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When most people hear "Easter," they think of a single Sunday filled with lilies, hymns, and maybe a few chocolate eggs. But in the Church's liturgical calendar, Easter is far more than just a day—it's a whole season. In fact, Easter lasts for 50 days! That’s right—Easter is a season, not just a Sunday. Easter Sunday kicks off a 50-day celebration known as Eastertide or the Great Fifty Days, which runs from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday. This season is meant to be a joyful, ongoing reflection on the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what it means for the world....

It is interesting to think that some of the holidays we celebrate in the Western World, with so much frivolity and lightheartedness, have gritty, deep, meaningful life stories behind them, to the degree that if the spirit behind them was examined with a level of inquisitiveness, seriousness, care, and regard, the examples radiating from them would in turn change people’s hearts, minds, and lives for the better, particularly in ways where overcoming hardships, adversity, and a myriad of difficulties are paramount and only possible due to God stepping in, calibrating their hearts and minds to His will, and overcoming what...

Michelle Obama provoked a wave of online criticism Friday after she shared a New Year's message with her followers on Instagram. The former first lady posted a video wishing her followers "Happy Holidays" and highlighting the work of the Obama Presidential Center as 2024 comes to a close. But critics noted with disapproval that her video begins on a sour note. "Happy holidays, everyone. I know it's been a difficult few months for so many of us, and that folks are feeling a little bit anxious and uncertain," Obama says in the video. "But even during these tough times, there...

Health providers in Canada have expressed concern in the weeks leading up to Christmas and the New Year that the country’s overburdened healthcare system could see a dangerous surge in the number of patients in emergency rooms, encouraging prospective patients to exhaust other available options before going to hospitals. The holidays approach following the publication of reports this month that wait times to see doctors in Canada, particularly specialists, are longer than even in the modern history of the country, and thousands of Canadians are dying on waitlists for life-saving medical interventions.

Democrat voters are more likely than Republicans to cut down on time spent with family members due to political differences, a post-election survey showed as the holidays ramp up. The Public Religion Research Institute’s (PRRI) survey posted on December 13 found that “As the holidays approach … Democratic voters (23%) are nearly five times as likely as Republican voters (5%) to say they will be spending less time with certain family members because of their political views.” PRRI President and Founder Robert P. Jones told Axios, “It may be tense around the Hanukkah and Christmas table. It’s not just that...

It's that time of year where we gather with Loved ones and "not so loved" ones. This will be an ongoing thread through the holidays where we can vent about those who we would rather not be around but are required to do so. Feel free to vent here about that special someone who manages to ruin your holidays, inlaws you abhor having over for dinner, and even that boss or co-worker who destroys the Xmas spirit.

Yale University chief psychiatry resident Dr. Amanda Calhoun said Friday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut” that liberals who were devastated by Donald Trump’s presidential re-election should separate from family members who voted for him. Host Joy Reid said, “I wonder if also, are people challenged with the idea of how do you interact with people you know voted for this? If you’re an LGBTQ person and know someone in your family voted essentially against your rights or you’re a woman, knowing this man was calling people the B word. JD Vance was literally calling Kamala Harris the trash. And said we’re...

A Yale-affiliated psychiatrist encouraged LGBTQ+ people whose family members voted for Donald Trump to cut ties and shun their relatives over the upcoming holidays — as fallout from the election reached hysteria on left-leaning MSNBC. Yale University child psychiatry fellow Dr. Amanda Calhoun dug into the issue of the post-election crises in the LGBTQ+ community with MSNBC’s Joy Reid on Friday night. “There is a societal push that, if somebody is your family, they are entitled to your time. And I think the answer is absolutely not,” Calhoun said in a clip shared online. “So, if you are going through...

After sipping pumpkin spiced lattes in August and putting up Halloween decorations in late September, Samantha Kowalczyk already looks forward to drinking eggnog-flavored coffee and filling her Wilmington, Delaware, home with cinnamon and sugar cookie scented candles and other holiday aromas. The 30-year-old thinks seasonal flavors and scents should be available year-round. And apparently others feel the same way. In response to growing customer demand, stores of all stripes, from Bath and Body Works and online holiday decor retailer Balsam Hill to Whole Foods Market and doughnut maker Krispy Kreme, are bringing out their festive collections weeks before the Nov....

