Geeky Catholic Dad

Gospel Reading: Matthew 1:1-25 (Vigil), Luke 2:1-14 (Midnight), Luke 2:15-20 (Dawn), or John 1:1-18 (Day) Highlight: "Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Reflection:  We have great news. Our Creator loves us so much that he became one of us, to save us from sin and prepare a place for us in heaven, a place of endless joy. There is literally no greater news than that. But so often we just keep that news to ourselves. It's just part of our religion, and we don't want to impose that on other people. But surely there are ways of sharing this fantastic news without "imposing," right? We don't have to stand on the street corner handing out pamphlets. We can share our faith through our behavior, through our attitudes, and through our relationships with others. So let's "go tell it on the mountain"! Geeky Quote: "I come with glad tidings of a world made free." - Loki "Reindeer Gam...

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/74/ Bartolomé_Esteban_Perez_ Murillo_003.jpg/240px- Bartolomé_Esteban_Perez_ Murillo_003.jpg Don't you just hate it when people condescend to you? What if I told you that sometimes, it's okay to be condescending? And that God Himself condescends to us?

You might recall from my Lord of the Rings post last month that I really like a literary device Tolkien uses, which he calls "eucatastrophe." I'd like to use this post to explore that concept a bit more, and tie it together with the meaning of Christmas.

When I was at Mass yesterday evening, the priest gave us all an important reminder: it's not Christmas yet. It may look, sound, and feel like Christmas, with all the Christmas decorations and Christmas music. We may be tempted to treat this next month as an extended Christmas season. But it's not Christmas yet. It's Advent, which is a season of preparation for celebrating Christ's birth.