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Schoolchildren in the northern Spanish region of Asturias will no longer be able to call Christmas by its name now that a new law passed by the local education ministry prohibits the use of “religious” terms in the classroom when referring to the December and spring holidays. Teachers and pupils in Asturias classrooms will now have to refer to Christmas as “winter holidays” and Easter as “second term holidays”. The region’s socialist-led government

Today I saw that Sarah Palin is releasing in November 2013 a new Christmas book called, A Happy Holidays IS a Merry Christmas. When I found out that Sarah was writing this book about Christmas and that it mentioned "Christ"... I had to at once see what the Left had to say about this book release and its beloved conservative author. The first thing I did was to Google Sarah's book title and what I found funny right off the bat was that the Google search results for anything Sarah Palin listed all Left wing news agencies and blog commentaries...

Yes, I know that FReepers and other jaded conservatives will quickly ask, “Who the heck cares what some young punk from the leftist Washington Post bird cage liner thinks about Sarah Palin?” And, of course, I know there are so many other vitally important stories assailing us every day, so much to address, besides what a little-known, boyish, nearly-fresh-out-of-Harvard liberalette thinks of former Alaska Governor and Vice-Presidential candidate Sarah Palin. However, as I read the Washington Post opinion column by Alexandra Petri, it really hit home how desperate our situation is with the younger generations here in the United States...

NEW YORK — Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has a new book coming, this time about Christmas. The former Republican vice presidential candidate has a deal with HarperCollins for "A Happy Holiday IS a Merry Christmas," scheduled for November. HarperCollins announced Monday the book will criticize the "over-commercialism" and "homogenization" of Christmas and call for a renewed emphasis on the religious importance....

Exclusive: Pamela Geller sheds light on CAIR's bizarre, twisted reasoning In what could have been a jihadi bloodbath of unimaginable proportions, a young American Muslim attempted to mass murder upward of 25,000 infidels (mostly women and children) at a Christmas tree-lighting ceremony in Portland, Ore. Mohamed Mohamud has now been found guilty, and the Hamas-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, is enraged. According to Reuters, Hamas-CAIR’s Ibrahim Hooper “said the case could alienate the Muslim community.” Mohamud’s undercover handlers offered him several choices in the service of jihad. He could have opted just to pray for the destruction of...

January 13, 2013   Feast of the Baptism of the Lord   Reading 1 Is 42:1-4, 6-7 Thus says the LORD:Here is my servant whom I uphold,my chosen one with whom I am pleased,upon whom I have put my spirit;he shall bring forth justice to the nations,not crying out, not shouting,not making his voice heard in the street.a bruised reed he shall not break,and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,until he establishes justice on the earth;the coastlands will wait for his teaching. I, the LORD, have called you for the victory of justice,I have grasped you by the hand;I...

January 12, 2013 Saturday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 5:14-21 Beloved:We have this confidence in himthat if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in regard to whatever we ask,we know that what we have asked him for is ours. If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly,he should pray to God and he will give him life. This is only for those whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin,about which I do not say that you...

January 11, 2013 Friday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 5:5-13 Beloved:Who indeed is the victor over the worldbut the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is the one who came through water and Blood, Jesus Christ,not by water alone, but by water and Blood. The Spirit is the one who testifies,and the Spirit is truth. So there are three who testify,the Spirit, the water, and the Blood, and the three are of one accord. If we accept human testimony,the testimony of God is surely greater. Now the testimony of God is this,that he...

January 10, 2013   Thursday after Epiphany     Reading 1 1 Jn 4:19–5:4 Beloved, we love God becausehe first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,”but hates his brother, he is a liar;for whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. This is the commandment we have from him:Whoever loves God must also love his brother. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is begotten by God,and everyone who loves the Fatherloves also the one begotten by him. In this way we know that we love the...

January 9, 2013   Wednesday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 4:11-18 Beloved, if God so loved us,we also must love one another. No one has ever seen God. Yet, if we love one another, God remains in us,and his love is brought to perfection in us. This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us,that he has given us of his Spirit. Moreover, we have seen and testifythat the Father sent his Son as savior of the world. Whoever acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,God remains in him and he in...

January 8, 2013   Tuesday after Epiphany   Reading 1 1 Jn 4:7-10 Beloved, let us love one another,because love is of God;everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.In this way the love of God was revealed to us:God sent his only-begotten Son into the worldso that we might have life through him.In this is love:not that we have loved God, but that he loved usand sent his Son as expiation for our sins. Responsorial Psalm Ps 72:1-2, 3-4, 7-8 R. (see 11) Lord, every nation on...

