The Christmas season ends on a high note, with the Feast of the Epiphany—also known as Three Kings’ Day, the day on which Christians traditionally commemorate the visit of the Three Wise Men to the infant Christ.

As a kid, I always had some trouble understanding the business about the Three Wise Men and the gifts. There was that weird but compelling carol that they always sang in church on the Sunday closest to Epiphany. I must have been seven or eight years old by the time I figured out that “Orientare” is not the name of the country where the Three Kings came from.

And then there were the odd gifts they were bringing. Gold always comes in handy, so I could see why you would bring gold to a baby—but what on earth were frankincense and myrrh, and why would anybody give them to a child? I figured myrrh might have something to do with myrtle, like the crepe myrtles that bloom so beautifully in South Carolina. So maybe the myrrh was flowers for the mom?

The frankincense had me completely stumped, and it wasn’t until I visited Oman a few years ago that I really knew what it was or what it looked like: It’s the waxy resin of a tree that grows in the desert, and when burned it gives off a rich smell. It’s a principal ingredient of incense and has found favor among modern purchasers of “essential oils”.

If you are ever lucky enough to visit the astonishingly beautiful and welcoming country of Oman, you will have innumerable opportunities to buy some for yourself at many different qualities and price levels. If your trip is like mine, you will also have the experience of seeing roadkill camel on the highway, and you will visit the tomb of the prophet Job, where you will learn that he was 14 feet tall and a Muslim. You will also learn that habitat degradation and over-harvesting are endangering the world’s frankincense supply. 

In any case, the gold and frankincense may refer to a prophecy of Isaiah. In the sixth verse of the sixtieth chapter, the prophet speaks of foreigners coming to the Holy Land with gifts of frankincense and gold; these foreigners are said to be riding camels, which may be why the Wise Men in manger scenes so frequently have camels in tow. Frankincense was a key ingredient of the incense burned before divine altars in ancient times. It is still sometimes used in Catholic, Orthodox, and high Anglican services today, but there is less need for it in modern religious services than in the distant past. In the ancient world, altars were less a place of community meditation and gathering than a slaughterhouse; animals were killed on the altar and butchered on site. The process was not always clean. It got hot in the summer; without incense to cover the smell, few would have the hardihood to spend much time in the temple.

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“They shall see who have never been told of him, and they shall understand who have never heard of him.” Epiphany always seems to me one of the strangest and most mystical of all Christian festivals, and I’m sad to leave it behind for another year pic.twitter.com/yQt5pyME2t

— Dr Francis Young (@DrFrancisYoung) January 6, 2026

Everybody knows that Christmas is a season of joy. For one, it has at its heart a birth story. A new and healthy child came into the world, and his family rejoiced. Every birth is a new beginning, a fresh hope. Christmas joy overlaps with the most common of humanity’s great joys.

We tend not to associate joy with Epi­phany. In Epiphany, Christians re­member the visit that the sages from the East made to Bethlehem to honor the newborn Jesus, an act of gentile recognition of Christ’s divinity and mission (Matt. 2:1–12). In this season we also commemorate the first miracle Jesus performed—at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, when Jesus revealed his glory and his disciples believed in him (John 2:1–11). Each of these seemingly unrelated events highlights a crucial aspect of joy.

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Today is Epiphany, when Western Christianity celebrates the three kings' visit to the infant Christ. Peter Bruegel the Elder's 'Adoration of the Kings' [National Gallery] is one of my favourite imaginings of that moment. It's also full of mystery.

Quick Epiphany 🧵 pic.twitter.com/9WMXoav61l

— Dr. Bendor Grosvenor 🇺🇦 (@arthistorynews) January 6, 2026

And we, what excuse shall we have if we come not? If so short and so easy a way we come not, as from our chambers hither, not to be called away indeed? Shall not our non venerunt have an ecce, Behold, it was stepping but over the threshold, and yet they came not?

