The beauty of each narrative found in the Sacred Scriptures lies in the fact that there are always, in reality, two narratives unfolding. Thus, when we take the time to read and meditate on the Christmas narrative, we are invited to discover both...
Get Rid Of “Elf On The Shelf” And Try These Christ-Centered Alternatives Instead!
It's no secret that I'm not a Pinterest kind of mom. Any craft or project I try usually ends up as a complete fail. Maybe I'm slightly bitter about my horrible creative skills and that's why I've never been able to fully get behind the "Elf on the Shelf" craze, but I...
7 Surprising Things The Christmas Story Taught Me About Myself
If you were to walk through the narrative of the Nativity story, you’d know it pretty well, right? That’s not a trick question, because I agree, we all know it very well. But what if the reason why we know it so well isn’t just because we’ve heard it year in, year out...
Why Was Mary Absent From The Original Nativity Scene?
Since the beginning, Christian artists tended to reflect the theological developments that were going on at the time. Before the Nativity theme, for example, it was the Adoration of the Magi that first appeared in the 3rd century. In the background, we find the...
4 Ways To Reclaim The True Meaning Of Christmas For Children + Bedtime Tips For Christmas Eve!
During the holiday season, it’s so very easy to get caught up in the pretty packages, Christmas movies, hot cocoa, and the endless lists filled with names of all the people dear to us that it’s easy to forget what we are celebrating. While these things are wonderful,...
TXTMAS: What If The Angel Gabriel Sent His Messages Via Text?!
TXT Stories has created this cute video that imagines how things would have gone if the Angel Gabriel had communicated via text message. Of course, this isn't accurate, but it is funny, and it might be just the thing some of us need to take our minds off of Christmas...
Why Does It Matter That Jesus Was “Wrapped In Swaddling Clothes”?
Do you ever just skim through a Bible passage in order to get to the "good" part? Quickly scan the details to find the heart of the story? That's a habit that is necessary to break. Every word in the Bible carries significance and meaning, even those we just see as...
Five Feminine Virtues I Learned From The Joyful Mysteries | Part 3: The Nativity
Relations between the sexes: Have they ever been worse? It's enough to tempt one to despair. Thankfully, the Church is a bulwark of sanity in every human realm, not least of all in matters of sex and sexuality, on the deepest, primordial realities of Male and Female....
5 Works Of Art To Help You Pray The Joyful Mysteries Of The Rosary
Today, we resume our series on sacred art as an aid to praying the Holy Rosary. Sacred art makes sense, and it is just one more of the countless treasuries of our Catholic heritage. The Incarnation of the God-Man, Jesus Christ, would forever infuse humanity - human...
Here’s The Nativity Play That We All Need To See This Christmas
This short video from Speak Life shares a brief but beautiful insight into the life of a mother and her daughter Leeva, who has Down’s syndrome. Leeva is taking part in a Nativity play, and all her cast-mates also have Down’s syndrome. It is explained that the play...
Delightful Muppet Parodies Of The Christmas Story
Whether it be to bring a little joy to do your day or lighten up your talk about the Advent season, this delightful parody tells the Christmas story in a new and unique way. The video was produced by Puppetunes, a place for Biblical, downloadable song parodies. The...
Live All That The Nativity Represents In Your Daily Life | Pope Benedict XVI Quote
"It gives me great joy to know that the custom of creating a crib scene has been preserved in your families. Yet it is not enough to repeat a traditional gesture, however important it may be. It is necessary to seek to live in the reality of daily life that the crib...
Where Does Christ Dwell? | St. Gregory Nazianzen Quote
“Christ is born, glorify him. Christ from heaven, go out to meet him. Christ on earth; exalt him: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth. Let the heavens be glad and the earth rejoice !” (Ps 96:1.11), for him who is of heaven and now of earth. Christ has made his dwelling...
An Unexpected Christmas: These Kids Rock, Again!
Today's video is another great one thanks to St. Paul Art's and Media. It gives us a backstage pass to the first scene of Christmas from Heaven's point of view. A Deeper Look At The Nativity The video's script has a basic structure: God states the problem; the angels...
Advent: What is it that I want to prepare for?
At this time of year we are bombarded with so many commercials by those who want to sell us all the ingredients for a perfect Christmas – lots of food and a multitude of gifts. How many of these commercials have Christmas carols in the background? When we stop and...
“Good News of Great Joy” – The Story of Salvation History
This is a video released by St. Paul's Arts & Media (New Zealand). The video in itself is strikingly clever and the kid's acting couldn't be better. It's a run down of the history of our salvation that begins at the Garden of Eden and ends with the announcement of...