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A bit over six and a half years ago, astronaut Nick Hague recorded a video on the International Space Station. Nothing special there, but this one shows 30 minutes of Earth's clouds passing by in about 60 seconds. Just shy of a century back, someone named Coffin took an old Latin song, translated it, and added a couple verses. Including this one.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Current events change. Human nature has not changed. Neither has why we celebrate the birth of Jesus, Messiah and Lord. Sharing the best news ever.)

Adoration of the Shepherds Murillo, painted 1646-50 [ Web Gallery of Art ] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger  (Luke 2:12; Gospel). The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord  has four different Mass formularies, each with its own prayers and readings. Any of the four fulfils our obligation to attend Mass. These are: Vigil Mass , celebrated 'either before or after First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Nativity'; that means starting between 5pm and 7pm. Mass During the Night , known before as 'Midnight Mass'. Mass at Dawn . Mass During the Day . The readings from the Jerusalem Bible and from the English Standard Version for the four Masses are all on one page but with links to each individual Mass. When you click on 'Readings' below from the New American Bible you will find links to the readings for each of the four Masses. Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings ...

Adoration of the Shepherds Murillo, painted 1646-50 [ Web Gallery of Art ] And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger  (Luke 2:12; Gospel). The Solemnity of the Nativity of the Lord  has four different Mass formularies, each with its own prayers and readings. Any of the four fulfils our obligation to attend Mass. These are: Vigil Mass , celebrated 'either before or after First Vespers (Evening Prayer) of the Nativity'; that means starting between 5pm and 7pm. Mass During the Night , known before as 'Midnight Mass'. Mass at Dawn . Mass During the Day. The readings from the Jerusalem Bible and from the English Standard Version for the four Masses are all on one page but with links to each individual Mass. When you click on 'Readings' below from the New American Bible you will find links to the readings for each of the four Masses. Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings ...

One way or another, families have been in the news this week. That is not a good thing. Families gathering on a beach planned on celebrating the first day of Hanukkah last Sunday. Then a father-son duo killed 15 of them and wounded dozens more. That father's dead now, too. News media covering the break in finals week routines at Brown University cycled through to discussions of the dead students' family connections. Rob Reiner and his wife abruptly stopped living last weekend. Police arrested Reiner's youngest son, charging him with killing the couple. 1 That left me feeling even less happy than usual about what's in my news feed: which, together with a quote I saw in an Advent calendar, got me started thinking.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Mass murder at a Hanukkah celebration, campus killings, and family murders in Brentwood started me thinking. Life, families: and a few good ideas.)

The Dream of St Joseph Georges de La Tour [ Web Gallery of Art ] An angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife ’   (Matthew 1:24). Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, Ireland, New Zealand) Readings   (English Standard Version, Catholic Edition: (England & Wales, Scotland, India) Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Matthew 1:18-24   (English Standard Version, Anglicised) Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit.   And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly.   But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as yo...

We got a new pope this year, Leo XIV. Now we've got a new archbishop for the Archdiocese of New York. Already I'm seeing the all-too-predictable headlines. I also noticed this excerpt from a transcript of a five-minute interview, complete with an embedded audio recording of the interview.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America . (Link to an excerpt from and audio recording of a five minute interview with the new Archbishop of New York. Also links to my take related topics.)

                                     Fr. Z's blog   One of the great benefits of being Catholic is the gift of having all seven sacraments, which includes the Sacrament of Reconciliation (often referred to as the Sacrament of Penance or Confession).  This particular sacrament may be a difficult one for many people to understand--sometimes even Catholics. The key to appreciating this sacrament is humility, along with trust in the Sacrament. The humility element comes from "giving up" your pride and pouring out everything that needs forgiveness. This can feel embarrassing. Revealing your innermost sins can involve hidden "secrets" that you may have been carrying with you for a long time. They may be things you have never told anyone else in your entire life. As I have told people over the years, those are exactly the sins you need to confess. Don't hold anything back. The seco...

  Auntie Madge (Margaret Collins) Taken by a street photographer, probably  Arthur Fields , on O'Connell Bridge, Dublin, late 1940s. (Please excuse the format of the photo!)   Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town Written by J. Fred Coots and Haven Gillespie Arranged by Jim Clements Sung by Voces8 My Auntie Madge (Margaret Collins) would have been ten or eleven when this song first appeared in 1934 and no doubt heard  Santa Claus is Coming to Town  many times. But she never heard the marvellous arrangement by Voces8, the British choral ensemble that I often use in  Sunday Reflections , here singing a different kind of music from their largely religious repertoire. Auntie Madge was the youngest of my mother's six sisters Jennie, Nan, Neita, Bridie, Eileen and Madge. I'm not sure where Bridie, who died in infancy, came in the sequence but I often heard my mother, Mary, talking about her. Three boys, Mick, Paddy and Jack, completed the family of my maternal grandparen...