Merry Christmas!!!!!

O come, all ye faithful,
joyful and triumphant,
O come ye, O come ye, to Bethlehem.
Come and behold Him, born the King of angels;

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O come, let us adore Him,O come, let us adore Him,O come, let us adore Him,Christ the Lord.

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
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Sing, choirs of angels, sing in exultation;O sing, all ye citizens of heaven above!Glory to God, all glory in the highest;
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See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
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Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.
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Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
Refrain

Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morning;Jesus, to Thee be glory given;Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing.
Refrain

My Answers to the Christmas Survey

What are your dreams for the future? To meet grandchildren

What do you wish for? Personal discipline

What was the best moment of the past year? Sailing and snorkeling with my fam in USVI & BVI

What prayer was answered? My son's college applications are done

What is your best Christmas memory? The year we got a "free" piano

What are you proud of? Besides the people in my life? My writing, my education.

What do you miss? Family living out-ot-state

Do you have a New Years resolution? To earn more graduate credits than this year

A favorite phrase? "We're all home tonight."

A favorite Bible verse? Luke 1:38

What is your favorite Christmas tree ornament? A pair of lovebirds

What makes you smile? A 3-day weekend

What is your favorite subject? Theology

What hobby or project do you love? Music

What is your favorite Holiday food? Cookies

What have you learned this year? Letting go is a hard process

How do you tell someone you love them? Serve them

What is your favorite spot in your home town or city? Summers: back porch; winters: in front of the fireplace

What are you looking forward to? Besides heaven? My son's graduation, my
daughter's Confirmation

What is your favorite Christmas Show? (Or movie?) It's a Wonderful Life

What is your favorite Christmas Carol? Silent Night

What was your favorite book this year? Anything from Jan Karon's Mitford series

What things are you praying for? My son's choice of college

What do you love about Christmas? Family get-togethers

Why/how is Jesus your Joy? His friendship is intimate.


Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn

A Christmas Survey

My family and I composed a little Christmas Survey to get the reflective juices flowing as we created a home-made Christmas Card to send out. It was interesting to see each family member's response. Why not fill in your own answers and see what you learn about yourself, your faith and your Christmas spirit?

This survey is just for fun, and completely non-scientific. There are no right or wrong answers. I'll post my own answers tomorrow. Feel free to post your own answers in the Comments!

What are your dreams for the future?

What do you wish for?

What was the best moment of the past year?

What prayer was answered?

What is your best Christmas memory?

What are you proud of?

What do you miss?

Do you have a New Years resolution?

A favorite phrase?

A favorite Bible verse?

What is your favorite Christmas tree ornament?

What makes you smile?

What is your favorite subject?

What hobby or project do you love?

What is your favorite Holiday food?

What have you learned this year?

How do you tell someone you love them?

What is your favorite spot in your home town or city?

What are you looking forward to?


What is your favorite Christmas Show? (Or movie?)

What is your favorite Christmas Carol?

What was your favorite book this year?

What things are you praying for?

What do you love about Christmas?

Why/how is Jesus your Joy?

Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn

God's "Will" -- A Christmas Story

My latest article carried by Catholic Exchange and CatholicMom.com. Click on the link above.

Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn

The Antidote for the "To Do" List

12 days 'til Christmas. Honesty, I am not ready. As a mother who sets her watch by the calendar, this could spell trouble.

So here I am, wondering if I should stay up an extra hour tonight to strategize and figure out my "to do" list for the next few days. The words of poet Robert Frost echo in my brain, "I have miles to go before I sleep."

I've been having an uncommon Advent, and by that I mean that there are certain common, cyclical, things I do every year to prepare our hearth and home for Christmas, but as of this writing I have not done any of them. This is not typical for a "to do" listmaker like myself. I laughed as my friend phoned me to say this week requires "special ops" to take place at home to prepare for Christmas! It was a great expression that captured the mode I am usually in by now, but not. My "to do" list has been sabotaged by real life-- John Lennon said it best: "Life is what happens while you are busy making other plans."

The List, usually an effective tool for me, has become a tyranny. I still need to shop. I still need to decorate. I still have cards to write and send. I still have all the normal chores of the home. I still need to find and purchase a Christmas tree. The list is growing longer by the day.

I've been hiding under a blanket of discouragement. For this week I've learned of the sudden death of someone we know, plus my husband--my partner in Christmas decorating and Christmas shopping is MIA on a business trip--and, we've had a foot and a half of snow to trudge through! In between, I am finishing up a home-improvement project that should never have gotten started in this busy season, and I still have a paper to write! (Ouch! It hurts to think about it all.)

