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That incredible shrinking Advent-Christmas season Twenty-one years in Washington, D.C., should have rendered me impervious to the bizarre. But I confess to having been taken aback in mid-October when, inside a grocery where I was vainly searching for some decent Peccorino Romano, I saw an enormous Christmas display with ersatz snow and all the trimmings. It was bad enough when stores started putting out the Christmas decorations (or, as they now say, “holiday decorations”) a nanosecond after sweeping their shelves of leftover candy corn and other Halloween goodies beloved of dentists with medical school bills to pay. But Santa and...

November 27, 2004Saturday of the Thirty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time Reading IRev 22:1-7 John said:An angel showed me the river of life-giving water,sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of Godand of the Lamb down the middle of the street,On either side of the river grew the tree of lifethat produces fruit twelve times a year, once each month;the leaves of the trees serve as medicine for the nations.Nothing accursed will be found anymore.The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in it,and his servants will worship him.They will look upon his face, and his name will be...

November 23, 2003The Solemnity of Our Lord Jesus Christ the King Psalm: Sunday 50 Reading I Responsorial Psalm Reading II Gospel Reading IDn 7:13-14 As the visions during the night continued, I sawone like a Son of man coming,on the clouds of heaven;when he reached the Ancient Oneand was presented before him,the one like a Son of man received dominion, glory, and kingship;all peoples, nations, and languages serve him.His dominion is an everlasting dominionthat shall not be taken away,his kingship shall not be destroyed. Responsorial PsalmPs 93:1, 1-2, 5 R. (1a) The Lord is king; he is robed in majesty.The...

advent season originationQuestion from cgilbert on 11-20-2002: Where, when, and how did the advent season originate? Answer by Matthew Bunson on 11-23-2002: The name Advent is derived from the Latin word adventus (arrival or coming). In its original Roman sense, it was used by pagans to describe an honorific visit by a person of great importance, especially an emperor, to a village or city. For the Church, the Advent Season inaugurates the liturgical year. According to The General Norms for the Liturgical Year and Calendar, issued in 1969, “Advent has a twofold character: as a season to prepare us...