tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post5748705912507352335..comments2024-03-19T15:26:26.055+00:00Comments on auntie joanna writes: Oh, dear...joy and shadow...Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-31751714995414686752010-12-18T19:40:44.431+00:002010-12-18T19:40:44.431+00:00No sense of Christmas here, though of course I'...No sense of Christmas here, though of course I'm only a few miles from Bethlehem.<br />Last year they had a Christmas Eve party in manger square but cancelled the video link to the Mass. Part of the campaign for Islamicisation.Malcolmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10311426607108404554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-38505797183150055372010-12-18T04:37:40.998+00:002010-12-18T04:37:40.998+00:00Other than the wallet, it sounds like a lovely out...Other than the wallet, it sounds like a lovely outing. Sorry about the wallet, but feel good that you spread Christ's birth through the streets.<br /><br />Sheila - lots of New Yorkers still say Merry Christmas, like me!Mannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15396201693030286919noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-55523862446905704572010-12-17T18:29:44.127+00:002010-12-17T18:29:44.127+00:00Your description of your caroling outing made me s...Your description of your caroling outing made me smile. I can feel the warmth and the good-will that you paint with your words.<br /><br />Am sorry to hear about your wallet. I have thoughts of if they were truly that desperate and needy, well God bless them so that they may be helped in a more God-willed way.<br /><br />If not, I hope that the articles in your wallet stirs some feeling of contrition that leads them to sincere repents.<br /><br />God Bless Joanna to you and yours. And may all other readers of your blog to be richly blessed this holy season by remembering the poor, the alone, the fearful.Dawnnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-33970956.post-30566653545241387932010-12-17T12:46:12.846+00:002010-12-17T12:46:12.846+00:00I loved your stories about caroling. I was raised ...I loved your stories about caroling. I was raised in an unhappy 1950s stepfamily where carolers were unwelcome in that house. The strain of Christmas made me ill every December, so I escaped into the wonderful world of books.<br />The pre-Christmas rush has accelerated in NY because snow is predicted for Sunday. Suburban (Westchester) Catholic parishes are busy with the Christmas Giving Tree--a wooden tree filled with tags marked for gifts (age & gender) to benefit those in need. Others are collecting new and "gently-used" coats. Most parishes have Advent & Christmas concerts (some with handbells), Advent Bible discussions, Breakfast & Photo with Santa, poinsettia donations in memory of loved ones, and Christmas Novena cards. A neighboring parish distributes candles placed in sand-filled paper bags at curbside that are lit for 9 nights--their version of Mexico's posada commemorating the journey of Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem. <br />Neighborhoods are festive with door wreaths and lit trees, and cars roam in line to see the more elaborate light effects. Grandparents still take grandchildren "to the city" to see the Rockefeller Tree and skating rink, Christmas Show at Rockefeller Center, animated department store windows (getting more & more secular & away from the original Christmas intent), the Nutcracker Ballet, the new Narnia film, and the decorated St. Patrick's Cathedral where Archbishop Dolan presides. <br />If only New Yorkers would drop "Happy Holidays" for "Merry Christmas!"<br />SheilaSheila A. Watershttp://cutley@optonline.netnoreply@blogger.com