And these were wise men, and never a whit the less wise for so coming; no never so truly wise in any thing they did, as in so coming. The Holy Spirit records them for wise, in capite libri, even in the beginning of the New Testament. Of Christ, when He came into the world, that is, when He was born, the Psalm saith, In the beginning of the Book it was writ of Him, He said, Ecce venio, Lo I come; of these in the same words, when they came to meet Him so born, it is said here in the beginning of the Gospel, Ecce venerunt, Behold they came.

And we, if we believe this, that this was their wisdom, if they and we be wise by one Spirit, by the same principles, we shall follow the same star, tread the same way, and so come at last whither they are happily gone before us.

Nay, not only that come, but this withal; to think and set down with ourselves, that to come to Christ is one of the wisest parts that ever these wise men did, or we or any else can do in all our lives.

And how shall we that do? I know not any more proper way left us, than to come to that which Himself by express order has left us, as the most special remembrance of Himself to be come to. When He came into the world, saith the Psalm, that is at His birth now, He said, Ecce venio. What then? Sacrifice and burnt-offering Thou wouldst not have, but a body hast Thou ordained Me. Mark, saith the Apostle, He takes away the first to establish the second, that is, to establish His body, and the coming to it. By the offering, breaking, and partaking of which body, we are all sanctified, so many as will come to it. For given it is, for the taking away of our sins. Nothing is more fit than at the time His body was ordained Him, and that is to-day, to come to the body so ordained.

And in the old Ritual of the Church we find that on the cover of the canister, wherein was the Sacrament of His Body, there was a star engraven, to shew us that now the star leads us thither, to His body there.

And what shall I say now, but according as St. John saith, and the star, and the wise men say, Come. And He, Whose the star is, and to Whom the wise men came, saith, Come. And let them who are disposed, Come. And…let whosoever will, take of the Bread of Life, which came down from Heaven this day into Bethlehem, the house of bread. Of which Bread the Church is this day the house, the true Bethlehem, and all the Bethlehem we have now left to come to for the Bread of life,of that His life which we hope for in Heaven. And this our nearest coming that here we can come, till we shall by another venite come, unto Him in His Heavenly Kingdom, to which He grant we may come, That this day came to us in earth that we thereby might come to Him and remain with Him for ever, Jesus Christ the Righteous.

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“The Epiphany proclaims Christ as Lord of all peoples.”

St. Leo the Great pic.twitter.com/YMRzRSfWtV

— Catholic Quotes (@CatholicQuote12) January 7, 2026

It might have been just someone else’s story,
Some chosen people get a special king.
We leave them to their own peculiar glory,
We don’t belong, it doesn’t mean a thing.
But when these three arrive they bring us with them….

Read it all.

'Wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, 'Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage''
Matthew 2: 1-3#Epiphany pic.twitter.com/8wd3Dg7lQ6

— Westminster Abbey (@wabbey) January 6, 2026

Lyrics:

All they from Sheba shall come: they shall bring gold and incense;
and they shall show forth the praises of the Lord. Alleluia.
The Kings of Tharsis and of the isles shall give Him presents;
the Kings of Arabia and Sheba shall bring gifts. Alleluia.

O Blessed Jesus, who by the shining of a star didst manifest thyself to them that sought thee: Show thy heavenly light to us, and give us grace to follow until we find thee; finding, to rejoice in thee; and rejoicing, to present to thee ourselves, our souls and bodies, for thy service for evermore: for thine honour and glory.

🌒 Daily Loci: Observations from my camper-van-camino 🚐✨- Contre-Jour https://t.co/2XQvt2LneA pic.twitter.com/A8LJvbK5in

— Andy Marshall 📸 (@fotofacade) January 7, 2026

“All the commandment which I command you this day you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land which the Lord swore to give to your fathers. And you shall remember all the way which the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but that man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the Lord.

