‘Mary Did You Know’ writer Mark Lowry good-natured over song’s controversy
RNS For Mark Lowry, almost every day is Christmas. Whenever the storyteller and singer takes the stage for a concert, he always closes the show with the same song – Mary Did You Know? – no matter what time of year it is. “When you have one hit, you better end with it,” Lowry said […]
The Interview: Dallas Jenkins, creator of ‘The Chosen’, on a new Christmas special
KATHRYN POST, of Religion News Service, speaks with director and creator Dallas Jenkins about the bonus episode of The Chosen that will arrive in US theatres next month in the lead-up to Christmas…
Books: ‘Christians’, past and present
DAVID ADAMS reads Greg Sheridan’s latest book, ‘Christians’…
“We are fed up”: Thousands pray at Portugal’s Fatima shrine for world without COVID-19
Fatima, Portugal Reuters Suffering from an autoimmune disease, 71-year-old Maria Emilia travels – often by foot – to one of Catholicism’s most famous sanctuaries in Portugal every year. But the coronavirus pandemic made her trip more important than ever. Standing in circles marked to maintain social distancing, Emilia joined about 7,500 other faithful at a […]
Born among the animals
The Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is built on the stone cave where they think Jesus was born. Stained glass windows depicting the birth of Christ in St Malachy’s Church, Main Street, Castlewellan, Northern Ireland, UK. PICTURE: K Mitch Hodge/Unsplash Stables in ancient Palestine were stone not wood – and often attached to houses. The […]
At least 40 Christians killed in two attacks in Kaduna State, Nigeria – sources
Morning Star News At least 32 people were killed in a Muslim Fulani herder attack on a Christian area of north-central Nigeria on Tuesday, sources said. The early morning assault on villages in and around Maro, in Kajuru County of Kaduna state, came after a 10th February herdsmen attack on Angwan Barde, in the same […]
In the US, a new Christmas pageant shows off the fierce side of Mary
RNS If you ask Rev Katy Fitz Shedlock, there is something wrong with the way Mary is portrayed in most church Christmas pageants. She’s boring. A traditional depiction of Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus in a pageant manger scene. ‘Deleted Scenes Christmas Pageant’ skips most traditional depictions of the holy family. PICTURE: Tech Sgt Jared […]
ESSAY: EMBRACING THE WORK OF CHRISTMAS
In an article first published on Religion News Service, US United Church of Christ minister CHUCK CURRIE reflects on the meaning – and “work” – of Christmas…
ESSAY: WHO WAS MARY MAGDALENE? DEBUNKING THE MYTH OF THE PENITENT PROSTITUTE
With the new film Mary Magdalene to be released in Australia later this month, in an article first published on The Conversation, Australian academic DOROTHY ANN LEE, Frank Woods Professor of New Testament of Trinity College at the University of Divinity, takes a look at the Biblical character…
Pope urges people to avoid being corroded by the “banality of consumerism” in New Year’s address
Pope Francis has urged people to set aside a moment of silence each day “to be with God” and keep from being “corroded” by the “banality of consumerism”. In a New Year’s Day homily delivered at the Vatican, the leader of the world’s Roman Catholics took the silence of Mary, the mother of Jesus, as his […]