—- See also, Dickens and Thomas Malthus, the father of global population control. Melvyn Bragg and guests (In Our Time, BBC) discuss Charles Dickens’ novella, written in 1843 when he was 31, which has become intertwined with his reputation and with Christmas itself. Ebenezer Scrooge is the miserly everyman figure whose joyless obsession with money… Read More Dickens and the meanings of ‘A Christmas Carol’. Melvyn Bragg.
From The Imitation of Christ by Thomas a Kempis., 15th Century. God help us. “… a humble tiller of the land who serves God is better than a proud philosopher who neglects his soul to study the course of the stars. He who knows himself well becomes mean in his own eyes and is not… Read More On Striving to be Small Towards Christmas.
Jesus Christ: “given unto us” (Isa 9.6): This “true Man” has been the subject of the most sublime contemplation, worship, and love imaginable for over two thousand years. Even agnostics marvel over his Person and teachings. And His enemies, of whatever variety, obsess over Him to this very day. For in that crib, the Church… Read More Jesus Christ, Light of the World
James Bishop’s Encyclopedia of Religion, Society and Philosophy Dan Brown in his book The Da Vinci Code (2003) writes, “Nothing in Christianity is original.” In recent times a number of people are claiming that the historical Jesus is simply a rehash of older pagan secretive religions, and of the religions of dying and rising gods. This is a view… Read More Why we know Jesus is not a copy of pagan religions
Malcolm Muggeridge. “The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous event in human history. . . . As it is, belonging to a civilization which began with the birth of Jesus some two thousand years ago, and reaching the conclusion—to me inescapable—that whatever is truly admirable in the achievements of the succeeding… Read More Fiat Lux. Into History Comes the Light
The Rosary of the Sick, linked here, was recorded at this Shrine. My wife, Diane, and I made a short pilgrimage to the Shrine for Christmas Mass, staying over nearby in Harvard Square. Mary the Finder of Grace. “The Basilica and Shrine of Our Lady of Perpetual Help informally known as The Mission Church is a Roman Catholic basilica in the Mission Hill neighborhood… Read More Christmas in Harvard Square and Roxbury
“Chesterton’s defense of Father Christmas reveals a deeper truth: Christ’s birth conquers every winter of the world.” Joseph Pearce, National Catholic Register. December 18, 2024. … Having defended myself, and Chesterton, from any pharisaical guardians of the feast, I’m going to risk the ire of lovers of Christmas by confessing that I prefer good old Father… Read More ‘Father Christmas’ Will Never Die Because Christ Has Risen From the Dead
“The Order of the Parts of the universe to each other exists in virtue of the Order of the Whole universe to God.” — St. Thomas Aquinas, C.G.1,83 By Malcom Muggeridge First Lux! “From its triumphant opening: In the beginning was the Word,and the Word was with God,and the Word was God,” to its beautiful… Read More Into the Darkness Comes the Light.
“THE first purification to be made is from mortal sin. The means whereby to make it is the sacrament of penance. Seek the best confessor within your reach, use one of the many little books [if needed] written in order to help the examination of conscience. Read some such book carefully, examining point by point… Read More The First Purification. By St. Francis de Sales.
by Malcolm Muggeridge The coming of Jesus into the world is the most stupendous event in human history. Is our [modern] skepticism one more manifestation of our having–in Bonhoeffer’s unhappy phrase–come of age? It would be difficult to support such a proposition in the light of the almost inconceivable credulity of today’s brain-washed public, who… Read More Jesus the Man Who Lives, And the Credulity of Our Age
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