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December 2008

Jesus probably not born December 25

The chances are 364/365 AGAINST that Jesus was historically born December 25! This horrifies some people when they discover it. Furthermore it wasn’t 0 AD – there wasn’t even a 0 AD. Zero is a relatively late concept, and the year before 1 AD is 1BC. So where do we get December 25 from for

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It’s still Chanukah (Hanukkah)

Is it still Christmas? Adam Sandler hanukkah song Lyrics : Put on your yalmulka, here comes hanukkah Its so much fun-akkah to celebrate hanukkah, Hanukkah is the festival of lights, Instead of one day of presents, we have eight crazy nights. When you feel like the only kid in town without a x-mas tree, heres

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There was no inn at Bethlehem

We were walking to Christmas Midnight Mass when my son insightfully asks, “We’re celebrating Jesus’ birth – right? So why are we having communion and so thinking about his death?” The question hung with me throughout the Eucharist. At the blessing of the crib, a mistranslation of Luke’s Gospel was read that may be a

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Christchurch Carmel

What do you bring as a “hello” gift to an enclosed, contemplative Roman Catholic nun? The September edition of the Christchurch magazine Avenues had produced a splendid article on the Christchurch Carmelite Monastery of Christ the King (I cannot locate an online version of the article – sorry). A lot was written about Sr Cushla,

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Christmas badge

An interesting response to my series of badges, one for each week of Advent, has been a request to continue producing badges – one for Christmas, and in fact through the seasons. Many people like, from time to time, to add a badge to their website or blog. If you like the idea – send

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