Monthly Archives: December 2014

Dropping the Ball

Posted on December 31, 2014 by sstyves

The ball will drop in New York City, friends and loved ones will toast the New Year in homes and party places all over the world, and others will quietly write another page in a journal. However you spend these … Continue reading →

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2014 in review

Posted on December 30, 2014 by sstyves

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A San Francisco cable car holds 60 people. This blog was viewed about 1,100 times in 2014. If it were a cable car, it … Continue reading →

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Family Blessings?

Posted on December 28, 2014 by sstyves

Today is the Feast of the Holy Family, pre-empting the usual feast, the Holy Innocents. I always am a bit apprehensive on this feast day as it seems the Catholic Church rarely remembers the variety of families that exist…or do … Continue reading →

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Boxing Day Brilliance

Posted on December 26, 2014 by sstyves

One of the things that I love about Christmas is the unexpected surprises that spring up. Today is Boxing Day here in Canada and folks lined up in the middle of the night…but not to look at a star to … Continue reading →

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Merry Mary?

Posted on December 25, 2014 by sstyves

Ah, Mary, what did you feel that very first Christmas, the Babe quietly sleeping in your arms? You knew not what was really unfolding. You must have been so tired from the long journey to Bethlehem on a donkey, ready … Continue reading →

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Love Up Close

Posted on December 23, 2014 by sstyves

In the Incarnation contemplation of the Second Week of the Spiritual Exercises, the director may hope that the retreatant picks up or is given the Baby Jesus to hold. This is a personal and up close moment if it happens. … Continue reading →

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Love Conquers All

Posted on December 22, 2014 by sstyves

Ignatian Spirituality does not separate the cross from the cradle very much. Love came down with a purpose and and end in mind. Arriving clothed in human skin, God was destined to conquer all on the cross. This Christmas as … Continue reading →

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Love Came Down

Posted on December 21, 2014 by sstyves

The Annunciation finds its place in the last Gospel of Advent Sundays. Today, known as Love Sunday, we discover that God so loved the world that a Son was given, through a lowly handmaiden who was with the Lord and … Continue reading →

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What Brings Joy?

Posted on December 19, 2014 by sstyves

Ah, nature! I find such joy in you. This morning, walking up to the restaurant in the park, I really wanted to take my camera and go explore but alas, my co-workers were already waiting. The sky was overcast but … Continue reading →

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Joy Wrapped in a Babe

Posted on December 18, 2014 by sstyves

We draw nearer to the stable. In a week we will arrive once again, standing in hay and tinsel, and know that God has come, begging us to cradle the flesh of the Creator. The creature can again snuggle close, … Continue reading →

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