January 6, 2013   Solemnity of the Epiphany of the Lord   Reading 1 Is 60:1-6 Rise up in splendor, Jerusalem! Your light has come,the glory of the Lord shines upon you.See, darkness covers the earth,and thick clouds cover the peoples;but upon you the LORD shines,and over you appears his glory.Nations shall walk by your light,and kings by your shining radiance.Raise your eyes and look about;they all gather and come to you:your sons come from afar,and your daughters in the arms of their nurses. Then you shall be radiant at what you see,your heart shall throb and overflow,for the riches...

With Christmas now in the rearview mirror, it is perplexing that some far-left bloggers are still bemoaning the fact that Newsweek magazine proclaimed that folks who respect the traditions of the Christmas holiday "won" the battle against secular progressives who want to diminish the birth of Jesus in the public square. Because of that ongoing angst, and because I am still in the Christmas spirit, I offer some travel tips to the anti-Christmas crew in preparation for this December. If you don't like Christmas, book your trip now. North Korea: According to reporting by ForeignPolicy.com, that feisty little country...

January 5, 2013 Memorial of Saint John Neumann, Bishop   Reading 1 1 Jn 3:11-21 Beloved:This is the message you have heard from the beginning:we should love one another,unlike Cain who belonged to the Evil Oneand slaughtered his brother. Why did he slaughter him? Because his own works were evil,and those of his brother righteous. Do not be amazed, then, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to lifebecause we love our brothers.Whoever does not love remains in death. Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer,and you know that no murderer...

January 4, 2013   Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious  Reading 1 1 Jn 3:7-10 Children, let no one deceive you. The person who acts in righteousness is righteous,just as he is righteous. Whoever sins belongs to the Devil,because the Devil has sinned from the beginning. Indeed, the Son of God was revealed to destroy the works of the Devil. No one who is begotten by God commits sin,because God’s seed remains in him;he cannot sin because he is begotten by God. In this way,the children of God and the children of the Devil are made plain;no one who...

Did you know that Christmas celebrations were banned in Scotland until 1958? I certainly didn’t, not until my son started working on his sixth grade “Christmas around the World” report. I haven’t looked up what the English did in this regard (Scotland always has had a good deal of autonomy within Britain, and never stopped following its own legal code). But it seems the good Presbyterians of the established Church of Scotland (“the Kirk,” ironically enough for traditional conservatives) thought Christmas was a Catholic holiday, best stamped out with criminal penalties for unwholesome celebrations (pretty much anything outside of church),...

January 3, 2013   Christmas Weekday   Reading 1 1 Jn 2:29–3:61 If you consider that God is righteous,you also know that everyone who acts in righteousnessis begotten by him. See what love the Father has bestowed on usthat we may be called the children of God. Yet so we are.The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.Beloved, we are God’s children now;what we shall be has not yet been revealed. We do know that when it is revealed we shall be like him,for we shall see him as he is.Everyone who...

Why is it that most people eventually abandon the idea of Santa Claus … and yet so many never abandon belief in an omnipotent government? Santa Claus is magic. His toy sack never empties, he traverses the globe faster than lightning, his reindeer never tire, his elves never strike, and he’s never too fat for the chimney. Awed by his powers, young kids approach the Jolly One clutching wish lists that itemize the objects of their “unbridled avarice,” as a popular Christmas movie put it. And why not? Santa’s little supplicants are prodded by plenty of parental encouragement. No toy...

Most of America's problems are cultural. Even our economic problems stem from the cultural rejection of personal responsibility and the acceptance of collective responsibility. And none of our problems would be as bad if the church was still shaping the culture instead of merely responding to it. I was reminded of this during my annual holiday trip home to The Woodlands, Texas. I've attended Christmas Eve services four out of the last six years at the Woodlands Church (formerly Fellowship of the Woodlands), which is a Southern Baptist mega church that keeps its Baptist affiliation well hidden from the general...

January 2, 2013 Memorial of Saints Basil the Great and Gregory Nazianzen, Bishops and Doctors of the Church     Reading 1 1 Jn 2:22-28 Beloved:Who is the liar? Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Whoever denies the Father and the Son, this is the antichrist. Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father,but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well. Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you,then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. And this is the...

January 1, 2013 Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God   The Octave Day of Christmas   Reading 1 Nm 6:22-27 The LORD said to Moses: “Speak to Aaron and his sons and tell them: This is how you shall bless the Israelites.Say to them:The LORD bless you and keep you!The LORD let his face shine uponyou, and be gracious to you!The LORD look upon you kindly andgive you peace!So shall they invoke my name upon the Israelites, and I will bless them.” Responsorial Psalm Ps 67:2-3, 5, 6, 8 R. (2a) May God bless us in his mercy.May...