–Deuteronomy 8:1-3

A fiery sky, sun pillar and crepuscular rays over Ireland's Eye from Portmarnock this morning. pic.twitter.com/Gg0L50RZYH

— Sryan Bruen Photography (@sryanbruenphoto) January 7, 2026

…that this star was not of the common sort, or rather not a star at all, as it seems at least to me, but some invisible power transformed into this appearance, is in the first place evident from its very course. For there is not, there is not any star that moves by this way, but whether it be the sun you mention, or the moon, or all the other stars, we see them going from east to west; but this was wafted from north to south; for so is Palestine situated with respect to Persia.

In the second place, one may see this from the time also. For it appears not in the night, but in mid-day, while the sun is shining; and this is not within the power of a star, nay not of the moon; for the moon that so much surpasses all, when the beams of the sun appear, straightway hides herself, and vanishes away. But this by the excess of its own splendor overcame even the beams of the sun, appearing brighter than they, and in so much light shining out more illustriously.

…[Later in the narrative] it did not, remaining on high, point out the place; it not being possible for them so to ascertain it, but it came down and performed this office. For ye know that a spot of so small dimensions, being only as much as a shed would occupy, or rather as much as the body of a little infant would take up, could not possibly be marked out by a star. For by reason of its immense height, it could not sufficiently distinguish so confined a spot, and discover it to them that were desiring to see it. And this any one may see by the moon, which being so far superior to the stars, seems to all that dwell in the world, and are scattered over so great an extent of earth,””seems, I say, near to them every one. How then, tell me, did the star point out a spot so confined, just the space of a manger and shed, unless it left that height and came down, and stood over the very head of the young child? And at this the evangelist was hinting when he said, “Lo, the star went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.”

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6th January is the feast of the Epiphany. Here is depicted the epiphany of the divine in the three gifts of the Magi, and the transformation of water into wine at Cana. #Epiphany
Bamberg State Library Msc.Lit. 1; Sacramentary; early 11th century; Fulda; f.30r pic.twitter.com/6zCJstXlEf

— Ennius (@red_loeb) January 3, 2026

Lyrics: Learned men come from the East seeking Jerusalem and saying, “ Where is he that was born king of the Jews, whose star we have seen? For we have come with gifts to worship the Lord.”

The wise men, seeing the star, said to one another, “This is the sign of a great king; let us go and search for him, and offer him gifts: gold, frankincense and myrrh. Alleluia.”

O God, who by the leadings of thy providence didst bring wise men from far to give homage to Jesus, born to be King of all: Help us, who by various ways are led to Christ, humbly and thankfully to adore him with our gifts, and as our costliest treasure to present before him ourselves for his honour and service, now and always.

A Happy Feast of the Epiphany to you all.

Brightest and best of the sons of the morning;
Dawn on our darkness and lend us Thine aid:
Star of the East, the horizon adorning,
Guide where our Infant Redeemer is laid. pic.twitter.com/KWCvt2F42W

— Ninefold Kyrie (@Gda1238) January 6, 2026

This day is called the Epiphany of the Lord, that is, ‘the day of God’s manifestation’. On this day Christ was manifested to the three kings, who from the eastern part of the world sought him with threefold offerings. Again, after the passage of years, he was manifested to the world on this day at his baptism, when the Holy Ghost, in the form of a dove, rested upon him, and the Father’s voice sounded loudly from heaven, saying, “This is my dear Son, who is well pleasing to me; listen to him.” On this day also he turned water into noble wine, and thereby manifested that he is the true Creator who could change created things. For these three reasons this feast is called God’s Manifestation.

On the first day of his birth he was revealed to three shepherds in the land of Judea, through the announcement of the angel. On the same day he was made known to the three astronomers in the east, through the bright star, but it was on this day they came with their offerings… The eastern astronomers saw a new bright star, not in heaven among other stars, but a lone wanderer between heaven and earth. Then they understood that the wondrous star indicated the birth of the true King in the country over which it glided; and they therefore came to the kingdom of Judea, and sorely frightened the wicked king Herod by their announcement; for without doubt earthly wickedness was confounded, when the heavenly greatness was disclosed.

