If we don’t love, we are in
darkness. Gnosticism
was a thorn in the side of the early Church. This heresy derived its name from
the Greek word for “knowledge.” Gnosticism took many twists and is difficult to
define.
From the Collection of Fr. Tony Kadavil and Others
1: Smiling child and his mother: There is a
beautiful little story about a long, tedious train journey, made one
Christmas day by some elderly residents of a nursing home who were on
their way to a vacation spot. At one station, a young mother with a
small child entered the train. The child smiled at all the grim faces
around him and began moving from one lap to another talking, shouting with
joy and chatting with everyone. Instantly, the grim and
silent atmosphere in the train was changed to one of joy and happiness.
Today we remember with joy and gratitude, how Mary and her Divine Son
Jesus transformed a hopeless, joyless and sinful world into a place
of joy and happiness.
Dec 28 Monday (Feast of the Holy Innocents,
Martyrs): https://www.franciscanmedia.org/holy-innocents/
Mt 2:13-18: 13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel
of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and
his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there till I tell you; for Herod
is about to search for the child, to destroy him.”
Here is a collection of assorted quotations, stories and prayers to welcome in the new year.
What’s in a Name?. . . . . . . . . . . . .Complete Speaker’s Almanac, p. 22 "Here we are in a month named after the Roman god Janus, an appropriate personification of the start of the new year. This particular Roman god had two faces so that he could look ahead toward the future and back at the past at the same time. As we get rid of an old year and look forward to a new one, we all try to be a little like Janus. We know through experience what we did wrong and what we did right, and hope to do better this year. Some people make ambitious new year’s resolutions; others just take a deep breath and hope for the best.…"
Introduction by the Celebrant (Liturgical Prayers of the day are included at the end) A. In The House Of The Father
It may come as a real surprise to us to hear Jesus ask Mary and Joseph: "Why were you looking for me? Did you not know that I had to be where my Father is?" Even Joseph and Mary had still to learn and to grow in their faith. Like the Holy Family, our families and each of us have also to grow in the faith. Perhaps it is through painful trials like the one of Mary and Joseph that our faith may become mature. We too are asked: Did you not know...?