It's the Twelfth Day of Christmas-the Epiphany of our Lord. I love these photos posted by Rita on Tigerish Waters.

In the West the tradition is there were three wise men bringing the gold, francincense and myrhh. In the East there has been a tradition of 12 wise men- or maybe it was 12 men but only three of them were wise enough to bring a gift .

It's a bit sad as all the decorations come down-but hey our Ukrainian Catholic brothers and sisters are about to have their Christmas tomorrow so it aint over yet! (Whistling 'always look on the bright side of life, te-dum...)

God bless you one and all.

St Stephen; 2nd Day of Christmas

Happy Christmas everyone. We have had a couple of pretty sick little ones so my dd (13yr old) said she could beat those Councils around England (and I think a couple in Scotland) who decided to change Christmas to Winterfest - she called yesterday 'Pukefest!'

We did manage to get to the vigil Mass on Christmas Eve and the oldest went back at Midnight as well. Today the men of the house; my husband and the two older boys went to Church for the St Stephen's Day Mass. St Stephen is the first martyr of the Church, a deacon and the patron saint of altar servers. Every year on this day my boys join their fellow altar servers for this special Mass and renew their promises. Next year they will both have earned their silver medals for 10 yrs service.

The altar server's Guild of St Stephen is an important part of my boy's life. I think this is an excellent way of encouraging young men to remain loyal to a service to Christ and His Church. They receive medals as they earn them and must show commitment and dedication in service. I think more could be made of this for the youngsters so that they were more involved in the Eucharistic life-but my boys are proud of their medals and what they symbolise.

I have been thinking about it more recently because of things I have heard on Catholic Radio about how people are encouraged to join groups within Islam-particularly for young men. These groups give them a sense of identity and demand a strong commitment. Okay, they can be a bit spooky too; one man described being hounded by the group leaders when he decided against conversion and began to return to his Christian roots.

One of my muslim friends has told me about the groups within her own local mosque that are obviously strong and designed to hold the converts together. Obviously I am not suggesting that Catholics should follow this pattern completely as the coercive nature of them is frankly unpleasant-but we do have groups within the church that could do a lot more to encourage commitment from young people. After all we do have a Faith worth dieing for and I am sure many young men in particular would be willing to be part of a Faith like that.

Thank you to Marie and Ginny of View from the Pews who are passing this award around to Christian bloggers who think the fact that 'God [is] With Us' is a bit more important than maxing out the credit cards.

Emmanuel Award
"God With Us"
In a consumer society it is a blessing to read blogs where the writer's main focus is God. Where they express their love for their faith so visibly and joyfully.In a cynical world it is refreshing to see so many blogs which are generous, giving, who care about others and demonstrate what being a Christian is about, loving God and loving our neighbor.
Through their faith, lives and spirituality, they bring God to us, they in essence make God visible, 'God with us.'
This Award goes to all the faith filled blogs who make evident 'Emmanuel'- God with us, with Joy in their hearts.
Please share this Award with Christian blogs that focus on the real meaning of Christmas, the birth of our Savior.
Peace, JOY & Merry Christmas
Marie & Ginny

I would like to pass this on to

Autumn Rose

Ebeth as she climbs those pillars and I recommend THIS post by her

Therese at her Aussie Coffee Shop has it already...

Totus Tuus family

Rita at Tigerish Waters

There are LOADS of others who could and I am sure will receive this award, and that is a heart warming thought. There are many people out there who want Christ to be the centre of their Christmas-and so He will be