Calendar Class of December 21, 2025

A Carpe Diem Snapshot: Carpe Nix! Seize some Michigan snow! We landed in the snowy state just in time for the winter solstice, and were not disappointed by the season. There's plenty of ice and freezing temperatures and the white powdery stuff to delight the kids, who came for a white Christmas with Grandma.

Liturgical: Fourth Sunday of Advent!

Gospel Excerpt: Such was his intention when, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home. For it is through the Holy Spirit that this child has been conceived in her. She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins." All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall name him Emmanuel, which means "God is with us." When Joseph awoke, he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took his wife into his home (Mt 1:20-24).

Today is the Fifth of the O Antiphons, O Oriens (O Radiant Dawn/O Dayspring/O Morning Star). It is the Sun, the Redeemer, whom we await. "I am the light [the sun] of the world" (John 8:12). Christ is the light of the world because of the faith which He has infused into souls. He has enlightened the world by His teaching and by the example of His life. In the crib, in Nazareth, on the cross on Calvary, in the tabernacle of our churches, He answers the eternal questioning of the benighted soul.

Pope Leo's Angelus address today

Bishop Barron's Sunday Sermon

Fr Plant's Homily-Scripture Lesson

Sanctoral: Saint Peter Canisius, May 8, 1521 – December 21, 1597, Peter was one of the most important figures in the Catholic Reformation in Germany. He played such a key role that he has often been called the “second apostle of Germany,” in that his life parallels the earlier work of Boniface.

Human: 1620 Mayflower Pilgrims come ashore in Plymouth Bay, traditionally thought to be at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts

​1898 Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium

Natural: The First Day of Winter: Winter Solstice 2025

Italian: Natale con i tuoi, Pasqua con chi vuoi!

Quote:So the shortest day came, and the year died,

And everywhere down the centuries of the snow-white world

Came people singing, dancing,

To drive the dark away.

–Susan Cooper, The Shortest Day