Art invites us to look at Scripture in new ways. Nativity scenes usually focus on the Holy Family, but this painting focuses on the shepherds, centered in the middle of the painting.
Meditating with Giorgione’s painting ‘The Adoration of the Shepherds’
Contemplating the closeness of the Incarnation in a year of separation
“How could we possibly find God in the suffering of separation, especially in a season that for many us is often spent in closeness with others?”
Sweet Christmas cookie tradition connects members of Alexandria community
For nearly 30 years, the Cookie Connection tradition has brought Christmas cheer to the homebound or those unable to bake. This year, however, the tradition changed due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Eden Valley, Watkins parishes to host outdoor Nativity story
The churches of St. Anthony in Watkins and Assumption in Eden Valley will host an outdoor depiction of the Nativity story. “The Story of Jesus’ Birth: A Drive Through Christmas Event,” will be held at 6:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 23.
Ways to attend/watch Christmas Mass this year
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to limit the ways worshippers can safely gather, the diocese, parishes and area religious communities are doing what they can to make Christmas Mass accessible to all.
Advent Week 4: Come Lord Jesus! From the Annunciation to Christmas
“Pondering the Gospel scene of the Annunciation prepares us to welcome the newborn Jesus through the eyes of the graced woman who prepared most intimately for our Lord’s birth, his mother Mary.”
Advent Week 4: Always with us
“Wow are we to be, as St. John Paul II says in one of his poems, ‘more with Him, / more with Him, not merely with oneself’? The answer is to imitate Christ, to imitate Mary — to make of ourselves a gift.”
Christmas is sign of God’s preferential love for the poor, cardinal says
Reaching out to and helping the poor “is to imitate God; it is to make oneself small out of love in order to raise up the other,” the preacher of the papal household told Pope Francis, officials of the Roman Curia and Vatican employees.