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'Ða easternan tungelwitegan gesawon niwne steorran beorhtne, angenga betwux heofenum and eorðan.'

'The eastern astronomers saw a new bright star, a lone wanderer between heaven and earth.'

An Anglo-Saxon sermon for the feast of the Epiphany: https://t.co/n6pFYATOvl pic.twitter.com/eq0Ky8vM1N

— Eleanor Parker (@ClerkofOxford) January 6, 2026

How could they have known not to come
On what amounted to pretense? Everything
Their learning held, all their beliefs
Said regal gifts were needful for a king.

The things they brought were left behind,
Doubtless; or maybe traded for bread:
Impecunious Joseph with a family
To feed, a roof to put over his head.

Read it all.

Three kings from the East arrive to worship the Christchild and offer their gifts in 15th Century glass at East Harling, Norfolk. Today's the feast of the Epiphany.

East Harling: https://t.co/YVpgapIP2A pic.twitter.com/LYUqWzj1m0

— Simon Knott (@SimoninSuffolk) January 6, 2026

O God,
who by the leading of a star
manifested your only Son to the peoples of the earth:
mercifully grant that we,
who know you now by faith,
may at last behold your glory face to face;
through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord,
who is alive and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, now and for ever.
Amen.

A great #Brighton sunrise #UsualSeagull. @ThePhotoHour @StormHour pic.twitter.com/CKlmmVKPXL

— Stephen Royle (@Steveontour1) January 6, 2026

But the Pharisees went out and took counsel against him, how to destroy him.

Jesus, aware of this, withdrew from there. And many followed him, and he healed them all, and ordered them not to make him known. This was to fulfil what was spoken by the prophet Isaiah:

“Behold, my servant whom I have chosen,
    my beloved with whom my soul is well pleased.
I will put my Spirit upon him,
    and he shall proclaim justice to the Gentiles.
He will not wrangle or cry aloud,
    nor will any one hear his voice in the streets;
he will not break a bruised reed
    or quench a smoldering wick,
till he brings justice to victory;
    and in his name will the Gentiles hope.”

–Matthew 12:14-21

The Epiphany of our Lord

"They saw the star and immediately set out. They did not hesitate at the prospect of the trials of a long journey: they had generous hearts. A star often appears in our souls; it is an inspiration from God, urging us to greater generosity." – Fr. Gabriel pic.twitter.com/evLMwRQnN6

— Memento Mori (@TempusFugit4016) January 5, 2026

I have a friend who teaches in the upper peninsula in Michigan. He has one of those schools that run from kindergarten all the way up through eighth grade, including special ed. One of his students was intellectually slow, couldn’t do very well in classes. And when Christmas Pageant time came he wanted to have a part in the Pageant. What’s more, he wanted a speaking part. He wouldn’t settle for anything less.

So they made into the innkeeper. They figured he could handle that because all he had to do was say, “No room,” twice: once before Mary spoke, once after she spoke. The night of the Pageant, Mary knocks on the door he opens the door, and he says in a brusque fashion, “No room!” Mary says, “But I’m sick, and I’m cold, and I’m going to have a baby, and if you don’t give me a place to sleep, my baby will be born in the cold, cold night.”

He just stood there. The boy behind him nudged him and said, “No room, No room, say, “No room.’” And finally, he turned and he said, “I know what I’m supposed to say, but she can have my room.”

–Anthony Campolo in William H. Willimon Ed, Sermons from Duke Chapel: Voices from “A Great Towering Church” (Durham: Duke University Press, 2005), p.294

Trina Schart Hyman's illustration for 'A Child's Christmas In Wales' by Dylan Thomas. pic.twitter.com/iZ4vGIiBXW

— Into The Forest Dark (@ElliottBlackwe3) December 25, 2025

You may listen directly here:

Or you may download it there.

