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Advent and the Drama of Light and Darkness By: Msgr. Charles PopeHere are the summary notes from a talk I gave tonight at the Parish of St. Columba, here in D.C.Many people think of Advent merely in terms of pre-Christmas time: office parties, shopping, decorating etc. But in the Church, Advent is a penitential time, a time of preparation for both the Christmas Feast and the Second Coming of the Lord. The purple vestments signal penance. The faithful are encouraged to go to Confession, and the liturgical texts and readings emphasize readying for the coming of the Lord.The theme of preparation...

A home in Sderot damaged by a rocket Reuters A rocket fired by Gaza terrorists on Wednesday night, shortly before 1:00 a.m. exploded near a home in the city of Sderot and caused it minor damages. The rocket hit a local power line and caused blackouts in parts of the city, but there were no reports of physical injuries. Two other rockets exploded in open areas in the Shaar Hanegev region. There were no physical injuries or damages. The latest rocket fire follows a barrage of at least 20 rockets that were fired at southern Israel on Wednesday. A...

Of all the bitter fruit of the Barack Obama disaster, the most bitter may be the sense of hopelessness that has descended on Americans, especially the young. Has there ever been anything like it in our history? Even on the eve of the Civil War, was there this much pessimism about our future? Gallup wasn’t around in those days, but I wonder. For a simple measure of how the Obama administration has crushed any sense of hopefulness in the American people, take a look at the survey that Rasmussen Reports does periodically on whether America’s best days are behind her,...

Patriots the darkness is falling and shadows no more, the darkness of betrayal descends evermore like a suffocating cloak. I really think all Patriots and America need to wake up to the fact of these things I’m about to share which are 100% truth. The separation of the wheat from the chaff is soon to come. I put together a timeline of facts that most will deny but in the end will realize their foolish rebuttals. It all started back in good ole’ 1871 when the post civil war emergency caused the Government to create a corporation called these United...

Forget the World's Fair, we now have a new way to celebrate human accomplishment. Instead of seeing a vision of the future, we turn off the lights and sit in the dark for an hour. Earth Hour shows how far we have come from celebrating human accomplishment to celebrating the lack of accomplishment as an accomplishment. For all the pretense of activism, environmentalism celebrates inaction. Don't build, don't create and don't do-- are its mandates. Turn off the lights and feel good about how much you aren't doing right now. Environmentalism has degenerated into a conviction that all human activity...

A week ago we sat waiting out the storm when the lights flickered and went out. One moment we were sitting in a lit room, the television flashing picture and sound, the internet feeding news, and then we were in the dark. At first we expected the lights to come on at any minute. Any hour. Any day. And then living without water or power, day after day, it seemed as if the light would never come back. And then, unexpectedly, after almost a week, they did. The lights have gone out in America now. They may come back. They...

One time I read an internet posting made by a woman who had stopped renting to some Christians who had been tenants at her property. Her reason? They made her feel bad about herself. People who have no intention of dispensing with vice don't like moral standards they pale in comparison to -- which is why moral relativism is all the rage today, and why there is rage at Christianity -- and they don't like moral standard-bearers they pale in comparison to, either. Why do you think the Bible states, "What fellowship hath light with darkness? The darkness hates the...

The nightly attacks by two man-eating lions terrified railway workers and brought construction to a halt in one of east Africa's most notorious onslaughts more than a hundred years ago. But the death toll, scientists now say, wasn't as high as previously thought. > Delay of the railroad was even subject to debate in Britain's House of Commons. >

“The Light Shines in the Darkness” (John 1:5)Tonight we are doing the traditional Good Friday evening service called “Tenebrae.” The Latin word, “tenebrae,” means “shadows” or “darkness.” This is the Service of the Shadows, the Service of Darkness--increasing darkness, as the service goes along. This reminds us of the darkness that came over the land when Christ was hanging on the cross, the great darkness that occurred when the author of life was put to death. And then his lifeless body was placed in the tomb, and night fell, and all was darkness and shadows. The loud noise at the...

Al Gore Leaves The Light On For Ya By Kleinheider Posted on March 29, 2009 at 12:00 pm Even during Earth Hour. President of the Tennessee Center For Policy Research Drew Johnson takes a Saturday drive by Al Gore’s during the time most environmentalists went dark: I pulled up to Al’s house, located in the posh Belle Meade section of Nashville, at 8:48pm – right in the middle of Earth Hour. I found that the main spotlights that usually illuminate his 9,000 square foot mansion were dark, but several of the lights inside the house were on. In fact, most...

