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  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. But she never heard the marvellous arrangement above of the song that has just been issued by Voces8, the British choir that I have often used in  Sunday Reflections , singing a different kind of music. 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 grandparents, William Patrick Collins and Annie Dowd. My grandfather died early in 1945 when I was nearly two but I don't have any memories of him, though I am happy that he knew me, his third grandchild, and that he held me. He was only 59 when he died of lung cancer...

The Tempation of Christ, Juan de Flandes Readings (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings (Jerusalem Bible: Australia) Gospel Matthew 4:1-11 ( NRSV, Anglicised Catholic Ed ) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished. The tempter came and said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.’ But he answered, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.”’ Then the devil took him to the holy city and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, saying to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down; for it is written, “He will command his angels concerning you”, and “On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.”’ Jesus said to him, ‘Again it is written, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ Again, the d...

Archbasilica of St John Latera   Cathedral of the Diocese of Rome. Readings   ( New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa)   Gospel  J ohn 2:13-22   ( New Revised Standard Version, Catholic Edition , Canada) The Passover of the Jews was near, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.   In the temple he found people selling cattle, sheep, and doves, and the money changers seated at their tables.   Making a whip of cords, he drove all of them out of the temple, both the sheep and the cattle. He also poured out the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables.   He told those who were selling the doves, “Take these things out of here! Stop making my Father’s house a marketplace!”   continue Christ driving the money-changers from the Temple , Rembrandt, c.1626 Pushkin Museum, Moscow [ W...

Landscape with the Temptation of Christ (detail) Joos de Momper [ Web Gallery of Art ] Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA)  à                              Readings   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) Gospel  Matthew 4:1-11  ( New Revised Standard Version,Catholic Edition , Canada) Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.   He fasted forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was famished.   The tempter came and said to him, “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.”   But he answered, “It is written, ‘One does not live by bread alone,   but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” ...

Wing Commander Brendan 'Paddy' Finucane (16 October 1920 - 15 July 1942) I'm not sure when or how I first came to know of Brendan Finucane, one of the greatest 'aces' in the Royal Air Force during World War II and whose 70th death anniversary occurs on Sunday. Maybe it was in reading English 'comics' when I was in primary school. Weeklies such as The Rover , Adventure , The Hotspur , The Wizard ,  featured adventure stories for boys and sometimes had real-life stories. My Uncle Joe Kiernan drove a delivery van for Easons newsagents in Dublin and kept me well supplied. At some stage I discovered that this airman, known in England as 'Paddy', had become the youngest ever Wing Commander - equivalent to Lieutenant colonel - in the RAF and that he had studied in the same school as myself, O'Connell Christian Brothers' School, Dublin. By the time I began in secondary school there (I was in primary from 1951 to 1956 and in ...

The Temptation of Christ,   Tintoretto, painted 1579-81 Readings   (New American Bible: Philippines, USA) Gospel   Mark 1:12-15   (Jerusalem Bible: Australia, England & Wales, India [optional], Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, Scotland, South Africa) The Spirit drove Jesus out into the wilderness and he remained there for forty days, and was tempted by Satan. He was with the wild beasts, and the angels looked after him. After John had been arrested, Jesus went into Galilee. There he proclaimed the Good News from God. 'The time has come' he said 'and the kingdom of God is close at hand. Repent, and believe the Good News.' An Soiscéal   Marcas 1:12-15 (Gaeilge, Irish) Chuir an Spiorad Íosa amach faoin bhfásach é agus bhí sé daichead lá san fhásach á phromhadh ag Sátan. Agus bhí sé in éineacht leis na beithígh allta; agus bhí na haingil ag freastal air. Tar éis Eoin a bheith tugtha ar láimh, tháinig Íosa go dtí an Ghailíl ag fógairt soiscéal Dé agus ag rá: ...

Glasnevin Cemetery, Dublin , with the round tower over the grave of Daniel O'Connell  There is a beautiful letter in today's Irish Independent expressing the writer's gratitude to those who had helped his mother in her latter days. He mentions, among others, bus drivers. I have seen many acts of kindness by drivers and passengers over the years on buses here in Dublin and similar acts of kindness in all sorts of ordinary situations. 'Whoever has eyes to see . . .' I buried my mother in Dublin last week. Her quality of life became poor over her last two years as she battled against the effects of earlier smoking on her eyesight, heart and lungs. But the people of Dublin were there to help. Bus drivers left their buses and walked her across to her little apartment; some even helped her up the steps and into her little 'home'. Three complete strangers, her "three angels", did her shopping, washing and ironing and took her to get her silver hair...

By Allison Salerno If you want to experience the vibrancy of the Christian faith, I encourage you to head to Manhattan on Martin Luther King weekend in January.  Hey - if enough of you decide to show up, perhaps we can make plans to meet for espresso. Let me know! The New York Encounter, which begins on Friday, January 13,  is an annual three-day cultural festival sponsored by the ecclesiastical group Communion and Liberation and Crossroads Cultural Center. It is free and family friendly, with plenty of kids and babies and teens and grandparents. The setting is near Penn Station, at  he Manhattan Center. Last year, I was deeply moved by the young adults I met who are the next generation of faith-filled Catholics. I spent hours attending beautiful artistic presentations and stimulating talks. I also volunteered with my teenaged son at the espresso bar, which gave me the opportunity to meet young Catholics from across the United States and the rest of th...

This post is by way of making amends to St Anthony of Padua. I must confess that he impinges on my life only when I can't find something. He has never failed me. I do thank him when I find the lost object - and then forget him till the next time. On one occasion when I was doing a mission appeal in the west of Ireland I was chatting with the sacristan. We got around to St Anthony and how he had helped both us of. She then mentioned something that for the life of her she couldn't find. We both prayed to this saint from Lisbon, Portugal, but associated with Padua, Italy. Then we found the lost object - right in front of us in the sacristy! The hymn above was written by a Filipino Franciscan friar, Fr Mariano Montero OFM, and sung at the shrine of St Anthony in Sampaloc, Manila.   This great saint is a doctor of the Church and was known as 'The Hammer of Heretics' . Here is an extract from his writings, part of the reading for the saint's feast day in the Office o...