GUEST EDITORIAL BY SR JUDY COYLE IHM It is common during the Christmas season to exchange gifts, husband and wife, parent and child, friend and friend. The gift may be pleasing to us, and the giver gratified when we use it. Or it may be inappropriate. But once we have expressed our gratitude, the gift [...]
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He has spoken through the prophets
Fr RALPH DE HAHN takes us on a journey through the Old Testament which reveals ancient prophecies of Christ’s coming.
Jesus’ birth in Africa
The gospel story of Jesus’ birth resonates with Africans for many reasons, as SIMEON BANDA FMS explains.
The reaper’s merciless scythe
If happiness matters, that particular Christmas was significant. We had hired a car to travel as far as we could go. We spent Christmas on the foot of the snow-capped Kilimanjaro, whose heights were starting to drip because of what is affecting the glaciers. We debated the origins of humankind at the Ngorongoro Crater.
To be Mary’s child
By Allan Moss OMI Advent brings to mind the pregnancy of Mary. We prepare for the coming of her child. We know the child is born on Christmas day and we celebrate the moment. Christ is Mary’s child and he wants us all to be her children. Being Mary’s child means living like Christ.
A prophetic birth
Guest editorial by Fr Victor Phalana The birth of Jesus is a real prophetic manifestation. In the Gospel of Matthew, the account of Christ’s birth highlights the threat which this event brought to the powers of the day. The king is threatened, and becomes furious, and in his fury orders the massacre of all male [...]
Pope Benedict on Christmas
A collection of quotes on Christmas by Pope Benedict XVI
This is Christmas
Guest editorial by Bishop Stephen Brislin Awake, mankind”, says St Augustine. “For your sake God has become man. Awake, you who sleep, rise up from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you. I tell you again: for your sake, God became man” (sermon 185).
My Christmas miracle story
By Owen Williams Among all the tawdriness and glitz of the festival of conspicuous consumption, which Christmas has become in the English-speaking countries, it is labouring the obvious to say we have lost sight of the Babe of Bethlehem. The Magi did not follow their star to the supermarket to be greeted by young men [...]
Christmas memo
CHRIS MOERDYK takes aim at the wrong kind of Christmas spirit. Every year at Christmas, I must admit to getting a little piqued at the commercialisation of it all. What riles me most is the way businesses treat Christmas. Some shops see it as nothing more than a chance to make money. They start trotting [...]
Pilgrimage 2013
The Digital Southern Cross