Or watch the video here:

Bartolomé Estebán Murillo, "The Nativity" (c. 1670)#Art pic.twitter.com/rh8f6g4g6G

— Campbell F. Scribner (@ScribnerUMCP) December 24, 2025

Let’s apply the spiritual sense of the Christmas story to our lives. For that story happens not only once, in history, but also many times in each individual’s soul. Christ comes to the world but He also comes to each of us. Advent happens over and over again.

Christmas is so familiar that we sometimes wonder whether anything fresh and true can be said about it.

But there is a way to explore its meaning that may seem new to us today, yet is in fact quite traditional, dating back to the Middle Ages and the ancient Fathers of the Church.
Modern interpreters often argue about whether a given Scripture passage should be interpreted literally or symbolically. Medieval writers would question the “either/or” approach. They thought a passage could have as many as four “right” interpretations, one literal and three symbolic.

These were: (1) the historical or literal, which is the primary sense on which the others all depend; (2) the prophetic sense when an Old Testament event foreshadows its New Testament fulfillment; (3) the moral or spiritual sense, when events and characters in a story correspond to elements in our own lives; and (4) the eschatological sense, when a scene on earth foreshadows something of heavenly glory.

This symbolism is legitimate because it doesn’t detract from the historical, literal sense, but builds on and expands it. It’s based on the theologically sound premise that history too symbolizes, or points beyond itself, for God wrote three books, not just one: nature and history as well as Scripture. The story of history is composed not only of “events,” but of words, signs and symbols. This is unfamiliar to us only because we have lost a sense of depth and exchanged it for a flat, one-dimensional, “bottom-line” mentality in which everything means only one thing.

Let’s try to recapture the riches of this lost worldview by applying the spiritual sense of the Christmas story to our lives. For that story happens not only once, in history, but also many times in each individual’s soul. Christ comes to the world–but He also comes to each of us. Advent happens over and over again.

Read it all.

Francesco Granacci (1469 – 30 November 1543) was an Italian painter..Adoration of the Christ Child,c.1500 pic.twitter.com/DSVzOXgPzz

— Yiannis Einstein-Ιωάννης Αρβανιτάκης (@yianniseinstein) May 1, 2024

Christmas itself is by grace. It could never have survived our own blindness and depredations otherwise. It could never have happened otherwise. Perhaps it is the very wildness and strangeness of the grace that has led us to try to tame it. We have tried to make it habitable. We have roofed it and furnished it. We have reduced it to an occasion we feel at home with, at best a touching and beautiful occasion, at worst a trite and cloying one. But if the Christmas event in itself is indeed–as a matter of cold, hard fact–all its cracked up to be, then even at best our efforts are misleading.

The Word became flesh. Ultimate Mystery born with a skull you could crush one-handed. Incarnation. It is not tame. It is not beautiful. It is uninhabitable terror. It is unthinkable darkness riven with unbearable light. Agonized laboring led to it, vast upheavals of intergalactic space, time split apart, a wrenching and tearing of the very sinews of reality itself. You can only cover your eyes and shudder before it, before this: “God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God…who for us and for our salvation,” as the Nicene Creed puts it, “came down from heaven.”

Came down. Only then do we dare uncover our eyes and see what we can see. It is the Resurrection and the Life she holds in her arms. It is the bitterness of death he takes at her breast.

—Whistling in the Dark (New York: HarperCollins, 1988), pp. 30-31

Among all Nativity scenes in art history, I believe this one is the most beautiful✨

“The Adoration of the Child” (or “Nativity”) by Gerard van Honthorst, known in Italy as Gherardo delle Notti, painted in 1620

This masterpiece can be admired in Florence⚜️ at the Uffizi Gallery pic.twitter.com/Q286baTdh6

— Mambo Italiano (@mamboitaliano__) December 2, 2025

O God, who hast given us grace at this time to celebrate the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ: We laud and magnify thy glorious name for the countless blessings which he hath brought unto us; and we beseech thee to grant that we may ever set forth thy praise in joyful obedience to thy will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord.

