Photo was taken yesterday afternoon near Carrigaline, Co.Cork (Irl)
Freezing fog created a white wonderland yesterday especially the trees in their white coats
On This Day
On December 13th 2003 Former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein is captured near his home town of Tikrit, during Operation Red Dawn by US forces
On December 13th 2021 Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, was named Time’s Person of the Year
Birthdays Today
Dermont Kennedy (Pop Singer) is 31
Taylor Swift (Pop Singer) is 33
Saint For Today
Today Dec 13th is the feastday of Saint Lucy
Significance Of Today
December continues to be Human Rights Month. Throughout history there has been so much blatant violation of the rights of people. Whether that was based on the colour of one’s skin, their nationality, religion, or merely being unfortunate enough to be living under the regime of another country, people have regularly been treated really badly. Universal Human Rights Month is here to remind us of that day in 1948 when the United Nations General Assembly codified the basic human rights of every individual on the planet.
Interesting Quote For Today
“Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant” ~Robert Louis Stevenson
Did You Know
Did you know Finland has more saunas than cars!
Thought For The Week
“The taste of true joy is a joy that touches our innermost being. It is heartfelt joy, the joy which leads us forth and gives us courage.” ~Pope Francis
Last Sunday we celebrated ‘Joyful Sunday’ and the third candle of the Advent wreath was lit. The third candle is pink and it is meant to stand out. In many churches at the weekend there was an emphasis put on celebrating good news.
On this day no apologies are made for highlighting our good news stories. It is crucial and important that we do. We have a natural tendency to lean towards negative and sad stories. 2022 has been a challenging year. Just when we were leaving the negativity of Covid behind us, along came the war in Ukraine, soaring energy prices and a big increase in the prices of everything we buy. Many families are feeling the financial pressure of Christmas and lots of bills to pay. So it seems that good news is scarce around us.
But this should never stop us from putting the spotlight on good news. We all need to hear good news, we need to nurture good news and importantly we need to celebrate good news. We need to bring the balance back in. That is why ‘Joyful Sunday’ is one of those days that is so important. There are good news stories all around us but they often get squashed and pushed to one side. These good news stories do not have to make the headlines. It is often the small and insignificant good news stories that really are the best of all.
Christmas can be many different things to people including lots of spiritual significance. Christmas can rightly be called a ‘Celebration of Good News’ but especially a celebration of your good news. The message of ‘Joyful Sunday’ is that you are special and always worth celebrating. If we cannot do that, then there is no point having Christmas. Christmas celebrates you and celebrates the something special you bring to each day.
The Thought For The Week is updated each Monday
