Catholic Christmas ideas, Christmas homilies, Christmas quotes, Christmas books and more Catholic resources
The moment we’ve been waiting for and anticipating with great joy hasfinally arrived! The birth of our Lord is a story known throughout the world andthroughout the ages and yet, it is an intimately personal story for us all. As Maryand Joseph experience the miraculous...
This article is an excerpt from Why Christians Can Wear Pants: Spiritual Lessons from Strange Stories in Papal History. When one looks through the letters of the great Pope Saint Nicholas I, one comes across the following rather strange sentence, We consider...
A SONG IS CONCIEVED It didn’t take long for our dinner conversation in July 2022 to find itself deep in the discussion of music, particularly of our own. With a B.A. in music from Rowan University and several published songs and compositions to my credit, I had been...
St. Joseph has been accompanying me since my youth and this latest accomplishment—the song I co-wrote with Tom Raniszewski, “The Carpenter’s Son”—is but another time he has influenced my thinking and lifelong spiritual journey. When I began elementary school at St....
The Catechism of the Catholic Church beautifully exclaims that “No one, whether shepherd or wise man, can approach God here below except by kneeling before the manger at Bethlehem and adoring him hidden in the weakness of a new-born child (CCC 563).” The manger at...
If there is one thing every Catholic knows, it’s that Christmas Mass is one of most chaotic Masses of the year. Often the parking lot is overflowing and the pews are jam-packed with people. Not to mention the sheer madness that can ensue when trying to get everyone...
The moment we open our eyes the day after Thanksgiving (and oftentimes even before), we are inundated with reindeer, gingerbread, gifts, elves, and Santa. Though these things are not inherently bad, if we do not keep our Christmas season properly ordered, it is all...
2023 saw a musical release of the Nativity Story, which I critiqued in a previous review. A different musical, Spirited, released on Apple+, and was enjoyed by audiences in 2022. I recently had the opportunity to reflect about the musical and enjoy it on a dark and...
An Advent pre-game is coming to theaters in November, helping Christians and moviegoers to reflect on the mystery of the incarnation before the Christmas season. Journey to Bethlehem is a unique musical reproduction of the Nativity story, which admits at the end that...
Gospel of Luke 2:15-20 hen the angels went away from them to heaven,the shepherds said to one another, “Let us go, then, to Bethlehemto see this thing that has taken place, which the Lord has made known to us.”So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the...
What parents don’t want to give their children the best gifts possible? But beyond traipsing through malls or scrolling online for the perfect present, time might be well spent this Advent season giving kids the Greatest Gift by helping them develop a deeper...
The Shepherds of Bethlehem are not really glamorous. They’re easy to take for granted. They’re not interesting exotic wizards from a distant land. They’re not powerful kings or tyrannical rulers. They’re just ordinary, working folks. Sure, they claimed to see a choir...
“What’s the point of Christmas?” we ask our kids after their 82nd time watching Elf this week. “Jesus!” they shout. Whew! We drill that question into our children every few days during this season of Advent to help them remember the focal...
Hallmark, Great American Channel, Lifetime, Hulu, Netflix, and many other companies and networks compete in the Christmas movie market. Each year dozens upon dozens of new films are available for our viewing or streaming desire. The pattern of these movies...
Church bells will soon be summoning worshippers on Christmas Eve and Day. All types of believers will fill church pews for one of the holiest days of the Christian year. Some will be regulars, others occasional, and some will be those who attend only on...
In my book, Christmas Blossoms, an old Chinese craftsman has earned his living painting beautiful Christmas ornaments. His co-workers like to hear him explain what Christmas is about. He alone among them can tap into treasured Christmas memories, because he...
A cold coming we had of it,Just the worst time of the yearFor a journey, and such a long journey:The ways deep and the weather sharp,The very dead of winter.'And the camels galled, sorefooted, refractory,Lying down in the melting snow.There were times we regrettedThe...
THE LITANY OF THE HOLY FAMILY Lord, have mercy.Christ, have mercy.Lord, have mercy.Christ, hear us.Christ, graciously hear us.God, the Father of Heaven, have mercy on us.God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.God, the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.Holy...
This Christmas, pray as the Saints did with these Christmas prayers! Let Your Goodness Appear To Us | St. Bernard of Clairvaux Let your goodness Lord, appear to us, that we, made in your image, may conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imagine your...
I’m somewhat ashamed to say, this story didn’t happen until I was about halfway through seminary: It was my first Christmas in Italy. After three years in the seminary in the United States, I had been sent to the North American College Seminary in Rome for the last...
Mass, reconciliation, prayer, and works of charity are undeniably the best means of preparing oneself for the great and solemn feast of Christmas, but if you’re like most people, music is also probably an important part of your Advent season leading up to the...
If you’ve even been in a relationship workshop, like Pre-Cana for engaged couples, you’d heard of the five love languages: physical touch, words of affirmation, acts of service, quality time, and gifts. In our consumerism culture, we tend to rely on gifts, especially...
Christmas is fast approaching. It will soon be time to light a fire, warm mugs of hot chocolate and settle in with good movies. 5 Movies To Get You In The Christmas Spirit But what to watch? No worries, we’ve got you covered with...
On a December afternoon I watched one-year-old grandson Ronan-the-Barbarian crawl around the Christmas tree. He would stop, reach out his arm and dip his fist into the water in the tree stand. And then he would bless himself, tap, tap, tap in his baby way. At his eye...
What if? Every movie, book, or play sees its genesis when someone somewhere utters those two words: what if? What if a mammoth shark terrorizes a beach community? What if a boy befriends a stranded extraterrestrial and works to help the being return home? What...