Today, on this “third day of Christmas” the Church remembers Saint John, one of the
Lord’s twelve apostles and the author of five New Testament books.

Well, it’s that time of the year again: the time of the year when at
least some of us have all kinds of mixed feelings as the world in
which we live throws a big birthday party for the Savior and seems to
invite everyone to it--except the Savior.

We know that Luke was an historian and a physician and yet, even with
such a scientific and precise mindset, he apparently was quite a
literary genius as well.

The task of the Old Testament prophets was pretty much the same as
that of Christian preachers today: to preach the Law and the Gospel as
each is needed, using the Gospel to comfort the afflicted and using
the Law to afflict the comfortable.

    “’Tis the season to be jolly, fa-la-la-la-la-la-la-la-la.”  Joy is
another hallmark of this Advent-Christmas season.

 Of the many criticisms leveled against Christians by unbelievers, one
of the most frequently mentioned is the accusation that Christianity
is nothing more than an attempt to escape from the real world.

Many people have associated the Advent season with the season of
Lent.