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Hidden Christmas: The Surprising Truth Behind the Birth of Christ: by Timothy Heller. Penguin Books, 2018.
Here are a few takeaways/quotes I most appreciated from this book:
- The book is helpful to the follower of Christ, but is also engaging and thought-provoking for the non-believer.
- The world is a dark place, and we will never find our way or see reality unless Jesus is our Light.
- To learn the hidden meanings of Christmas, we must understand that we can’t save ourselves or know ourselves without the light of God’s unmerited grace in our life.
- He helps the reader understand the significance of the genealogy in Matthew 1 and the crucial role the women listed in the family tree play in the Christmas story.
- The role of courage necessary for a true relationship with the Lord. We learn this courage by watching Jesus and the ways He demonstrated true courage.
- Jesus turns the world’s picture of success upside down. We see this beautifully demonstrated in Jesus’ humble birth.
- My favorite chapter talked about the deep faith of Mary, and how we can watch and follow her example of faith. Her world turned upside down, and in the middle of it all, she showed great faith and trust in the Lord’s plan. She shows (according to Keller) measured incredulity, simple acceptance, and faith exercised from the heart. Mary shows us how to wrestle with faith and doubt and
how to still trust in the Lord.
- What makes the difference with Christianity is the incarnation of Jesus taking on flesh and being born as a baby! Keller writes in this incarnation, Jesus becomes above all personal, someone with whom we can have a relationship.
- Scott Kedersha
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Podcasts on Christian Spirituality and Theology
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30 teachings now available for no fee.
Latest: Prophecies, Promises and the Coming of the Christ (12 min., 40 sec.)
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- Do search for Awaken, Phil St. Romain, or combine in search, then subscribe to channel for ongoing notifications.
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Advent - Christmas Resource
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Individual and group reflection resources.
Includes Sunday and holiday readings.
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St. Dominic of Silos: December 20. 1000-1073.
It’s not the founder of the Dominicans we honor today, but there’s a poignant story that connects both Dominics.
Dominic of Silos was born in Spain around the year 1000 into a peasant family. As a young boy he spent time in the fields, where he welcomed the solitude. He became a Benedictine priest and served in numerous leadership positions. Following a dispute with the king over property, Dominic and two other monks were exiled. They established a new monastery in what at first seemed
an unpromising location. Under Dominic’s leadership, however, it became one of the most famous houses in Spain. Many healings were reported there.
About 100 years after Dominic’s death, a young woman who experienced difficult pregnancies made a pilgrimage to his tomb. There Dominic of Silos appeared to her and assured her that she would bear another son. The woman was Joan of Aza, and the son she bore grew up to be the “other” Dominic—Dominic Guzman, the one who founded the Dominicans.
For hundreds of years thereafter, the staff used by Saint Dominic of Silos was brought to the royal palace whenever a queen of Spain was in labor. That practice ended in 1931.
Calendar of Saints
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