Happy Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

I'm sorry I bailed on the "O Antiphons" at the end of Advent; it got too busy around here----something I am sure you can identify with! I often wonder how bloggers with busy lives manage to post as much as they do, but I am not one of those. Busy, yes, likely to blog through it all, no.

After midnight Mass and opening gifts in the middle of the night, we spent the day eating and sleeping, eating and sleeping some more! A shockingly early Christmas dinner---at 11:30 a.m.---was actually a nice idea. It meant we didn't need to fix breakfast, and, in fact, needed to wake up people to so they could eat. We did that so our oldest son could get to work at 2:00. Then we just pulled everything back out (truth: my daughter did) to munch on later. It has been a very restful day!

I hope that your Christmas was filled with the joy of Christ's coming and family. Praying for the best of blessings on all my readers in 2016

xo,

Sara

Jesse Tree Day 24

My favorite Advent tradition is reading daily scripture passages that start with creation and cover all the major episodes in salvation history through the birth of Christ. I hope you will enjoy sharing these readings at your dinner table with the lighted Advent wreath as much as I have over the years. 

Your light will come, O Jerusalem. The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty. We shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. The sign of the cross shall appear in the heavens, when our lord shall come to judge the world.   ----A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions

Day 24 ~ Daniel

Ornament:  lion(s)

Reading: {Short form in brackets}

{Daniel 6:12-23}

Daniel

12 Then they came near and said before the king, concerning the interdict, “O king! Did you not sign an interdict, that any man who makes petition to any god or man within thirty days except to you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions?” The king answered, “The thing stands fast, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be revoked.” 13 Then they answered before the king, “That Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no heed to you, O king, or the interdict you have signed, but makes his petition three times a day.”

14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed, and set his mind to deliver Daniel; and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.15 Then these men came by agreement[a] to the king, and said to the king, “Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians that no interdict or ordinance which the king establishes can be changed.”

16 Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” 17 And a stone was brought and laid upon the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. 18 Then the king went to his palace, and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.

Daniel Saved from the Lions

19 Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.20 When he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish and said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” 21 Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live for ever! 22 My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.” 23 Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of hurt was found upon him, beause he had trusted in his God.

Jesse Tree Day 23

My favorite Advent tradition is reading daily scripture passages that start with creation and cover all the major episodes in salvation history through the birth of Christ. I hope you will enjoy sharing these readings at your dinner table with the lighted Advent wreath as much as I have over the years. 

Your light will come, O Jerusalem. The Lord will dawn on you in radiant beauty. We shall see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. The sign of the cross shall appear in the heavens, when our lord shall come to judge the world.   ----A Prayer Book of Catholic Devotions

Day 23 ~ Jeremiah

Ornament:  a stone

Reading: {Short form in brackets}

{Jeremiah 30: 21-22}

Jeremiah 30

Restoration Promised for Israel and Judah

30 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord: 2 “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Write in a book all the words that I have spoken to you. 3 For behold, days are coming, says the Lord, when I will restore the fortunes of my people, Israel and Judah, says the Lord, and I will bring them back to the land which I gave to their fathers, and they shall take possession of it.”

4 These are the words which the Lord spoke concerning Israel and Judah:

5 “Thus says the Lord:
We have heard a cry of panic,
    of terror, and no peace.
6 Ask now, and see,
    can a man bear a child?
Why then do I see every man
    with his hands on his loins like a woman in labor?
    Why has every face turned pale?
7 Alas! that day is so great
    there is none like it;
it is a time of distress for Jacob;
    yet he shall be saved out of it.

8 “And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord of hosts, that I will break the yoke from off their[a] neck, and I will burst their[b] bonds, and strangers shall no more make servants of them.[c][d] 9 But they shall serve the Lord their God and David their king, whom I will raise up for them.

10 “Then fear not, O Jacob my servant, says the Lord,
    nor be dismayed, O Israel;
for lo, I will save you from afar,
    and your offspring from the land of their captivity.
Jacob shall return and have quiet and ease,
    and none shall make him afraid.
11 For I am with you to save you,
                says the Lord;
I will make a full end of all the nations
    among whom I scattered you,
    but of you I will not make a full end.
I will chasten you in just measure,
    and I will by no means leave you unpunished.

12 “For thus says the Lord:
Your hurt is incurable,
    and your wound is grievous.
13 There is none to uphold your cause,
    no medicine for your wound,
    no healing for you.
14 All your lovers have forgotten you;
    they care nothing for you;
for I have dealt you the blow of an enemy,
    the punishment of a merciless foe,
because your guilt is great,
    because your sins are flagrant.
15 Why do you cry out over your hurt?
    Your pain is incurable.
Because your guilt is great,
    because your sins are flagrant,
    I have done these things to you.
16 Therefore all who devour you shall be devoured,
    and all your foes, every one of them, shall go into captivity;
those who despoil you shall become a spoil,
    and all who prey on you I will make a prey.
17 For I will restore health to you,
    and your wounds I will heal,
                says the Lord,
because they have called you an outcast:
    ‘It is Zion, for whom no one cares!’

18 “Thus says the Lord:
Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob,
    and have compassion on his dwellings;
the city shall be rebuilt upon its mound,
    and the palace shall stand where it used to be.
19 Out of them shall come songs of thanksgiving,
    and the voices of those who make merry.
I will multiply them, and they shall not be few;
    I will make them honored, and they shall not be small.
20 Their children shall be as they were of old,
    and their congregation shall be established before me;
    and I will punish all who oppress them.
21 Their prince shall be one of themselves,
    their ruler shall come forth from their midst;
I will make him draw near, and he shall approach me,
    for who would dare of himself to approach me?
                says the Lord.
22 And you shall be my people,
    and I will be your God.”

23 Behold the storm of the Lord!
    Wrath has gone forth,
a whirling tempest;
    it will burst upon the head of the wicked.
24 The fierce anger of the Lord will not turn back
    until he has executed and accomplished
    the intents of his mind.
In the latter days you will understand this.