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The Rich Tapestry Faith On New Year's Day Msgr. Charles Pope • December 31, 2018 • The feast day of January 1st is a very complex tapestry, both culturally and liturgically. Perhaps we can use the second reading by St. Paul to the Galatians as a way to weave through some of the many details. We can look at it in three parts.I. The chronology of our celebration– The text from St. Paul’s letter to the Galatians says, When the fullness of time had come …Most people are going about today saying, “Happy New Year!” And rightfully so, for...

January 1 2019 The Octave Day of ChristmasSolemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Mother of God 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...

December 31, 2018 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...

December 30, 2018 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...

December 29, 2018 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 Jesus is 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...

December 28, 2018 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...

NBC News has finally, a full day after being called out for printing the fake news, admitted that its article published on Christmas alleging President Donald Trump snubbed the troops during the holidays this year is incorrect. NBC has altered its headline and story, changing their meaning to remove the original anti-Trump thrust, and added an extended editor’s note beyond the original editor’s note appended when it was first discovered to be an inaccurate piece. The new editor’s note admits in no uncertain terms that NBC News printed fake news, and that it was only leaving the article up in...

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D.-Texas) took to the House floor on Dec. 12 to explain why, especially in the Christmas season, a shutdown of the federal government should be avoided. “This is a season where many in our Nation draw together with families and worship and celebrate,” Jackson Lee said. “It is a very honored time,” she said. “People of the Christian faith are engaged in the recognition and acknowledgment of the birth of baby Jesus. It is a holy time. It is a time when families need resources. Government workers need to ensure that their families are provided for,...

Christmas is a glorious time of year for most families. It is a time of visits and reconnecting with relatives from afar. We all take time to rest, to relax in the joy of the season and the comforts of home. Seeking refuge from the winter chill, we converge around our collective hearth and enjoy the warmth of the yule log, the scents of festive candles, a mug of hot chocolate and the familiar songs and traditions we hold so dear. But sometimes, those who've recently lost a loved one find themselves out in the cold. And they are often...

Donald Trump's unannounced Christmas visit to US troops in Iraq succeeded as a morale-boosting exercise, judging from the standing ovation the president got. Equally, and perhaps predictably, the trip had its controversial moments - and his legendary attachment to social media had something to do with it. Mr Trump travelled to al-Asad airbase, west of Baghdad, to thank armed forces personnel for what they had achieved in Iraq against Islamic State (IS), the Sunni Muslim militant group, during his tenure as commander-in-chief: "Two years ago when I became president they were a very dominant group, today they're not so dominant...

What if Christmas is a core value of belief in a personal God who lived among us and His freely given promise of eternal salvation that no believer should reject or apologize for? What if Christmas is the rebirth of Christ in the hearts of all believers? What if Christmas is the potential rebirth of Christ in every heart that will have Him, whether a believer or not? What if Jesus Christ was born about 2,000 years ago in Bethlehem? What if He is true God and true man? What if this is a mystery and a miracle? What if...

Paradoxes of Christmas Msgr. Charles Pope • December 26, 2018 • In the ancient Church and up until rather recently, one genuflected at the two references to the Incarnation during the Mass: during the Creed and in the Last Gospel (John 1). Why was this done? It was explained to me that the mystery of the Incarnation is so deep, one can only fall in silent reverence.There are many paradoxes and seeming impossibilities in the Incarnation. They cannot be fully solved, so they claim our reverence. We genuflected in the past, and today we bow at the mention of...

hose who are around my age woke up one December and discovered that the “holiday season” of Christmas and New Year’s became a trio, with the addition of something called Kwanzaa. Oh, sure there were rumblings of a new holiday. But strangely in this country where political correctness is on overload, a day invented in 1966 by a rapist who ran a Black separatist group is considered by some as a holiday on par with Christmas, or New Year’s. Kwanzaa is exclusively an American holiday and is not celebrated in any other part of the world (including Africa). The name...

President Trump and Melania made their second unannounced visit to US troops abroad around 8pm ET as they visited troops on the German base of Ramstein. The First Couple were on their way back from meeting troops in Iraq when Air Force One stopped to refuel and meet service members 'carrying MAGA hats' who had waited up until around 4am local time.

December 27, 2018 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...

California marijuana dispensaries reported record-high holiday sales this Christmas as pot products became popular stocking stuffers this holiday season. Pot sales in the state soared in the first holiday season where recreational marijuana is legal in California, as many stores reported seeing five times the amount of customers they normally see. One Sacramento-area store, All About Wellness, reported seeing more than 150 customers per day during the 2018 holiday shopping season. On average, the store sees 20 to 25 customers per day. The increase in pot-hungry customers has also led to lines going out the door at stores. Kysa Butler,...

On Wednesday morning, media outlets were running the story that President Donald Trump had failed to visit U.S. troops at Christmastime. By Wednesday afternoon, the media claimed Trump had made his visit to a war zone obvious in advance. In between, media outlets that had earlier trumpeted Trump’s supposed non-visit to the troops were spinning the news that he had, in fact, visited by noting that it was his first visit to a war zone since taking office. Left-wing Salon.com, for example, reported initially that Trump had failed to visit the troops during Christmastime, then changed its story and headline,...

The seven-year-old girl whose phone call with President Donald Trump on Christmas Eve went viral has said she still believes in Santa Claus. Mr Trump threw doubt on the existence of Santa when he asked Collman Lloyd if she still believed in Father Christmas. After learning the girl's age, the president asked: "At seven, it's marginal, right?" "Yes, sir," the girl replied. She later admitted she did not know the word's meaning, the Post and Courier reports. Collman, from Lexington in South Carolina, also told the newspaper that she was glad to be able to talk with the US president....

President Donald Trump made a surprise visit to American troops in Iraq on Wednesday, his first journey to an active combat zone since he took office. The president landed on Wednesday. Trump visited wounded U.S. troops last Christmas season, on Dec. 21, 2017, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Maryland. He also that month invited Coast Guard members to play golf at his course in West Palm Beach, Florida. But before Wednesday's trip to Iraq, Trump had taken some heat from critics for being the first president since 2002 not to make a Christmastime visit to troops in...

Assets at the National Security Agency have intercepted extensive email and internet chatter from sources within the United States and abroad regarding an alleged birth of a special child in a rural farm just yesterday, December 25th, almost certainly a small town known as “Bethlehem” in Pennsylvania. Due to the apparently unique circumstances of the birth, and the potential security threat of a child rumored to be the start of a social movement undermining the role of government as the people’s exclusive moral compass, we request permission to place federal and state security assets on high alert. Federal officials were...