Listers, His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI delivered a must-read homily this Christmas Eve.The following is the papal message in its entirety supplemented by SPL headlines. Moreover, SPL has highlighted some of the more memorable and acute quotes in red. “We are so “full” of ourselves that there is no room left for God. And that means there is no room for others either, for children, for the poor, for the stranger.� – Pope Benedict XVI 1. I Come to You as a Child to be Loved Again and again the beauty of this Gospel touches our hearts: a beauty...

December 31, 2012   The Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas   Reading 1 1 Jn 2:18-21 Children, it is the last hour;and just as you heard that the antichrist was coming,so now many antichrists have appeared.Thus we know this is the last hour.They went out from us, but they were not really of our number;if they had been, they would have remained with us.Their desertion shows that none of them was of our number.But you have the anointing that comes from the Holy One,and you all have knowledge.I write to you not because you do not know the...

December 30, 2012 Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph   Reading 1 Sir 3:2-6, 12-14 God sets a father in honor over his children;a mother's authority he confirms over her sons.Whoever honors his father atones for sins,and preserves himself from them.When he prays, he is heard;he stores up riches who reveres his mother.Whoever honors his father is gladdened by children,and, when he prays, is heard.Whoever reveres his father will live a long life;he who obeys his father brings comfort to his mother. My son, take care of your father when he is old;grieve him not as...

“Simeon’s Song: What a Way to Go!” (Luke 2:22-40)This month we have been spending the Advent and Christmas seasons in the Gospel of Luke. All of our sermons have come from there, particularly from Luke’s so-called “Infancy Narrative,” chapters 1 and 2, dealing with the events surrounding the birth of Christ. We’ve especially been looking at the canticles we find in Luke 1-2, those poetic, psalm-like pieces included there. We’ve looked at three so far: Mary’s song, the Magnificat; Zechariah’s song, the Benedictus; and the song of the Christmas angels, the Gloria in Excelsis. Now today we wrap up this...

The gender theory, which is behind the homosexual revolution and the attack on the family was highlighted in Pope Benedict’s Christmas message to Vatican prelates this morning. “There is no denying the crisis that threatens,” the family “to its foundations – especially in the Western world,” he said. Crediting the Chief Rabbi of France, Gilles Bernheim, for the research, Pope Benedict XVI said “the attack we are currently experiencing on the true structure of the family, made up of father, mother, and child, goes much deeper” than was originally believed. “While up to now we regarded a false understanding of...

Yesterday I facetiously posted about Friday penance during the Octave of Christmas. Days (other than Sunday) within the Octave of Christmas are not “heavy enough” (as a “solemnity” would be) to “outweigh” the Friday obligation to do some sort of penance as determined by the conferences of bishops. In the 1962 Missale Romanum they are “II class”, which corresponds to the newer, non-traditional calendar’s “feast”. In the 2001 Missale Romanum they are categorized as second class, as “feasts”. If, howeverm you are at a parish named “Holy Innocents”, such as that great place in Manhattan, and the Feast of the...

December 29, 2012   The Fifth Day in the Octave of Christmas   Reading 1 1 Jn 2:3-11 Beloved:The way we may be sure that we know Jesusis to keep his commandments.Whoever says, "I know him," but does not keep his commandmentsis a liar, and the truth is not in him.But whoever keeps his word,the love of God is truly perfected in him.This is the way we may know that we are in union with him:whoever claims to abide in him ought to walk just as he walked. Beloved, I am writing no new commandment to youbut an old commandment...

  Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. Butt he’s probably not who you think he is. (snip) Take Touré for example, who’s waging his own private war on Christmas by attacking Santa Claus. Imagine: a smug, arrogant preppy, half-black dude with a cool name lecturing us on Santa Claus Now imagine that poseur on steroids Touré Neblett has been much criticized for his refusal to lie to his children about Santa Claus: (snip)“My 5-year-old and 3-year-old, we didn’t talk about Santa at all,” he explained. “I went shopping with them and let Hendrix pick out a present for himself...

A 'gentle, well-respected' organist has died after being subjected to a brutal attack that left him with horrific head injuries. Grandfather Alan Greaves, 68, was on his way to Midnight Mass at St Saviour's CoE church in High Green, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, on Christmas Eve when he was set upon. He was found by a pizza delivery worker collapsed on the pavement outside a primary school just 300 metres from the church. He was rushed to hospital with severe head injuries and underwent a four-hour emergency operation but has since passed away. 'He was a good man and this was...

