The Man and the Mystic

Saint John resting on the breast of Jesus

In the gathering of the Church the Lord opened his mouth and filled him with the spirit of wisdom and understanding, and clothed him with a robe of glory. —Introit of the Feast of Saint John the Evangelist

Of Merriment, Miracles and the Meaning of Christmas

For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. —Isaiah 9:6

In our humble blog's short time here on the worldwide interwebs, we've covered many topics, including the run-up to today. There is so little one can add to what has been said in so many sermons, written in so many books, sung in so many songs and prayed in so many prayers about Christmas, but that doesn't mean we can't try to say something relatively meaningful.

Power Woman for Christ!

Saint Lucy

Princes have persecuted me without cause, and my heart hath been in awe of Thy words: I will rejoice at Thy words, as one that hath found great spoil. —Communion Antiphon for the Feast of Saint Lucy

God and Man at Columbia

The first BioShock is a masterpiece of a game, and I eagerly awaited creator Ken Levine’s latest project: BioShock Infinite. Rather than an underwater city filled with characters from a Galt’s Gulch gone terribly wrong, this game features a floating city in the sky. On first glance, it’s a quasi-Mormon paradise inflamed with American nationalism, but below the surface there lies a society scarred by racism, crony capitalism, and a dangerous cult of "the Prophet." BioShock Infinite has taken the gaming world by storm and won more awards than I can count. It's a creative piece of storytelling and is probably worth playing if you like fast-paced shooters. The game’s religious themes in particular were irresistible to me as a Catholic, and so I’d like to dig into them, as I haven’t seen these ideas seriously addressed elsewhere. I’ll assume the good reader has either completed the game and knows the ending or isn't a gamer and actually wouldn't mind it being spoiled… so read at your own discretion.

CAPTION THIS: When Swiss Met Miss

Officer: "(GASPS) Where did you get those fab-ulous boots?!"
Girl: "Oh, these old things? I got them at a steal at my local consignment shop."
Guard: "Il Papa never lets us wear fabulous boots..."

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the first-of-probably-many Unpleasant Accents Caption Contest! Congratulations to beowulf who, in addition to having an epic literary name, is our first-of-probably-many winner! Here is his high-larious caption:

Putin: "So we meet at last the two of us...one an incredibly powerful and beloved icon serving the will of God, across the world...and then you, the Leader of the Roman Catholic Church!"

So! Do you think you can steal the Funny Crown* from our champion's head? Well, have at it, and leave your captions in the comments below!

*Not an actual crown.

Christ Jesus, the God Who Appears to Us

Praised Be Jesus!

Happy Advent to all of you, and I pray that this Advent may be a time of great preparation for the coming of Our Lord on Christmas and that He may be born anew in our hearts!

Innocence, Born to Die

"So, we're just going to let scores of children carry open flames in the cathedral? Did no-one second-guess this idea?"

As Michael noted in our previous post, last Sunday was the Feast of Christ the King, which closes out the liturgical year. Thus, the start of Advent (derived from the Latin for "coming") today marks a new year, as well as the beginning of that short but intense time of solemn waiting and joyful expectation. Christmas will be upon us in not even four weeks, giving us precious little time to reflect upon its true meaning.