Christmas Reflections Thru The Years

A collection of Christmas poems to celebrate the Christmas season. Ordinary poems meant to share the spirit of Christmas.

Patty Kirk helps us get in touch with the muted hopes and fears stirred up annually by the Christmas season. She gracefully reminds us that these emotions are met and given their resolution in the coming of Christ, which Christmas celebrates, Advent anticipates, and all our lives prepare us for.

The title of this book, Very Short Reflections--for Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, Ordinary Time and Saints--through the Liturgical Year, accurately describes its contents. Chapter 1 presents a short reflection for every day of the Advent Season. Chapter 2 does the same for every day of the Christmas season. Lent is covered in chapter 3, the Sacred Paschal Triduum in chapter 4, and the fifty days of the Easter season in chapter 5. Chapter 6 covers Ordinary Time. And chapter 7 presents a short reflection for every solemnity, feast, and memorial of saints, whose special day falls during the liturgical year. The short reflections are based on sets of Mass texts--Entrance Antiphon, Collect, Prayer over the Offerings, Preface, Communion Antiphon, Prayer after Communion, and Prayer over the People--presented for every day of Advent and Christmas, Lent and Easter, Ordinary Time and saints in The Roman Missal. The reflection identifies the theme of the day and presents how it is manifested in the Mass texts. These very short reflections are designed to expose to the reader the liturgical spirituality that emanates from the Mass texts.

Offers a novelist's perspective on the story of the first Christmas.

During the holidays, so many of us can suffer for all kinds of reasons. The magnitude of our weary world weighs on our hearts and minds. We wrestle with chronic pain, broken relationships, shattered dreams, fragile faith, and unexpected losses. Our grief and sorrow feel particularly acute when compared to the festivity and joy everyone else seems to be feeling. More and more churches are acknowledging this fact with "Blue Christmas" services (also called “Longest Night” services) and offering resources to give particular support and comfort to those struggling during the “most wonderful time of the year.” Kathy Escobar has been leading Blue Christmas experiences at her church for nearly a decade and just experienced her bluest season of all following the sudden death of her son. In A Weary World, Escobar provides twenty-eight daily reflections paired with prayers and practices to honor our struggles during the holidays. Weekly resources make this Advent devotional suitable for group study as well.

Prayer, the raising of the heart to God, is the heart of the Christian life. For the author of Luke's Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles, prayer is the habit of being in the presence of God. One of the primary ways Jesus is characterized in Luke's Gospel is that of a pray-er. Likewise in the Acts of the Apostles, the apostles are portrayed being in God's presence. Prayer is the topic of this book; it highlights the passages where Jesus is found praying in the Gospel and where the apostles are found praying in the Acts. From the example Jesus gives in Luke's Gospel, and from the example the apostles give in the Acts of the Apostles, the reader concludes that prayer should be a part of the life of any Christian. If Jesus himself prayed--spoke and listened to God--then how can his followers do any less? This book can be used during the Advent-Christmas Season, the Lenten Season, the Easter Season, and at any time one wants to hone his or her praying skills. This book is especially useful during the period of post-baptismal catechesis for those in the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults with its focus on spiritual growth through prayer.

The "Catholic Daily Reflections Series" was written to help you enter more deeply into the Holy Scriptures and the Catholic Liturgy on a daily basis. Through these reflections and prayers you are invited to enter into the Word of God in a personal, engaging, challenging and transforming way. These reflections are also a great resource for priests and deacons for their daily homily preparation. This Volume of the "Catholic Daily Reflection Series" offers daily reflections and prayers for the Advent and Christmas Season. All Volumes: Volume One: Advent and Christmas Volume Two: Lent and Easter Volume Three: Ordinary Time: Weeks 1-17 Volume Four: Ordinary Time: Weeks 18-34