It is just 5 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. (Photo from Pixabay)
I have just shared my short Christmas Message with a new video below
On This Day
On December 20th 1990 The world’s first website and server go live at Cern
On December 20th 2020 European countries begin closing their borders to the UK after news of a faster-spreading variant of COVID-19 across London and the south-east
On December 20th The ruling Taliban suspended university education for female students in Afghanistan, as part of a wider crackdown on women’s rights in the country
Birthdays Today
Nuala O’Loan (Northern Ireland Peace Commissioner) is 72
Billy Bragg (Singer Songwriter) is 66
Ashley Cole (Football pundit) is 43
Saint For Today
Today December 20th is the feast day of Saint Dominic of Silos
Significance Of Today
December 20th is called ‘Go Carolling Day’. We are encouraged to appreciate carol singing whereever we may find it this week.
Today is also 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
‘Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.’ ~Dale Evans
Did You Know
Did you know evergreens are an ancient tradition. The tradition of Christmas trees goes all the way back to the ancient Egyptians and Romans, who decorated with evergreens during the winter solstice to signify that spring would return again.
Video for the Week🎥
The video for this coming week is called ‘Celebrating Light and Good News this Christmas’
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)