The only kind of Santa that is allowed Just so that you know that the Saudis are cracking down on the really important crimes, like jihad terrorism -- no, wait... Sharia Alert from the Kingdom of the Two Holy Places: "Saudi detains dozens for 'plotting to celebrate Christmas,'" from al-Akhbar, December 27 (thanks to Blazing Cat Fur): Saudi religious police stormed a house in the Saudi Arabian province of al-Jouf, detaining more than 41 guests for “plotting to celebrate Christmas,” a statement from the police branch released Wednesday night said. The raid is the latest in a string of religious...

December 28, 2012 Feast of the Holy Innocents, Martyrs   Reading 1 1 Jn 1:5-2:2 Beloved:This is the message that we have heard from Jesus Christand proclaim to you:God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all.If we say, "We have fellowship with him,"while we continue to walk in darkness,we lie and do not act in truth.But if we walk in the light as he is in the light,then we have fellowship with one another,and the Blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.If we say, "We are without sin,"we deceive ourselves, and the truth...

Obama spent his Christmas vacationing in Hawaii. Consider this, from gopusa.com: "Although President Reagan could have spent his White House Christmases with family at his beloved ranch in Santa Barbara, Calif., he instead stayed in Washington, D.C. This way, his sacrifice allowed Secret Service agents and other aides to spend Christmas at home with their families. He was a thoughtful person." Lest some lib think that gopusa.com is making this up, from time.com: (like Clinton) "President Reagan also remained in Washington over Christmas — reportedly so members of the Secret Service could be near their families" Notice Time's use of...

... Another thing that brings the community together is the Christmas holiday. Christmas is my favorite holiday, and my family has adopted many different traditions over the years. ... Many of these traditions show how Christmas fosters a sense of community, bringing together people who have little else in common to share in the magic and promise of the season. For a little while, we can put aside our political, cultural, and social differences and just watch trains go around a track, sing Christmas carols, watch dancers and musicians marching down the street, or just admire the lights and decorations...

At 12:54 a.m., on Saturday December 22, President Barack Obama and his family arrived at Kailua, a Hawaiian town on the island of Oahu. Almost five days later, Obama, leaving his wife and kids behind, departed the island to return to Washington, D.C. Obama’s vacation lasted a brief 118 hours, according to pool reports. -snip- On Christmas Eve, December 24, Obama departed his vacation home at 9:33 a.m., according to the pool report. He remained on the golf course until 3:15, p.m., spending about 5 and a half hours on the golf course. He again golfed that day with Bobby...

The annual rite of the Queen's Christmas address to Britain and the Commonwealth. Pretty good one this year - Liz excelled herself. The band at the start is the paraorchestra - disabled musicians.

“Mankind was my business. The common welfare was my business; charity, mercy, forbearance, and benevolence were all my business.” Americans, it seems, truly take Jacob Marley’s ghostly warning to Ebenezer Scrooge to heart -- not only at Christmas time, but throughout the year. Indeed, overall we are the most generous people on earth. The U.S. economy is responsible for a little more one-fifth of the world's total GDP, yet Americans give more in charity to the less fortunate than the rest of the world put together. We donated more than $300 billion in 2009, despite the economic downturn. This...

A relief center for storm-ravaged residents of Staten Island, New York, was vandalized and looted overnight on Christmas by thieves who stole donated supplies and destroyed items intended for victims of Hurricane Sandy. The Midland Beach center on Midland Avenue has been an oasis of hope for those who lost their homes in the storm nearly two months ago. The supplies are housed under a tent, which is blocked off with barricades and manned by volunteers, but the workers left the center unattended on Christmas night.

A year ago, I resolved to spend 2012 praying more and, in my prayers, asking for patience. I have prayed, I have asked, I have received, but not enough. Ask my family, and they may attest that I must not have prayed enough, as my patience often runs thin. This year has been more than interesting and full of challenges. My father, Newt Gingrich, ran for the Republican nomination. Just one year ago this week, on Dec. 27, 2011, our family of four (me, my husband, Jimmy and our two children) boarded a plane from our home in Atlanta to...

December 27, 2012 Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist    Reading 1 1 Jn 1:1-4 Beloved:What was from the beginning,what we have heard,what we have seen with our eyes,what we looked uponand touched with our handsconcerns the Word of life --for the life was made visible;we have seen it and testify to itand proclaim to you the eternal lifethat was with the Father and was made visible to us?what we have seen and heardwe proclaim now to you,so that you too may have fellowship with us;for our fellowship is with the Fatherand with his Son, Jesus Christ.We are writing...

