Halloween vs Christmas ?

[wh2205]

i always wish for a full moon on halloween. but next one wont be until the year 2020

[iHaunt]

Right! But, we do always see a full moon all year round, but not on Halloween!

i always wish for a full moon on halloween. but next one wont be until the year 2020

[Murfreesboro]

But a crescent moon can be great on Halloween, too, framed by tree limbs with just a leaf or two still clinging to them, and clouds scudding across the sky.

Mike, do you go to church at all on Christmas Eve/Christmas Day? That would be one way to be around other people. Midnight services are usually packed, and the music is beautiful.

I do understand those who complain about the frenzy that surrounds Christmas. Having three kids, we've been there, done that. The parades and parties for every extracurricular they are in, the visits to Santa for photos, the extra concerts their choirs & bands feel compelled to put on (our second son had two band concerts and a parade in the last 7 days, and that's only one kid). It gets insane. And I've noticed, too, that around here, most of the big community events happen the second weekend of December. This weekend just past, Franklin, TN, had their Dickens of a Christmas street festival (people costumed as characters from Christmas Carol, all up and down the Victorian-era business district there); Murfreesboro had its annual parade; and a local church put on its Bethlehem marketplace, where the whole church costumes as characters from Bethlehem and re-creates the village at the time of the first Christmas (complete with camels and donkeys; I mean, this is a Big Deal). There is no way to do it all, no matter how much you might want to, because everything is competing with everything else. It does get frustrating.

I have found that my Advent Wreath & devotionals help center me during this season. Lighting the wreath each night and reading selected passages from the Bible, I seem to find a few minutes respite from the craziness of it all.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Murf, my church doesn't have a Midnight Mass, because we only have one priest, and he has to minister to other duties on christmas Eve. We only have one mass on Christmas Eve, at 4:00 pm, which I go to, and we only have one mass on Christmas Day, which I also go to. Christmas Eve, I usualy pray the Rosary, light candles. It's also the last night for the Advent Wreath, as it's the night we allow the Advent candles to burn down. I play Christmas music, with the emphasys on Religious Christmas music, but I play a few Santa Clause jingles, too. I screen "The Nativity," and I prepare myself a good dinner. I will be roasting a turkey breast.

I also light my Advent Wreath every dinner I'm at home, but my photo asignment schedule makes that difficult at times. I was home last night, and I'll be home on friday and Saturday, but tonight, tomorrow and Thursday I won't be getting home until late in the evening. I do read a couple of passages from the Bible and say grace before I eat, after I light the Advent Wreath. OF course, I say grace before dinner all year round, not just ad Advent or Lent.

But all in all, I do enjoy Christmas. I would enjoy it a lot better if some of my brothers and sisters would join me in the Rosary, or at Mass, or even just to watch "The Nativity."

Mike

[iHaunt]

When I see full moon then I have to look around in the backyard to make sure there are no werewolves out there!

[Murfreesboro]

Mike, as a devout Catholic, are you not allowed to attend any other church? My husband' s Lutheran church is small and doesn't have a midnight service, but my older son & I go downtown to the Episcopal church, which always has one (I was raised Episcopalian, so for me this is sort of a homecoming). You'd be welcome to attend an Episcopal midnight service, and no one would pressure you into taking communion there, although you would be welcome to do so (the Episcopal church has an open communion).

Of course, getting out in the middle of the night is not everyone's cuppa. I stopped doing it when my children were little because it just didn't seem practical to take small kids out at midnight on Christmas Eve. However, now that they are older, it's lovely to be able to do that with my adult son.

Your twilight Christmas Eve service does sound lovely, though. When I was a child myself we often went to church at that time of day on Christmas Eve.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I've actualy gotten to enjoy the 4:00 pm mass. I'm sure there are churches in Joliet and maybe Pontiac that have a Midnight Mass, but I think I'll stick with my home town church. They do a nice job, and I know most of the parishenors there.

Mike

[Murfreesboro]

It means a lot to know the people around you. I can appreciate that. And that twilight time on Christmas Eve has a kind of magic about it.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I totaly agree with that, Murf. In fact, all through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I feel like there is a sort of magic in the air that's not present on any other day. Not even on Halloween. I still like Halloween best of all the holidays, but I can't help but to think that every Christmas Eve, God gives me a tiny taste of that fabulous joy shared at the moment of Christ's birth.

Mike

[nancylives!]

If you have them on "ignore," how are you able to know what they post? .

I can still see their posts when someone I dont have on ignore quotes them...

Oh, okay. Thanks for the tip. Now I can safely ignore if I feel the need.

[Murfreesboro]

I totaly agree with that, Murf. In fact, all through Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, I feel like there is a sort of magic in the air that's not present on any other day. Not even on Halloween. I still like Halloween best of all the holidays, but I can't help but to think that every Christmas Eve, God gives me a tiny taste of that fabulous joy shared at the moment of Christ's birth.

Mike

I know what you mean. There is magic in the air on Christmas Eve. Or maybe I should say "mystery." It is a religious mystery, a spiritual mystery, we are sensing.

[NeverMore]

If you have them on "ignore," how are you able to know what they post? .

I can still see their posts when someone I dont have on ignore quotes them...

Oh, okay. Thanks for the tip. Now I can safely ignore if I feel the need.

I just found out I can't put myself on ignore. Shame.

[Pumpkin56]

Oh, okay. Thanks for the tip. Now I can safely ignore if I feel the need.[/quote]

I just found out I can't put myself on ignore. Shame.[/quote]

That's okay Nevermore. The rest of us can ignore you

Kidding

[NeverMore]

That's okay Nevermore. The rest of us can ignore you

Kidding

Hurumph! Just like in real life.

[Pumpkin56]

That's okay Nevermore. The rest of us can ignore you

Kidding

Hurumph! Just like in real life.