Icy Lanes. -2°C with snow showers. Deer on the hills. pic.twitter.com/ui55i8soKg

— Yorkshire Wolds Weather (@WeatherWolds) January 5, 2026

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Laz′arus, come out.” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

–John 11:38-44

A winter walk in the park – have a wonderful new week, friends #ScotlandisNow #StormHour #photography #photooftheday #landscape #OutAndAboutScotland #landscapephotography @VisitScotland @ScotsMagazine #STVSnaps #ThePhotoHour #sunset pic.twitter.com/gn9LpzUZZV

— Mike Wood (@MikeMikwd) January 4, 2026

O God, who wonderfully created, and yet more wonderfully restored, the dignity of human nature: Grant that we may share the divine life of him who humbled himself to share our humanity, your Son Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.  Amen.

The wolf supermoon over Argyle Street in the west of Glasgow.#glasgow #supermoon #wolfmoon #argylestreet #glasgowtoday pic.twitter.com/n8bEQJIwcH

— This Is My Glasgow (@is_glasgow) January 4, 2026

The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, “I am the bread which came down from heaven.” They said, “Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” Jesus answered them, “Do not murmur among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him; and I will raise him up at the last day. It is written in the prophets, ‘And they shall all be taught by God.’ Every one who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me. Not that any one has seen the Father except him who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes has eternal life.

–John 6:41-47

Island on the lake. Platt Fields Park, Manchester pic.twitter.com/lNa3iuvPue

— Andrew Brooks (@AndrewPBrooks) January 4, 2026

Compassionate God, who hast raised up ministers among thy people: May we ever desire, like thy servant William Passavant, to support the work of equipping the saints for service among the sick and the friendless; through Jesus Christ the divine Physician, who hast prepared for us an eternal home, and who with thee and the Holy Spirit liveth and reigneth, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen.

Died #OTD in 1894: William Passavant, a Lutheran minister who is commemorated as a Prophetic Witness by the Episcopal Church
Passavant brought the Lutheran Deaconess movement to the United States & was a pioneer in social services among American Lutheranshttps://t.co/ODb93djrKy pic.twitter.com/AGuz56WQoC

— The Anglican Church in St Petersburg (@anglicanspb) January 3, 2024

Most merciful God, for whose chosen handmaid and her Holy Babe there was no room in the inn at Bethlehem: Help us all by thy Spirit to make room for the Christ in our common days, that his peace and joy may fill our hearts, and his love flow through our lives to the blessing of others; for his name’s sake.

—Prayers for the Christian Year (SCM, 1964)

Time we spent pic.twitter.com/1ifkDdFikm

— Paul Willson (@pauljwillson) January 3, 2026

Now this I affirm and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus. Put off your old nature which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and put on the new nature, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Therefore, putting away falsehood, let every one speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. Be angry but do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and give no opportunity to the devil. Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his hands, so that he may be able to give to those in need. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, in whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, with all malice, and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.

–Ephesians 4:17-32

Guten Morgen mit einer kleinen Winterimpression, heute aus Salzburg.#Österreich pic.twitter.com/ESpOu0H17N

