BLOG: Advent and Christmas
For many people, and perhaps even for us, Christmas seems to end on December 26th. With the shopping frenzy of Boxing week, the plans for the New Year’s Eve party and the new Valentine’s Day themed decorations in the malls, the true Christmas season and its meaning quickly dissipates into memory. For many, all that ...read more
With Christmas fast approaching, and malls becoming busier with shoppers looking for the “perfect” gift to give their loved ones, the most precious gifts are not material things you can purchase. True giving comes from the heart through expressions of love. I offer these three gifts as suggestions. Gift of Time John 15:12 This is ...read more
Christmas urges us to reflect on the Mystery of the Incarnation. In a short video series, Fr. Eric Nicolai, an Opus Dei priest and art expert, helps us reflect on this mystery through religious art from the early Christians to roughly around the 18th century. Despite all the changes in the artistic depictions of the ...read more
At 12 o’clock noon today, Solemnity of the Lord’s Birth, from the Central Loggia of the Vatican Basilica, the Holy Father Francis, before imparting the “Urbi et Orbi” Blessing, addresses the traditional Christmas message to the faithful present in St. Peter’s Square and to those who listen to him through radio and television. This is ...read more
? The Infancy Narratives in the gospels of Mathew and Luke are filled with rich symbolism. The Evangelists were Christians of the first century whose lives were dramatically changed after the death and resurrection of Jesus. It was their deep faith in Jesus and their concrete experience of the Christian community that informed the theology ...read more
CHRISTMAS 2017 MASS AT NIGHT Homily of Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King in Hamilton Christmas is here! After several weeks of Advent preparation, we have arrived at the celebration of Christmas. For the world, Christmas marks the end of something. There will be no more Christmas carols on the radio ...read more
  Mary “gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn” (Lk 2:7). In these plain and clear words, Luke brings us to the heart of that holy night: Mary gave birth; she gave us ...read more
God is the God of life. God is the God of love. God is the God of creation. God is the God of breath. God is the God of image. God is the God of presence. God is the God of union. God is the God of being. God is the God of family. God ...read more
Last month, I had the honour of traveling on pilgrimage to the Holy Land (Israel, Palestine and Jordan)with Salt + Light TV. Being on pilgrimage, is an entirely different experience than being a tourist. To the Christian, being on pilgrimage means to walk the same path, to see the same sights, and to encounter the same crowds that Our Lord would have as He triumphantly entered Jerusalem, with the knowledge He was bound for confrontation with the authorities. ...read more
For the last three weeks we’ve looked at three words for Advent: Light, Voice and Joy. Last week we looked at Elizabeth and how she was filled with joy when Mary came to see visit her. She heard Mary’s greeting and was filled with the Holy Spirit and the child in her womb leaped for ...read more