This week, a reflection on Easter by Frederica Mathewes-Green:
Tag Archives: Christmas
The Broken Baby: A Christmas Story
Every year, for nearly 40 years, I’ve written a Christmas story. Some of the best are collected in my book Twenty-One Candles: Stories for Christmas. Now here’s this year’s offering, entitled “The Broken Baby.” Merry Christmas, everyone!
Henri Nouwen’s Christmas
In 1974, a decade before joining the L’Arche community in Toronto, Henri Nouwen made a seven-month retreat at a Trappist monastery called The Genesee. He subsequently published his diary for that period, which ended on Christmas Day. Here is his final entry, dated Wednesday, December 25:
Story Time: A Christmas Eve Tradition
I love Christmas stories. Besides having several shelves full of Christmas books, I have an annual tradition of writing a new story to send out as a greeting to friends.
Gabriel’s Annunciation
My Christmas story this year is an excerpt from my current project, a novel about angels. Usually we view the Annunciation from Mary’s point of view. But how would the angel Gabriel have experienced it? Read on.
The Great Light of Christmas
Christmas, I confess, is my favorite time of year. And I say this despite the fact that it is also the most painful.
Ezekiel’s Christmas Tree
This year, once again, the Lord cut down a Christmas tree for us with His own hand. It’s the tipmost top of a splendid mugo pine from across the street, which blew down in last week’s big wind.
Christmas Adam
In my family we traditionally refer to the day before Christmas Eve as Christmas Adam. Similarly, Boxing day is Christmas Cain (or sometimes Christmas Candy Cane) and the day after is Christmas Abel, and so on.
Are Christmas Trees in the Bible?
On a terrifically windy day last August, I watched the trees rock and bounce as if shaken by giant hands.
A Stone Manger (Chapter 4 of Jesus: His Story In Stone)
“You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” (Luke 2:12)
A manger is a feed trough for animals. The word is related to the French manger, to eat. If you were to attend a French-speaking eucharistic service, as the priest or minister placed the morsel of bread in your hands he would say, “Prenez, mangez.” Take, eat.
The name Bethlehem means House of Bread.