(Big snip) Another question, do events like this do more harm than good in trying to get normal, ordinary Joe or Jane to think a little more like these people? Or is getting the idea out to respect and love "Mother Earth" more important than how one comes across trying to get the idea out in public? For example, does Al Gore and his thoughts do more harm or good in the fight against global warming?

God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. 1 John 1:5 God is light but He is much more than that. In fact if you were to combine all of the attributes that we equate God (love, omnipotent, omniscient, wise, etc), He would still be more than all of that. But light is one of those characteristics that helps to reveal who we are as his Creation. When you shine pure light anywhere, there is no place to hide. The bigger and brighter the light source, the fewer places there are to shield ourselves. And yet, that's...

But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness: they do no know what makes them stumble. Proverbs 4:19 Many years ago I watched Larry King interview the Rev. Billy Graham. King asked, “do you have any doubt where you will go when you die?” Without a hint of hesitation, Graham responded, “Absolutely not.” It would have been interesting if Graham had turned the question back on King. I don’t know for sure, but I don’t think King’s answer would have been so firm and sure. Similarly, it is truly a sad thing to watch those who have mocked...

The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. Proverbs 4:18 I like sunrises and sunsets. I could sit and watch them for hours if they lasted that long. I spent four years in Alaska and I could do that in the Summer if I wanted. It was even easier in the Winter because the sun could rise and set within an hour in December. I was traveling across West Texas and when I commented about the flat open road, a local said that the sunsets just linger...

GAUHATI, India - A lawmaker said he sacrificed more than 200 goats and four buffaloes at a temple in northeastern India to thank a goddess for delivering victory to the prime minister's government last week.....

The story of Western architecture is one of darkness giving way to light. Europe's dour medieval fortresses were replaced by airy Gothic structures and for the modernists, light was an end in itself. Has this tale run its course? From the beginning, architecture has been embarked on a journey to the light. That we have arrived is something we now take for granted. But it wasn't always thus. Indeed, of all the elements that comprise architecture, light was historically the most elusive. For millennia, we lived in shadow. Anyone who has wandered through those 1,000-year-old Romanesque churches around Barcelona in...

TORONTO -- Millions of people across Canada and around the globe are expected to turn out their lights Saturday evening to raise awareness about pollution and global warming in an initiative known as Earth Hour. The World Wildlife Fund effort that began in Sydney, Australia last March 29 now appears to have caught the imagination of people in dozens of countries, nowhere more so than in this country. "This has really just blown up across Canada,'' said Tara Wood, spokeswoman for the fund in Canada. "Canada is really going to be the shining star in this global effort.'' Initially, the...

Late payments on U.S. home equity lines of credit rose to a 5-1/2 year high in the second quarter of 2007 but delinquencies on many other types of consumer loans fell, the American Bankers Association said Wednesday. In its quarterly report on consumer borrowing, the bankers group said delinquencies in repaying home equity lines of credit rose to 0.77 percent in the April-June period. That compared to a rate of 0.60 percent in the first quarter and represented the highest rate since the fourth quarter of 2001 when the rate was 0.81 percent. However, the rate of closed-end home equity...

Hamas creating 'empire of darkness' By Carolynne Wheeler in Jerusalem Last Updated: 2:16am BST 21/06/2007 The Palestinian Authority president, Mahmoud Abbas, last night described the Hamas militant group now controlling Gaza as "murderous terrorists" intent on creating an "empire of darkness and injustice". Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas said the separation of Gaza from the West Bank was a threat to hopes for a Palestinian state "There is no dialogue to be initiated with those murderers," Mr Abbas said in his first public addressed since Hamas gunmen seized control of the Gaza Strip last week. His uncharacteristically fiery speech raised concerns...

by John Paul Shimek Other Articles by John Paul Shimek You Are the Light of the World 08/26/06 Buried in the age-old pages of Judaism’s medieval Talmud, there is a rabbinical tale of particular meaning to Christians. While it has been recounted in innumerable versions, the main action of the tale has remained the same. In This Article...Come Inside!The World’s NightShow People Who They Are! Come Inside! One can imagine the action unfolding along the cobbled streets of Europe. A man is walking along in the darkness of the Slavic night, traveling the road that will lead him home. It is...