12. The Power of Presence
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Monday, January 05, 2009 3:34 AM
Every tabernacle is a Bethlehem.
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
When someone says he saw the Pope, we ask, “How close did you get?” John Paul II understood the power of presence, and so he set out to travel to as many places as he could. The year 2008 made Benedict’s pontificate “real” for many Americans because he was here.
I can remember being... READ MORE
Filed under 12 ways of christmas, weekend commentary
11. Learning to Bow
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Sunday, January 04, 2009 4:24 AM
Even a president has to bow to enter the Church of the Nativity.
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
Overlooked in the first year of his pontificate were Pope Benedict XVI’s excellent meditations on the Magi, given at World Youth Day in Cologne, whose cathedral houses relics of the Magi.
At the stable, said the Pope, “Outwardly, the journey of the Magi was now over. They had reached... READ MORE
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10. God Tricked Us
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Saturday, January 03, 2009 4:21 AM
Benedict at the Vatican’s 2008 creche. (CNS)
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
In his (truly) amazing book The Better Part (which our own Circle Press publishes) Legionary Father John Bartunek comments on how God tricks us into loving him properly.
He came not as an Adonis, but as a poor infant child. For us, love means charged feelings of closeness and sweet... READ MORE
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9. Christmas vs. the Atheists
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Friday, January 02, 2009 4:36 AM
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
In November 2007, a Register editorial counted down Six Myths of Atheism.
Myth 1: Atheists are more logical than believers. (But the reverse is also untrue.)
Myth 2: The burden of proof is on the religious. (Not in an ordered cosmos, it’s not.)
Myth 3: Science makes God obsolete. (No... READ MORE
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8. The Modest God
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Thursday, January 01, 2009 4:26 AM
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
The very nature of the Trinity shows a kind of interior modesty in God. Three Persons are at the same time One God, and it shows: The Father sends the Son to be worshiped; the Son goes to the Cross to glorify the Father. The Spirit drives the Son to his triumph in the desert; the Son... READ MORE
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7. God Was Poor
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Wednesday, December 31, 2008 3:45 AM
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
No matter what happened to the economy this year, compared to most people in the world (ignoring the political stuff, see the video at the end of this post), Americans are downright rich.
We can still be poor in spirit, however, and Christmas can remind us how to do that.
In the... READ MORE
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6. The Waiting
Posted by Tom Hoopes
Tuesday, December 30, 2008 3:32 AM
For each of the 12 days of Christmas, I’ll review and fill out one of the “12 Ways of Christmas” …
“Christmas didn’t change anything,” began our 2005 Christmas editorial “The Waiting.” “At least it can seem that way.”
“We’re not told what happened to the shepherds after that fateful first Noel, but we can imagine that they might have gotten a little bit discouraged. They heard... READ MORE
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