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A Catholic Christmas feature with a 2008 Advent calendar updated daily from Advent through Christmas to Epiphany.

Seasonal Features
Advent/Christmas

Franciscan Communications: YouTube for Advent
2008 Advent Catholic Treasures with Father Greg Friedman, O.F.M.
Why is Christmas on Dec. 25?”
Where did the custom of the Christmas tree come from?”
What is the religious symbolism behind the Advent wreath?
Advent key figure #1: the Blessed Virgin Mary”
Advent key figure #2: St. John the Baptist”
Caught in Christmas nostalgia?”


Advent Radio Retreat

Franciscan Radio encourages you to put aside today’s cares and worries, and make a “radio retreat”—online. Using the Windows Media Player, Real Player or any MP3 player, including Apple’s iPod, take this opportunity to focus clearly on what God is saying to you this Advent.

Kicking the Worry Habit

As we prepare our spirits for the season of Advent, the first item of clutter is the worry habit, says Susan Rowland, author of Make Room for God: Clearing Out the Clutter. She offers antidotes to help us get our house in order to welcome the coming of God our lives.

What Are We Waiting For?

The celebration of Christmas is not a sentimental waiting for a baby to be born, but much more an asking for history to be born, according to Franciscan Father Richard Rohr, author of Preparing for Christmas With Richard Rohr: Daily Meditations for Advent. Catholics, he says, do the gospels no favor when making Jesus, the eternal Christ, into a perpetual baby, a baby able to ask for little or no adult response.

The True Gift of Christmas

From St. Anthony Messenger magazine
A little boy in an airport rekindles a priest’s love for the holiday season.

Sunday Soundbite

First Sunday of Advent—Be Vigilant
Second Sunday of Advent—The Power of Prayer
Third Sunday of Advent—Joyful Expectation
Fourth Sunday of Advent—The Old and the New
Christmas—God's Extravagance
Feast of the Holy Family—The Rest of the Story
Mary, Mother of God—The Model Disciple
Epiphany—The Message of Faith
Baptism of the Lord—A Good Beginning

Quicklinks
Advent FAQs: What Is Advent? Who Established Advent?
Incarnation of Jesus (United States Catholic Catechism for Adults)
How Christians Should Celebrate Advent and Christmas
Advent Customs: How to Make an Advent Wreath and a Jesse Tree
Catholic Saints of Advent: Mary, St. Francis Xavier, St. Nicholas
More Advent Inspiration From Previous Years



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Feast of the Presentation of Mary: Mary’s presentation was celebrated in Jerusalem in the sixth century. A church was built there in honor of this mystery. The Eastern Church was more interested in the feast, but it does appear in the West in the 11th century. Although the feast at times disappeared from the calendar, in the 16th century it became a feast of the universal Church.
<p>As with Mary’s birth, we read of Mary’s presentation in the temple only in apocryphal literature. In what is recognized as an unhistorical account, the <i>Protoevangelium of James</i> tells us that Anna and Joachim offered Mary to God in the Temple when she was three years old. This was to carry out a promise made to God when Anna was still childless.
</p><p>Though it cannot be proven historically, Mary’s presentation has an important theological purpose. It continues the impact of the feasts of the Immaculate Conception and of the birth of Mary. It emphasizes that the holiness conferred on Mary from the beginning of her life on earth continued through her early childhood and beyond.</p> Why are divorced/remarried Catholics treated differently from other sinners? There’s nothing more important I can do in my day than take some time to be with my Lord.

 
PICK OF THE DAY
Saints at the Dinner Table
CPA 2009 Award Winning author Amy Heyd cooks up delicious meals and dedicates each chapter to a saint.

 
CATHOLIC GREETINGS
Christ the King
Our liturgical year ends as it begins, focusing on our hope in the eternal majesty and mercy of God.



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