This is just a small section of the Christmas Tree in the church at Carrigaline, Co.Cork. There were many colourful candles added to the tree this weekend by the students who are making their confirmation during 2024. As part of Joyful Sunday they were invited to put some of their good news onto a candle, colour it and bring it to Mass at the weekend.
(It is just 6 days to go before Christmas Day. The coming week is busy for everyone. There is a good busy and an exhausting busy. I hope your busy this coming week is good. I hope the coming week is a week of blessings for you. I hope you can enjoy beautiful connections with your family and friends. Whatever your plans are remember the beautiful message of Christmas, that God is with you, that God loves you and that you are precious and special.)
On This Day
On December 19th 1843 “A Christmas Carol” by Charles Dickens is published and 6000 copies were sold
On December 19th 1997 the film Titanic about the doomed ocean liner, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet premiered; it later became one of the highest-grossing movies of all time.
On December 19th 2022 190 countries agreed to protect 30% of the world’s land and oceans by 2030 and other measures to halt declining global biodiversity at the UN Biodiversity Conference in Montreal
Birthdays Today
Kristy Swanson (Actress) is 54
Alexis Sanchez (Football Player) is 34
Saint For Today
Today December 19th is Saint Anastasius. He may not be a very famous Saint but he did lots of work to protect the Church from heresies
Significance Of Today
Today is a day to pause briefly and reflect on something good and positive in your life. It does not have to make headlines as good news so often comes in small packages. But every small package is so precious and worth celebrating.
Interesting Quote For Today
“If you can’t tolerate critics, don’t do anything new or interesting.” ~Jeff Bezos
Did You Know
Did you know that the custom of bringing evergreens into the home began in the 16th century among northern and eastern Europeans, primarily in Germany, as a means of cleaning up the Christmas tree and making it more uniform. Instead of throwing out cut-off greens, people wove the excess into wreaths.
Video for the Week🎥
The video for this coming week is called ‘A wheelie different Advent wreath’
Here is my Thought for the Week:
“Everyone has inside of them a piece of good news.” ~Anne Frank
I have great respect for Fr. Tom Clancy who is now a retired priest living in Dennehy’s Cross. He was a dean of formation in Maynooth when I was training for the priesthood many years ago. His beautiful Cork accent always made up for any homesickness I may have felt. Tom always translated scripture into beautiful and simple language. I have always tried to follow his example and translate the message of scripture into simpler language, that people can relate to and connect with.
Fr.Tom always told us that when you are preparing your Sunday homily, have the scriptures in one hand and the newspaper in the other hand. Again his advice was so important for me, to make it relevant and connect it to people’s lives. I always try to follow Tom’s advice every Sunday. Thankfully this newspaper The Echo, always connects us to local stories and local news. Yes some of these stories can be sad sometimes but there is also a lovely balance with good news stories too from all our communities.
On Sunday we celebrated the third Sunday of Advent which is called ‘Joyful Sunday’. We celebrate good news and good news only. But as we know so well it’s bad news that always makes the headlines. It simply has quicker and faster legs than those of 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 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.
(Thought For The Week is updated each Monday)