At Christmas we celebrate Jesus’ birth because no more important human being has ever been born. Jesus is the first-born of all creation, the one individual for whom everything else exists. Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords, who will rule the coming age as our sovereign ruler. Jesus is more than just a man; he is the translation of the very nature and sovereignty of God Himself into human form—the image of the invisible God, the fullness of God dwelling in human form. Jesus is the supreme prophet, the one whom God sent into the world to...

It's a longstanding tradition here at DUmmie FUnnies: seeing how the DUmmies manage to annoy their relatives at family gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas. And this year is no different. We'll see how obnoxious the DUmmies can be here in this THREAD, "How Do You Deal With Republican Relatives During The Holidays?" But before we do, let's sing this DUmmieland holiday classic! I'LL BE DUMB FOR CHRISTMASTune: "I'll Be Home for Christmas"I'll be DUmb for Christmas, You can count on me; I'll have polls on gun control-- And the President's on TV! Christmas Eve you'll hear me Spout my...

I got my wife a locket for Christmas...true story...just not this one.

Bob Clark, director of classic "A Christmas Story", and his son were killed by a drunk illegal alien on 4/4/2007. by John HillStand With Arizona For many Americans, Christmas means something else besides faith, family, food (and presents). It means movies: It's a Wonderful Life, A Christmas Carol (pick one), Miracle on 34th Street. Yesterday I myself watched a modern classic: A Christmas Story, the irreverent adaptation of Jean Shepherd's memoir of Christmas memories from childhood. Many of our readers also caught this extraordinary film (at least) once yesterday, as the cable network TBS shows it non-stop for 24 hours every...

This year those of us who cherish the phrase “Merry Christmas” have started to say “Merry Christ-mas” to reinsert the name Christ into the greeting. Here’s a reminder of how we started to lose “Merry Christmas” 40 years ago. On the day before Christmas in 1971 the New York Times ran an article about a new “holiday” called Kwanzaa that was invented by an America hating Black separatist named Ron Everett. Everett now uses the made up “African” name Maulana Ron Karenga to show the world he wants nothing to do with White America. That Mr. Karenga was in a...

My parents told me many times how much they dreaded the Christmas season. Living in a little shtetl in Poland, they knew what to expect. The local parish priest would deliver his sermon filled with invectives against the Jews who were pronounced guilty of the crime of decide, responsible for the brutal crucifixion of their god and therefore richly deserving whatever punishment might be meted out against them. No surprise then that the Christian time of joy meant just the opposite to the neighboring Jews. The days supposedly meant to be dedicated to "goodwill to all" were far too often...

violence over the Christmas holiday, including an 11-year-old boy grazed by a bullet and a man who was shot to death during a dispute in the Englewood neighborhood. Joshua Davis, 18, was shot to death in the 2000 block of W. 69th Street — a few blocks from his home — after an altercation with several males on a CTA bus, according to the Cook County Medical Examiner’s office. The group followed Davis off the bus when one of the males pulled out a handgun and shot Davis several times in the torso and once in the ear about 11:30...

U.S. shoppers spent cautiously this holiday season, a disappointment for retailers who slashed prices to lure people into stores and now must hope for a post-Christmas burst of spending. Sales of electronics, clothing, jewelry and home goods in the two months before Christmas increased 0.7 percent compared with last year, according to the MasterCard Advisors SpendingPulse report. That was below the healthy 3 to 4 percent growth that analysts had expected...

the children of Great Britain understand far better than their parents the reasons for the collapse of Western Civilization: lack of children, and lack of two-parent heterosexual homes. A poll of British parents showed that topping the list of children’s most-requested Christmas gifts was a sibling (Britain’s birth rate is below replacement levels, with most non-immigrant British children not having a sibling). Slightly lower down on the list was a “dad” – Britain’s single motherhood rate is 21 percent. “Less than half” of single parents have a job, and most live off of state assistance. Seventy percent of the criminals...

Did the Obama family skip church services this Christmas? The White House readout of the President’s activities on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day makes no mention of church services – although the President and the First Lady made time to visit service members of the United States Military at the Marine Corps Base in Hawaii. Below is the text of the White House release to the press: Last night, the President made holiday telephone calls to US service members, then sat down with his family for Christmas Eve dinner. This morning, the family gathered around 8AM to open their Christmas...