December 31: Front Page (index.htm)

For best viewing, decrease font on your web browser

volume 8, no. 64
WEDNESDAY
December 31, 1997

Final Issue for 1997! We wish all a Holy and Happy New Year as we conclude two months of theDaily CATHOLIC on this our maiden voyage with the new flagship publication of the CATHOLIC-INTERNET NETWORK. After seven years in print and two years on the internet we have placed the good ship A Call To Peace publication in drydock as we set sail in 1998 with theDaily CATHOLIC over uncharted seas of cyberspace for Our Lord and Our Lady, guided by the pillars of the Holy Eucharist and the Immaculate Heart as described by Saint John Bosco in his vision. New ventures are on the horizon for 1998 for the Daily CATHOLIC and we're just about ready to push out from the harbor on New Year's day and head out to new destinations in spreading the Gospel and the One, True, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Faith to all who surf the seas of cyberspace. If you have not signed on for the cruise yet, there's still time. Just click on Sign Me Up for this great voyage toward the Triumph of the Immaculate Heart. To catch the liturgy for the final day of 1997 and get a glimpse of tomorrow's special feast, click on LITURGY OF THE DAY

Today is the Seventh Day in the Octave of Christmas We begin the last half of the symbols of the Christmas Carol "Twelve Days of Christmas" with the seventh day and it's hidden meaning passed down from persecuted Catholics during the Reformation and French Revolution when they could not practice their faith openly.

Wednesday,
December 31 "On the seventh day of Christmas my True Love gave to me, seven swans a-swimming."

Seven Sacraments and gifts of the Spirit

The seven swans a-swimming represent the Seven Sacraments established by Jesus Christ as well as the Seven Gifts of the Holy Spirit. With the Sacraments and Gifts Catholics could sustain themselves through the dark times and encourage others at this holy time of the year with this Christmas song, reminding each other of the wondrous glory of God and His munificence on the seventh day of the octave of Christmas.

Following is a review of the first five days of Christmas:
1 Christ is the Partridge

2 two turtle doves =

3 three French hens = FAITH, HOPE & CHARITY

4 Four calling birds = Four Gospels

5 Five golden rings = Five Decades of the Rosary

6 Six geese a-laying = Six Days of Creation

No matter the persecution and hardships, the grass is not always greener on the other side! That's the moral of today's lighter side in which we present a whimsical diary of trying to find the best place to live. The only place we shall find true satisfaction and be at home is in Heaven when we are reunited with the Beatific Vision. For now, we're stuck in these frail human bodies and destined to live in such places as God so deigns. Such is the story of Minnesota Diary in our humor section as we complete the year. Click on A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Heaven!

PROVERB OF THE DAY"Come, eat of My food, and drink of the wine I have mixed! Forsake, foolishness that you may live; advance in the way of understanding."

Proverbs 9: 5-6

Medjugorje Monthly Message for December 25th The Gospa

Dear children! Also today I rejoice with you and I call you to the good. I desire that each of you reflect and carry peace in your heart and say: I want God in the first place in my life. In this way, little children, each of you will become holy. Little children, tell everyone, I want the good for you and he will respond with the good and, little children, good will come to dwell in the heart of each man. Little children, tonight I bring to you the good of my Son Who gave His life to save you. That is why, little children, rejoice and extend your hands to Jesus Who is only good. Thank you for having responded to my call! For more on Medjugorje, Click on MEDJUGORJE

On New Year's Eve take advantage of the greatest celebration you can participate in. Go before the Tabernacle and spend time with Jesus. What better way to welcome in the New Year...a year that will be pivotal in the history of civilization.

NEWS
& VIEWS
with a Catholic slant HEADLINES:

Bomb turns out to be cherry bomb set off by overzealous tourist

As we reported yesterday the bomb explosion aside a Catholic church in Cuba which caused initial fears of terrorism turned out to be a dud. It was only a Mexican tourist triggering a firecracker in a belated celebration of Christmas. Yet officials will continue to intensify security for the Holy Father's visit in a few weeks. Click on dud to read more.

No Mickey Mouse operation, Operation Rescue targets Disney in year-end demonstration

Finishing the year as he began, Operation Rescue organizer Flip Benham from Dallas frustrated Disney officials with a well-publicized protest outside Disney World before he and his cohorts were arrested, vowing not to stop. Click on Protest to read more.

Feast of month-long fast begins for Muslim world

With the moon at its fullest, today signals the beginning of Ramadan for over one billion Muslims throughout the world who begin a stringent dusk-to-dawn fast from food, drink, tobacco and sex to commemorate the founding of the Koran by the prophet Mohammed in the sixth century, a time when many opted for the Saracen sword rather than the cross of Christ. Click on Ramadan to read more.

Acknowledgment:

To subscribe to Catholic World News Service, available daily by e-mail, click on the CWN icon .

PRAYERS & DEVOTION Joyous Psalm for today's Mass
Let Heaven and earth exult in joy!
Sing to the Lord a new song, sing to the Lord, all you lands. Sing to the Lord, bless His name; announce His salvation day after day!

Let the Heavens be glad and the earth rejoice; let the sea and what fills it resound. Let the plains be joyful and all that is in them! Then shall all the trees of the forest exult before the Lord.

The Lord comes, He comes to rule the earth. He shall rule the world with justice and the peoples with His constancy.

To review past articles, click on Archives to read text or the following articles in graphics for November are available if you click on NOVEMBER ISSUES
To read the graphics version of the December issues, click on DECEMBER ISSUES

Coming
NEW YEAR'S DAY: A special New Year's Message from Our Lady in "I SOLEMNLY TELL YOU..."

The Meaning of the Eighth Day of Christmas

...and more in our first issue for 1998!

To print out today's entire issue in TEXT ONLY, click on the printer icon. To print text of this page Click here

December 31, 1997 volume 8, no. 64
Front Page

December 1997