A Blessed Christmas!

                                                                   

                                                           ~by Fr. Polykarp Uehlein, OSB

The love that descended to Bethlehem is not

the easy sympathy of an avuncular God,

but a burning fire whose light chases away every shadow,

floods every corner, and turns midnight into noon.

This love reveals sin and overcomes it.

It conquers darkness with such forcefulness and intensity

that it scatters the proud,

humbles the mighty,

feeds the hungry,

and sends the rich away empty-handed (Luke 1:51-53).

                                                                 ~ Charles Moore



Advent in Magomeni, Mtwara

Inside our parish church there is this wooden statue of the Blessed Virgin and Jesus. It's seven or eight feet tall. The base consists of a ring of people looking upward at them. I love the design and wish I could adequately convey in photos the verticalness of the statue when you are right in front of it, towering over you.

Below, just after a weekday morning service.

During the week we have been singing the following to start the Mass.

Njoo kwetu, Masiha
Njoo, Bwanda, utuopoe

Come to us, Messiah
Come, Lord, save us

Fantastical Insect

Does anyone know what kind of insect this is?? It was sitting on a window outside of our door. It looked like something imaginary made of flowers and leaves! –Earl