An Epiphany Card for You!

Merry Christmas!

For many years now, I've eschewed sending Christmas cards, opting instead for Epiphany greetings. For one thing, it frees me up from some o' the pre-Christmas activities, allowing me to concentrate on Advent.

Want one?

Just drop me a line using the "email Kelly" link (under the "About Kelly" stuff) and receive a .PDF file, ready to print. The card features a color image of the Magi's visit to the Holy Family on the cover, with the Antiphon for the Canticle of Mary sung at Vespers on The Feast of the Epiphany. When folded, it fits into a standard invitation-sized envelope (4-3/8 x 5-3/4). Even if you've send traditional cards, I find these make wonderful thank you notes for gifts received.

Designed by my husband (and business partner), it's my Christmas gift to you.

Once again, Xerox helps us thank our troops!

The mission of Let's Say Thanks is to provide a way for individuals across the country to recognize U.S. troops stationed overseas. By submitting a message through this site you have the opportunity to send a free personalized postcard greeting to deployed servicemen and women.

The postcards, depicting patriotic scenes and hometown images, were selected from a pool of entries from children across the country.

It only takes a minute, but has got to mean a whole lot. Thanks for saying thanks!

Why is Obama the lead player in the Roxbury Christmas display?

I wish I could take a picture of the display at Warren Street and Walnut Avenue in Roxbury, Massachusetts...but I can't. At least at night, and that's when it counts, because the Christmas display is all lit up then. The star? Not Jesus. Not even Santa. Nope. In letters a gillion feet high blaze the words:

OBAMA IN THE HOUSE

No kidding.

I mean, there's a small creche, the words "Peace on Earth," a few reindeer, you know, the usual. But OBAMA IN THE HOUSE trumps the whole display. Why? What the bleep does the president have to do with Christmas?

'Course it was a bit different last year. Equally bewildering, but different. Last Christmas, we were treated to a manger scene but not topped with a star...no, topping the stable, the Infant Jesus, Mary, Joseph, and, if I recall, a few shepherds, was the brightly shining word:

OBAMA

What gives, I wonder?

Ho-ho no: Hanukkah’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas - The Boston Globe

Alison Lobron, in yesterday's Boston Globe Magazine, offers an amazingly sensible look at what "inclusion" can mean during the "holidays," from a Jewish perspective. Read the whole thing if you can, but here's the money quote:

The problem is, the more we pretend the two holidays are interchangeable, the more the meaning drains out of both. Hanukkah, which commemorates an ancient military victory, is supposed to symbolize Jewish resistance to assimilation, but it is now often treated as Christmas in blue. And Christians see their symbols and traditions repackaged as a generic holiday. What we’re left with is the lowest common denominator: shopping.

Amen.

Joy Battista: My Hope Pregnancy

A remarkable pro-life lady describes her "molar pregnancy" -- and her inspiring hope.

Joe Scheidler's Home Vandalized by Anti-Life Activists

Here's something you probably won't read in your local paper.

You can read the story linked above, and you might want to check out Jill Stanek's more personalized post, complete with pictures.

(Before you ask, the reference in the note accompanying the brick to "Queen Anne's Lace" refers to the apparent use of the weed as a contraceptive. Or something like that.)