— Thomas Stiegler (@StieglerThomas) January 3, 2026

“Be not afraid; for behold, I bring you Good News of a great joy . . . This day is born the Savior,” that is, he who, as Son of God and Son of the Father, has traveled (in obedience to the Father) the path that leads away from the Father and into the darkness of the world. Behind him omnipotence and freedom; before, powerlessness, bonds and obedience. Behind him the comprehensive divine vision; before him the prospect of the meaninglessness of death on the Cross between two criminals, Behind him the bliss of life with the Father; before him, grievous solidarity with all who do not know the Father, do not want to know him and deny his existence. Rejoice then, for God himself has passed this way! The Son took with him the awareness of doing the Father’s will. He took with him the unceasing prayer that the Father’s will would be done on the dark earth as in the brightness of heaven. He took with him his rejoicing that the Father had hidden these things from the wise and revealed them to babes, to the simple and the poor. “I am the way,” and this way is “the truth” for you; along this way you will find “the life.” Along “the way” that I am you will learn to lose your life in order to find it; you will learn to grow beyond yourselves and your insincerity into a truth that is greater than you are. From a worldly point of view everything may seem very dark; your dedication may seem unproductive and a failure. But do not be afraid: you are on God’s path. “Let not your hearts be troubled: believe in God; believe also in me.” I am walking on ahead of you and blazing the trail of Christian love for you. It leads to your most inaccessible brother, the person most forsaken by God. But it is the path of divine love itself. You are on the right path. All who deny themselves in order to carry out love’s commission are on the right path.

Miracles happen along this path. Apparently insignificant miracles, noticed by hardly anyone. The very finding of a Child wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger—is this not a miracle in itself? Then there is the miracle when a particular mission, hidden in a person’s heart, really reaches its goal, bringing God’s peace and joy where there were nothing but despair and resignation; when someone succeeds in striking a tiny light in the midst of an overpowering darkness. When joy irradiates a heart that no longer dared to believe in it. Now and again we ourselves are assured that the angel’s word we are trying to obey will bring us to the place where God’s Word and Son is already made man. We are assured that, in spite of all the noise and nonsense, today, December 25, is Christmas just as truly as two millennia ago. Once and for all God has started out on his journey toward us, and nothing, till the world’s end, will stop him from coming to us and abiding in us.

Read it all.

Some photos I took on a misty evening in Elburg , The Netherlands last week with some Christmas decorations. pic.twitter.com/0L5KINpi9Z

— Albert Dros (@albertdrosphoto) January 1, 2026

(A new carol written for the Choir of King’s College, Cambridge in 2012)

Lyrics:

Deep in the cold of winter,
Darkness and silence were everywhere;
Softly and clearly, there came through the stillness

a wonderful sound to hear:
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring:
‘Glory to God on high’ the angel voices sing.

Lost in awe and wonder,
Doubting I asked what this sign might be:
Christ our Messiah revealed in a stable,
A marvellous sight to see.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.

He comes down in peace, a child in humility,
The keys to his kingdom belong to the poor;
Before him shall kneel the kings with their treasures,
gold incense and myrrh.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Sounding in majesty the news that they bring;
All bells in paradise I heard them ring,
Welcoming our Saviour, born on earth a heavenly King.
All bells in paradise I heard them ring:
‘Glory to God on high’ the angel voices sweetly sing.

Enjoy it all.

This mediator must represent God to humankind, and humankind to God. He must have points of contact with both God and humanity, and yet be distinguishable from them both. The central Christian idea of the incarnation, which expresses the belief that Jesus is both God and man, divine and human, portrays Jesus as the perfect mediator between God and human beings. He, and he alone, is able to redeem us and reconcile us to God.

—“I Believe”: Exploring the Apostles’ Creed (Downers Grove, Ill.: InterVarsity Press, 1998), p. 48

Giorgione’s ‘Adoration of the Shepherds’ (1505/1510) pic.twitter.com/xDtoi805WA

— jacob eigengain (@jacobeigengain) January 7, 2024

His solution consisted, first, in experiencing them. The god-man suffers too, with patience. Evil and death can no longer be entirely imputed to him since he suffers and dies. The night on Golgotha is so important in the history of man only because, in its shadows, the divinity, ostensibly abandoning its traditional privileges, lived through to the end, despair included, the agony of death. Thus is explained the Lama sabachthani and the frightful doubt of Christ in agony.

–Albert Camus, Essais [Paris: Gallimard, 1965], E.T. p. 144, quoted by yours truly in the Sunday sermon

"I will honour Christmas in my heart, and try to keep it all the year."
– Charles Dickens pic.twitter.com/a2h1Djta2C

— gregorio catarino (@gregcatarino1) December 21, 2025