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December 2011


Weekly Bulletin Archive
 

Weekly Bulletin
December 6, 2011
st nick

St. Nicholas is coming to town


Are your stockings all hung by the chimney with care? If so, you're just in time for the arrival of the famous gift giver with the rosy red cheeks and the long white beard: St. Nicholas.

No, we're not talking about the jolly, round, red-clad fellow flanked by his eight tiny reindeer (or nine, if it's an especially foggy Christmas eve). Today celebrates the feast of the real life fourth-century bishop on whom our modern version of Santa Claus is modeled. Though we're not certain if the real St. Nick mirrored our current depictions of old Kris Kringle, legend has it that the actual saint was also a man filled with generosity who delivered gifts under the cover of night. And in many European countries it is December 6, not the 25th, when children awake to anxiously open the presents that St. Nick has left for them.

Here in the United States, there's still plenty of time to trim your tree, bake your cookies, and make sure you're on Santa's nice list so you find just what you're hoping for on Christmas morning. After you've made your list and checked it twice, let us know what you're hoping Santa (or St. Nicholas) brings you this year.
 

    

 

This week on USCatholic.org

Life: Christmas presence     

Give the kids your attention before they're left to their own electronic devices, says Cathy O'Connell-Cahill.  

Church:
You're cut off

Keeping the communion cup reserved to a select few sends the wrong message, writes Bryan Cones

 

Culture: Resources for responsible investing  

Playing the stock market for personal gain may not be your thing, but that doesn't mean you can't faithfully save for the future. Kristen Hannum provides a list of resources for how to save pennies without sacrificing ethics.

  

USCatholic.org blogs

 

Subscribe to an RSS feed or email to read blogs daily!    

  

The Examined Life: Sorting out the bishops' lobbying budget

What seemed at first glance to be a fairly straightforward report on the increase in lobbying efforts by religious groups has turned into quite a complicated ordeal.

 

Catholic Tastes: Two turntables and a catechism    

"The beautiful thing about hip-hop is it's like an audio collage. You can take any form of music and do it in a hip-hop way and it'll be a hip-hop song. It's the only music you can do that with."    

 

Margin Notes: Are they or aren't they?The bishops as lobbyists

Nancy Pelosi is once again drawing the ire of Catholics for something she said about the leaders of her own church. This time, Pelosi is under fire for having the audacity to call the U.S. bishops "lobbyists."

 

The Examined Life: Is the priest shortage a good reason to close parishes?     
A Detroit archdiocesan planning commission made up primarily of laypeople released a report today recommending that Detroit's bishop close nine parishes and consolidate 60 parishes into 21 over the next five years, according to the Detroit Free Press.
     

  

 Read more blog posts

 

The week in Catholic news

 

Catholics organize protest against NATO strikes that killed Pakistanis

Criticism grows over governor's 'holiday tree' label for public display

Maryland interfaith leaders pledge to fight against same-sex marriage

 

U.S. Catholic review

 

review Film:The Way         

Directed by Emilio Estevez
(Arc Entertainment, 2011)