Every year on April 16, Washington, DC commemorates the anniversary of the signing of the 1862 DC Compensated Emancipation Act, the law that abolished slavery in the District of Columbia and freed 3,000 individuals in bondage in the nation’s capital. As we honor this day and celebrate independence, we also recognize the struggle — historically and in our current moment — to achieve true freedom and justice for all.

In a controversial decision, the Stamford Board of Education has voted to remove Columbus Day and Veterans Day from the list of school holidays, requiring students to attend school on these dates. The decision, passed with a 5-3 vote, overruled previous years’ push-back from local veterans and Italian-Americans. The motion’s supporters, Joshua Esses, Michael Hyman, Gabriela Koc, Versha Munshi-South, and Antonia Better-Wirz, advocated for a shorter school year, arguing that a 181-day calendar extending into mid-June was too long.

January 6th was the darkest day in American history. It was the greatest threat to our Democracy since the Civil War. Donald Trump encouraged his supporters at assault the Capitol and threaten members of congress and his Vice President. Our Democracy prevailed but we must take a moment to remember how fragile put democracy is. I demand that Americans take off school and work to remember January 6th as a holiday to reflect on the events that happened on that day and how our Democracy can survive other National tragedies like The Civil War, World War I, World War II,...

Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) became the third GOP member of Congress to be “swatted” during this week’s holiday recess, following earlier false reports to law enforcement of incidents at the homes of Reps. Brandon Williams (R-NY) and Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.). “Last night, while at dinner with my wife, cowards ‘swatted’ my home in Naples. These criminals wasted the time & resources of our law enforcement in a sick attempt to terrorize my family,” Scott posted Thursday on X. The Republican senator also thanked the Naples Police Department and the Collier County Sheriff’s Department “for all they do to keep...

NEW YORK -- The scene: A crowded shopping center in the weeks before Christmas. Or a warehouse store. Or maybe a packed airport terminal or a commuter train station or another place where large groups gather. There are people — lots of people. But look around, and it's clear one thing is largely absent these days: face masks. Yes, there's the odd one here and there, but nothing like it was three years ago at the dawn of the COVID pandemic's first winter holidays — an American moment of contentiousness, accusation and scorn on both sides of the mask...

The absurdity of the liberal secular push claiming the Founders intended the First Amendment to bar Christian Christmas images from public places is most evident by the fact that these same Founders actually used the U.S. Capitol as a church week after week from the start of the United States of America. The liberal secularist argument would indicate the Founders messed up so badly in writing the Bill of Rights that they contradicted themselves in the very first words. The liberal secularist argument would mean that, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion," contradicts "or prohibiting the...

Monster trucks and ramen noodles are key features of the Bawcomville "Redneck" Christmas Parade, along with crowd support for a Trump second term. CNN's Elle Reeve reports.

This holiday season, many of us will be shopping in malls, joining holiday gatherings at entertainment venues, frequenting restaurants for holiday events and attending services in houses of worship. All these events have one thing in common: they will be held in public places, often with easy access by anyone. What they also have in common is that they are soft targets. Soft targets are public locations that do not have any obvious security protections in place. This is in contrast to hard targets, which are well guarded and fortified. Airports fall within the group of hard targets, with the...

A Latino gang member faces sentencing in October for orchestrating the firebombings of homes of black residents in the Boyle Heights area five years ago in an effort to drive them out of the defendant’s turf. Carlos “Rider” Hernandez, 34, pleaded guilty Monday to five felonies that together carry a sentence of 15 years to a possible life term in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. U.S. District Judge Christina A. Snyder set an Oct. 7 sentencing date. In the early morning hours of May 12, 2014, eight members of an East Los Angeles street gang, which claims...

US consumers, trapped in a web of conflicting signals on the health of the economy and how it impacts their ability to shop, might be forced to spend less enthusiastically on a key bucket of discretionary spending – Christmas gifts, according to early forecasts of this year’s holiday sales. Even though it’s still August, eyes are already on how the upcoming holiday shopping season will pan out. The year-end months of November and December typically are dominated by shoppers scouring stores for deals and discounts on gift purchases. The winter months combined are a good barometer of the spending prowess...

I was just looking at my calendar on my computer and saw that yesterday was a holiday and I missed it! Did you? Google says yesterday was the "First Day of Black History Month." I can't believe I missed it. What did you do on your day off? .