The Pope’s message at Christmas

His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI today broadcast a Christmas Eve message on the BBC to listeners in the United Kingdom. Here’s an excerpt. Our thoughts turn back to a moment in history when God’s chosen people, the children of Israel, were living in intense expectation. They were waiting for the Messiah that God had promised… Continue reading The Pope’s message at Christmas

A church that gets it!

I’ve said on numerous occasions that as far as I’m concerned, religious faith isn’t something you believe; it’s something you live, something you do. Anything less is an intellectual fad rather than something really meaningful and life-changing. I was very pleased to read about a church in Alabama that seems to grasp that reality. We… Continue reading A church that gets it!

The 12 Politically Correct Days of Christmas

Er, sorry – that should have been Winter, not Christmas! Courtesy of Grouchy Old Cripple, here’s a somewhat revised version of the old carol. Old NFO also offers his take on what is, or is not, politically correct this Christmas. Worthwhile reading. (Oh – and just to make my position clear: whatever you believe [or… Continue reading The 12 Politically Correct Days of Christmas

Why Christmas falls on December 25th

No, it’s almost certainly not because an old Pagan festival was taken over, as popular myth would have it. Biblical Archaeology Review reports: It’s not until the 12th century that we find the first suggestion that Jesus’ birth celebration was deliberately set at the time of pagan feasts. A marginal note on a manuscript of… Continue reading Why Christmas falls on December 25th

Sounds like King Henry VIII had a very merry Christmas indeed!

An article describes the sorts of food and festivities that Henry VIII would have enjoyed. The pacing of a Tudor Christmas was very different to our own. When Henry wanted to divorce Katharine and marry Anne Boleyn, he broke away from Rome and set up his own Church, but he still kept the Roman Catholic… Continue reading Sounds like King Henry VIII had a very merry Christmas indeed!