2nd Week of Advent: Saturday, December 12th

FEAST OF OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE Click HERE for Daily Mass Readings. REFLECTION Today is the feast of the Lady of Guadalupe, a great day of celebration in Mexico.  Click HERE for the whole story! Say a Hail Mary and pray together as a family with special intentions for the people of Mexico and Latin [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT: Friday, December 11

Click HERE for Daily Mass readings. REFLECTION Play Sarah Hart’s beautiful, melancholy cover of “It Came Upon the Midnight Clear”.  Get comfortable and close your eyes to listen to this one – imagine you’re walking at night in the snow! PRAYER ACTIVITY Listen to this song and reflect in silence.  Then take a family walk [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT: Thursday, December 10th

Click HERE for Daily Mass Readings. REFLECTION “It might be easy to run away to a monastery, away from the commercialization, the hectic hustle, the demanding family responsibilities of Christmas-time. Then we would have a holy Christmas. But we would forget the lesson of the Incarnation, of the enfleshing of God—the lesson that we who [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT: Wednesday, December 9

Click HERE for Daily Mass readings. REFLECTION “When the Bible says holy it means ‘separate’ or ‘different.’ The word implies being healthy and whole in a world where much is un-healthy and fragmented. The English phrase ‘hale and hearty’ sums up true holiness.  Holiness includes such concepts as humor and laughter, compassion and understanding, and [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT: Tuesday, December 8

FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION Click HERE for Daily Mass readings. Today we celebrate Mary and her pure, sinless birth.  We bless her for the gifts she has given us and strive to be like her. Say the rosary for the Joyful Mysteries: The Annunciation, The Visitation, The Nativity, The Presentation, and The Finding of [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT – Monday, December 7

Click HERE for Daily Mass readings. REFLECTION: Listen to Sarah Hart’s beautiful song “His Name Is Joseph,” sung from the perspective of Mary as she wonders how Joseph will react to her news about the visit of the angel Gabriel.  This is one of my all-time favorite Advent songs! PRAYER ACTIVITY:As you listen to this [...]

Read Full Post »

2nd WEEK OF ADVENT – Sunday, December 6

Click HERE for Sunday Mass readings BLESSING FOR THE ADVENT WREATH Blessed are you, O Lord our God, king of the universe. You sent your Son to be the Light of the world and to spread his light of love to all. Bless us and accept these wreaths of light made from our hands. May [...]

Read Full Post »

1st WEEK OF ADVENT: Saturday, December 5

  Click HERE for Daily Mass Readings.   REFLECTION Watch this video entitled “Enter the Story” by Advent Conspiracy.   PRAYER ACTIVITY Tonight is Saint Nicholas Eve, when children all around the world will be putting out their wooden shoes for Saint Nicholas to fill, so it’s a good time to think about gift-giving.  Do [...]

Read Full Post »

1st WEEK OF ADVENT: Friday, December 4th

Click HERE for Daily Mass Readings REFLECTION Go HERE to read the true story of the life of Saint Nicholas and where our gift-giving traditions come from. PRAYER ACTIVITY This Sunday is the feast of Saint Nicholas.  All around the world tonight, children will place wooden shoes outside filled with straw in the hopes that [...]

Read Full Post »

1st WEEK OF ADVENT: Thursday, December 3

  Click HERE for Daily Mass readings. REFLECTION: “Whatever else be lost among the years, Let us keep Christmas still a shining thing; Whatever doubts assail us, or what fears, Let us hold close one day, remembering Its poignant meaning in the hearts of men. Let us get back our childlike faith again.” –Grace Noll [...]

Read Full Post »