by Morning Reflections | Dec 22, 2020 | Uncategorized
There’s only one widely-sung Christmas carol whose verses tell a story.It’s also the only carol that spotlights a real-life character not found on the pages of scripture. We’re talking about Good King Wenceslas, the recitation of a medieval...
by Morning Reflections | Dec 21, 2020 | Uncategorized
Not all of the best-loved Christmas songs are hundreds of years old.Mary, Did You Know? hasn’t yet celebrated its 30th birthday, but it’s already become something of a classic.Composer Buddy Greene and lyricist Mark Lowry – two members of the Gaither Vocal Band from...
by Morning Reflections | Dec 18, 2020 | Uncategorized
Noel is a French word that means “birth of God,” which speaks to the mystery at the heart of Christmas.But the familiar carol called The First Noel is English through and through.No amount of research has turned up the composer of the tune or the author of the verses,...
by Morning Reflections | Dec 17, 2020 | Uncategorized
In the 1740s, it was neither safe nor popular to be Roman Catholic in England.John Francis Wade was an English composer who met many of his exiled countrymen, persecuted Catholics, while working in France. Moved by their spiritual traditions, he penned the Latin song...
by Morning Reflections | Dec 16, 2020 | Uncategorized
Father Gregory Boyle is the founder and director of Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, a widely acclaimed gang intervention program.It’s a ministry that involves considerable heartache. As of 2017 and the release of his book Barking to the Choir: The Power of...
