Title: A Christmas with Christ   Finding Joy Each December Author: Alexander J. Basile  ISBN: 978-0-8189-1338-9  Paperback: xviii + 92 pp.  Price: $8.95 + shipping  To Order call:  1 800-343-ALBA (2522)  Please have your Master  or Visa card ready To order online click here.

Every year society prepares for the commercial season of Christmas earlier than the year before. The catalogs start to arrive in September. By Halloween, the garland and lights are placed in the local shopping mall. Being children at heart, we never hesitate to jump onto the express lane that puts us into the midst of Christmas even though the calendar may still read "November." We pack our schedules with various activities and by the first week in January we reiterate the same old sentiment, "Christmas came and went by too quickly!" Sucked into the frenzy of the season, we fail to stand back and take it all in. We don't take time to reflect on the deeply profound beauty of the Incarnation. We forget to include Jesus as we make our preparations for Christmas. The birthday party is in place and we never invite the guest of honor. The religious dimension of Christmas should not be saved until we enter our parish church. The purpose of A Christmas with Christ is to serve as a reminder that including Jesus in our activities during Advent and Christmas can make everything special. Every tradition, party and family gathering will take on new meaning for us and we will find true joy each December.

 

About the Author: Alexander J. Basile, Jr. has written four other popular and highly successful works for ST PAULS / Alba House: The Complete Christian: A Guide to Living; The Gentle Road to Jesus: Bringing Christ to Every Classroom and Home; Lessons from the Master: Living Like Jesus; and Finding Faith in a Godless World: A Catholic Path to God. He has had more than 25 years of classroom experience and knows how people can best be helped to know, love and practice their faith in Jesus. A graduate of St. John's University in Queens, New York (class of 1984), Alex is chairperson of the Religious Education Department at Kellenberg Memorial High School in Uniondale, New York where he oversees a staff of 23 teachers.  Reviews           Surrounded by pre-Christmas hustle and bustle, maybe even chaos, putting the celebration of the Incarnation relative to our personal lives and that of our family in perspective, can be a real challenge. Recently, I discovered a new and excellent publication by the Society of St. Paul, Alba House, which I strongly recommend you obtain and read during this beautiful season of Advent. The ninety-two page book, a delightful and easy read, entitled A Christmas with Christ: Finding Joy Each December by Alexander J. Basile is well worth your reflection and I believe will assist in aiding you and your loved ones really appreciate and enjoy Christmas 2011. The author quotes St. Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153) to set the stage for seventeen chapters in the table of contents that guide us on our Advent Journey: "Let your goodness, Lord, appear to us that we, made in Your image, conform ourselves to it. In our own strength we cannot imitate Your majesty, power, and wonder -- nor is it fitting for us to try. But Your mercy reaches from the heavens through the clouds to the earth below. You have come to us as a small child, but You have brought us the greatest of all gifts, the gift of eternal love. Caress us with Your tiny hands, embrace us with Your tiny arms and pierce our hearts with Your soft, sweet cries." From Chapter One entitled: What Goes Around, Comes Around to Chapter Seventeen, Christmas Joy, you will find an abundant resource for truly entering into the real meaning of Christmas -- a Holy Day! --Rev. Msgr. Peter G. Finn, Pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, Staten Island, NY in the Parish Bulletin for the Second Sunday of Advent, 2011. Top of Page