None of these situations ever made it onto my Advent List. Instead, they are rewriting it.

This third week of Advent, we've lit the pink candle on the Advent Wreath. This means we are living the week of Rejoicing that Christ and Christmas is coming soon. Traditionally, this has always been THE WEEK of JOYFUL preparations for the Gohn household, led by yours truly. The JOY week is giving me the nudge I need to look again, to start again. And so I look to the Christ who is coming and ask what to do with "TO DO'S?"

The answer: Change them into "trust You's."

Jesus, I trust You, to help me complete my shopping and decorating chores.

Jesus, I trust You, to give me the time and energy for the projects that need my special attention.

Jesus, I trust You, to lead me with the holy knowledge that, once upon a time, a holy family traveled toward Christmas without an agenda of "to do's," but with a singlemindedness to trust YOU.

Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn

No words

When a writer has no words, a strange quandry takes place... one keeps searching for the words. And one must simply understand that sometimes words are inadequate. Sometimes life's mysteries are unfathomable and unexplainable, and remain such.

I find myself at such a loss as I grieve the death of a beloved parishioner and fellow musician from my church. I am trying to explain my grief to my mind and heart and my family: the grief that comes when a good man-- a faith-filled man, a family man--dies and the whys point to suicide. There are just no words. Somewhere there is a reason, but somehow it escapes us. Sometime we might understand, but that someday seems a long way off.

In the past when similar tragedy has struck, I have found some "villain" to blame: an addiction, an illness, a crushing heartbreak. Here, the story has no apparent villian, just some invisible specter or shadow that we cannot see.

And so I must turn to the God of mystery, and the One I cannot see, to commit all things tragic and incomprehensible to his deep, abiding, unfathomable, unexhaustible Divine Mercy.

May the souls of the faithful departed, through the Mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.


Copyright 2005 Patricia W. Gohn

Singing alto

I am an alto. On some days, a tenor. A good friend of mine is trying to talk me into joining a community choral society. She is a soprano. She's already a member, and is threatening to sing alto for the upcoming concert season in order to try to lure me in. I hope I didn't offend her when I laughed openly in her face.

For years I have teasingly told her that the altos make the sopranos look good... and she has lived with the the notion that she can't find a spontaneous harmony. We're a formidable duet when we sing together at church services, but I can't hold a candle to her talent and her training. I sing best when I am in a supporting role. Her voice was made for opera and the classics. Me, I'm more your country music kind of crooner. When I can't reach a high note, I harmonize.


We both love to sing for Jesus, and it is both a strange and wonderful glue that is part of our friendship. Singing together as prayer in church is one thing, but frankly, much as I love classical music, having to memorize its scores scares me mute.

Tonight she called me again to press her case for my joining the alto section in the chorus. When I stopped laughing long enough, I realized that I am simply moved by her gesture--never would I have expected a soprano to "lower" herself to make way for an alto. My friend says her reasons are so she can learn the skill of harmonizing with other voices... a skill most sopranos have rare need of. But I think she is trying to figure out a way to share our love for music once again.

I'm not sure what is stopping me, short of a collossal crisis of confidence. A few years ago it was I who politely gave my pal an encouraging nudge to use her gift in a choral setting beyond the confines of our local church. I think she is returning the favor.

Letting Go Again... Sweet Sixteen

My daughter turned 16 today. Hubby and I reminisced about the day she was born, and how we've never been the same. The only girl between our two boys, we call her the "cream" in our Oreo.

She went to school. She came home and went straight to the Registry of Motor Vehicles. She took her driving learner's permit test and passed. We celebrated with a coffee toast at Starbucks and a beginner's driving lesson around an open empty parking lot in the family van.

Dinner and the cake were her specially ordered "favorites" from Mom's kitchen menu. There were 16 candles and about 1600 calories per slice. Presents, cards, hugs, pictures clicked.

She is ours --in this precious little circle of 5--to cherish for this moment in time ... until we have to share her with her pals over the weekend at "the party."

And she is growing up. And we are s-l-o-w-l-y letting her go.

Confessing

I always need a little nudge from the Holy Spirit to get to confession... with everything getting so busy during the Advent and Christmas season, its easy to find excuses to put it off. Here's a little reading material and a short examination of conscience that is giving me the "GO" power I need. Maybe it will help you.

The National Catholic Register has a great guides to going for confession... one for adults and one for children. You can find them here:
http://216.147.24.130/menu.php?artkod=MDExLDAwMSwwMDE=