Image: istockphoto.com (Advent) Recently I received an email from my the waste company I subscribe to offering me the perfect solution for my planning and pre-Christmas clear-out…should I have any. This points to the concern so many of us have about getting ready for Christmas and the real panic experienced by some. I was talking… Read More
Tag: Christmas
An Endless Conflict in the Middle East
Image: www.skynews.com As Christmas approaches and we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, the situation in the Middle East is a reminder of how much the world needs the Message the Son of God brought. Since the terrible events visited on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, we have been… Read More
In Town Before Christmas
Image: www.ireland.com When visiting the center of Dublin at this time of the year we all know we can expect crowds, and we have been told that after two years of Covid restrictions there will be a great swell of people converging on the city. This was in my mind when I went in… Read More
Keeping the Crib in Christmas
Image: Br Sean Blackwell The crib in Bethlehem is what Christmas is all about, although with every year that passes it seems that this truth is becoming more and more blurred. We are becoming increasingly aware of the ways in which the Season has become a time for overspending and overindulging, and much has been… Read More
A Christmas to Remember
I am writing this in Christmas week, three days out from the big day on the 25th, and sadly we are in the midst of new restrictions and facing the possibility of more. The dreaded word ‘Lockdown’ is even being mentioned across the water in the UK. This time last year we probably believed,… Read More
Looking Forward: Advent & Christmas
For many years, and I can remember it well, there was a great tradition in Ireland of the pre-Christmas shopping season beginning on the Holy Day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary. People from all over the country would descend on Dublin and there was a real sense that the Festive Celebrations… Read More
Christmas with Covid
One morning this week while listening to the radio I heard a news report broadcast from Dublin Airport. The people interviewed were describing how different their workplace looked this year. The crowds which usually pass through their portals at Christmas have dwindled, all as a result of the restrictions imposed by Covid-19. One woman explained… Read More
From Advent to Lent
Last Sunday, November 29 marked the beginning of Advent, the first of twenty-five days when we get ready for the great event of Christ’s birth. The word itself has its roots in the Latin, adventus which translates as ‘arrival’, from advenire – ad meaning ‘to’ and venire– ‘come’. Advent is a time of spiritual preparation… Read More
Living with Hope
Living With Hope For the first time this week, the news in relation to Covid-19 was positive as it seems the possibility of a vaccine is now looking likely and there was a cautious optimism expressed by interviewees on the radio. This, allied with the victory of Joe Biden in America proved the truth of… Read More
Little Women and Wise Men
On January 6th we celebrate both Little Women and Wise Men and by that I mean Nollaig na mBan and the coming of the Magi to Bethlehem. The latter, of course, is a well-known event in the Christian story of Christmas, but the former is a particular Irish tradition. I must confess that it did… Read More
Different Ways to spend Christmas
Different Ways to spend Christmas People are different, but at Christmas, there is somewhat of an expectation that we will all do the same thing. The emphasis, of course, at this time is on family. The little family of Bethlehem points us towards the importance of spending time with the people in our lives who… Read More
Holy Days or Shopping Days?
December the 8th is a holy day and was once the biggest Shopping Day of the year. It was traditional for the people living in the country to visit Dublin to do their Christmas shopping. Indeed, for many, it was a big day out that they looked forward to with anticipation. To the present generation,… Read More
The First Sunday of Advent
First of December; First Sunday of Advent This Sunday marks a lot of Firsts… yes the first day of December, but also the first Sunday of Advent, the first season of the Church year, leading up to Christmas and including the four preceding Sundays, during which we prepare for the birth of Christ. It is… Read More
Getting Ready for Christmas
Is it just me or did Christmas begin even earlier than usual this year? By that of course I mean the run up to it, when a choice of goods go on sale in the shops. For a long time now, it seems that Christmas gifts and cards have positively swamped the display stands in most… Read More