Bishop of Madison

Make this Christmas a ‘silent night’

This column is the bishop’s communication with the faithful of the Diocese of Madison. Any wider circulation reaches beyond the intention of the bishop.

Dear Friends,

The Book of Wisdom, Chapter 18, verse 14 says, “For while gentle silence enveloped all things, and night in its swift course was now half gone, Your all powerful word leapt from heaven, from the royal throne.”

It is a beautiful prophecy of the night of our Lord’s Birth. That’s why it’s the introit from the Sunday within the Octave of Christmas and it is a biblical reference, along with others, which give context to the beautiful Christmas hymn, “Silent Night.” Silence is part of the essential clothing, if you will, of Christmas.

The power of silence

Robert Cardinal Sarah, the Prefect for Divine Worship, has written a beautiful new book about the power of silence. Unfortunately, it is only available in French for now.

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On
Fr. Robert Barron

Christian themes in The Giver

Lois Lowry’s 1993 novel The Giver has garnered a wide audience over the past two decades, since it has become a standard text in middle schools and high schools across the English-speaking world.

With the enormous success of the Harry Potter, Twilight, and Hunger Games films, Hollywood has been busy adapting books written for the young adult audience. The most recent is the movie version of The Giver, produced by Jeff Bridges and starring Bridges and Meryl Streep.

Having never heard of the novel, I came at the film with no expectations, and I confess I was surprised both by the power of its societal critique and its implicit Christian themes.

Seemingly perfect city

The story is set in a seemingly utopian city, where there is no conflict, no inequality, and no stress. The streets are laid out in a perfectly symmetrical grid, the buildings are clean, and people dress in matching outfits and ride bicycles so as not to pollute the environment.

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