By Pat Haggerty

I still have some vestiges of Christmas lingering in my office.  It’s not that I am too lazy to put them away.  I just want them visible for a little while longer---like the Tomie dePaola ornament of an angel in true dePaola style.  He is wearing a straw hat, has purple wings and green pants, and is holding a cat.  So Tomie!  There is the beautiful Millenium figurine of the Holy Family that Sister Helen, a dear friend, gave me.  It is all white and just lovely in its simplicity!  Finally, I have a plaque with “BELIEVE!” on my wall.  I think it’s a reminder that we are supposed to believe in the beauty and miracle of Christmas.

Happy New Year to all!

The ball has dropped, the toasts have been made and life is returning to normalcy.  It shouldn’t be, though!

After celebrating the beautiful season of Advent and experiencing the holiness of Christmas, there is no way we should be settling for “normalcy.”  What is normal, anyway?  Is it settling for the status quo?  Is it letting the beautiful lessons of this season just wash over us and leave no impact?  Is it putting away the Christmas decorations and closing those boxes while closing our minds too?

By Pat Haggerty

We so often hear that Christmas is a season of giving.  And that it is!  We see people rushing around with their Christmas lists looking for that perfect gift.  We are inundated with mail seeking donations for every possible non-profit---and some organizations we have never even heard of.  We are bombarded with catalogs that illustrate all the possible gifts we can procure this year.  We see ad after ad on television that suggest just what to buy.  The one that gets me is the person who gives a car with a big red bow on it.  Now, really, how many people get a car for Christmas!

By Pat Haggerty

We have survived Black Friday and Cyber-Monday!  What’s next?  Retailers have been pushing the spirit of Christmas since Halloween, and radio stations can now legitimately play Christmas songs.  Our newspapers are thick with advertisements for all those things we need to buy.  The Hallmark Channel has its countdown of holiday-themed shows where everyone finds true love, and Santa always has a mischievous twinkle in his eye.