Even though I grew up Catholics in the 1950s and ’60s, I was only remotely familiar with the custom of the Advent wreath. One or two years during my childhood...
Christmas
As the holiday season approaches, many parishes are undoubtedly preparing to launch annual gift drives to mark the season. Some will hang ornaments on a tree...
Looking for a meaningful gift for kids and teens this Christmas? Christmas may be just around the corner, but there’s still time to find something that will...
The Christmas baskets were almost ready. Only a few donations were still needed. “If anybody can help,” the chairman announced, “We still could use a couple of...
When the jaw of the 6-year-old girl slipped and her mouth opened ever so slightly, the storyteller knew he had her. She was no longer merely hearing a story;...
Keeping Christ in Christmas doesn’t need to be one more “to do” on a family’s already packed December calendar. Jesus was born to bring peace, not stress. The...
It’s nearly lunchtime in the west Michigan city of Kalamazoo. “Auntie” Saheeda Perveen Nadeem, 64, stands over the stove in the kitchen at First Congregational...
Growing up, my siblings and I would take turns arranging the figures in my parents’ large crèche. I liked to display the three magi walking in a procession up...
Heavens! December! This means the Christmas countdown has been on for weeks or months, depending on which calendar you’re using. In Retail Time, of course...
Samira Mehta started studying contemporary interfaith families, she says, because of lunch with a friend. Her classmate, an Episcopal seminarian, had recently...
