When the angels went away from them to heaven,

the shepherds said to one another, 

“Let us go, then, to Bethlehem

to see this thing that has taken place, 

which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, 

and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this,

they made known the message

that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed

by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things,

reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God 

for all they had heard and seen, 

just as it had been told to them.

-- Luke 2:15-20

At last it begins. After an Advent of preparation, the joyful season of Christmas is finally here. The last piece of our holiday decorations — the Christmas tree — was completed on Christmas Eve. While the trimmings, both inside and out, are set in place over the course of several weeks, the tree remains the capstone, traditionally finished just in time for the Feast itself.

Our celebration will continue through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, as it always has. Each year, I find it a small but familiar disappointment to see lights and decorations vanish the day after Christmas. It seems that many no longer regard the birth of Our Savior as an event worthy of more than a single day of rejoicing. Christmas is not a day, but a season — one worth celebrating fully.

"Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst. (OSV News photo/Bridgeman Images)

I wish all of you a very merry and blessed Christmas. May the joy of Christmas remain with you throughout the year.

When the angels went away from them to heaven,

the shepherds said to one another, 

“Let us go, then, to Bethlehem

to see this thing that has taken place, 

which the Lord has made known to us.”

So they went in haste and found Mary and Joseph, 

and the infant lying in the manger.

When they saw this,

they made known the message

that had been told them about this child.

All who heard it were amazed

by what had been told them by the shepherds.

And Mary kept all these things,

reflecting on them in her heart.

Then the shepherds returned,

glorifying and praising God 

for all they had heard and seen, 

just as it had been told to them.

-- Luke 2:15-20

At last it begins. After an Advent of preparation, the joyful season of Christmas is finally here. The last piece of our holiday decorations — the Christmas tree — was completed on Christmas Eve. While the trimmings, both inside and out, are set in place over the course of several weeks, the tree remains the capstone, traditionally finished just in time for the Feast itself.

Our celebration will continue through the Feast of the Epiphany on January 6, as it always has. Each year, I find it a small but familiar disappointment to see lights and decorations vanish the day after Christmas. It seems that many no longer regard the birth of Our Savior as an event worthy of more than a single day of rejoicing. Christmas is not a day, but a season — one worth celebrating fully.

"Adoration of the Shepherds" by Gerard van Honthorst. (OSV News photo/Bridgeman Images)

I wish all of you a very merry and blessed Christmas. May the joy of Christmas remain with you throughout the year.

On to bigger and better things in 2026. If you are celebrating something, happy holidays! If not, happy Thursday!

On to bigger and better things in 2026. If you are celebrating something, happy holidays! If not, happy Thursday!

I finished Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil last night. It ends up being a good book, but it takes a while to get there. It's a narrative non-fiction story covering an alleged murder in Savannah, GA. The book is highly atmospheric in a Southern Gothic way, representing Savannah as a quirky town full of genteel Southerners, but also a place where anything goes.

I really don't understand how it's one of the longest-running NYT bestsellers of all time. The murder that drives the story doesn't happen until about 40% into the book. Before that, it's a meandering story of a NY writer moving to Savannah and the hijinks he gets into with a too-crazy-to-believe but 100% real cast of characters. Once the (alleged) murder happens, the story picks up through the trials of the alleged murder.

All I can think is that in 1990, before travel videos on YouTube and Vloggers, 98% of America knew absolutely nothing about Savannah and thus were just totally captivated by the atmospheric storytelling in this book. When I visited Savannah a couple of years ago, the local tour guide referred to Savannah as Slowvannah, and I have to admit, I was a little underwhelmed by the city. Also, I lived in Atlanta from 1989 to 1998 and never once visited Savannah. I thought about Saint Patrick's Day in the city a couple of times, but it never worked out.

So I'm glad to have knocked off a "classic." If you have not read it, I would not necessarily jump it to the top of your TBR list. The exception is if you are planning to visit Savannah. I would definitely read it first in that case. I read South of Broad before visiting Charleston, and it added to the experience.

I have 46 books on the books page for 2025. Several are DNFs, and there are probably 5 more in-progress books that never made it to the page. These were my favorites. Reviews are all on the 2025 books page, so I'm not repeating them here.

Fiction

• What Kind of Paradise by Janelle Brown
• Everything Burns by S.A. Cosby
• Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario
• When the Moon Hits Your Eye by John Scalzi
• The Book of Doors by Gareth Brown
• The Life Impossible - Matt Haig
• The Ballad of Perilous Graves by Alex Jennings

Non-Fiction

• Nuclear War by Annie Jacobsen
• Touching My Father's Soul by Jamling Tenzy Norgay
• Stolen by Richard Bell
• The Girl From the Tar Paper School by Teri Kanefield