MSI Press Blog

(illustration by Zhenya Yanovich)   GIFT EXCHANGE “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light.” --Isaiah 9: 1   “I’m so exhausted! I can’t wait until the holidays are over,” adults complain. The Christmas season is filled with toil and trouble. Adults are fatigued with the endless round of decorating, cooking, baking, partying, gift buying and wrapping, and fighting crowds at the mall.  “I’m so excited! I can’t wait until Christmas comes,” exclaim children. They are excited to be on vacation, escaping the toil and trouble of school. Play time begins, and they look forward to Santa coming. They enjoy the rounds of parties, time with friends, caroling, meeting Santa, and getting gifts.  Both the giving and receiving, the toil and excitement, capture the true spirit of Christmas--and make the world go around. God gives the gift of Himself in His Son. We open-heartedly receive that great gift and respond by sharing ourselves with God and one another. The freely-given gift ex

  (illustration by Zhenya Yanovich) New political realities aside, January 6 has always been a special day. In the orthodox tradition, it is the first day of Christmas; in the Christian tradition, it is the last day of Christmas. In celebration, we offer an excerpt from Sula's book, Christmas at the Mission: Epiphany The Bible   contains only 12 mentions of the wise men (magi) and the Star of Bethlehem, but over time they have captured nearly everyone’s attention. A Christmas pageant would not be complete without the three magi, or as they are sometimes called, kings. Many nativity scenes also include the three magi. Who were they? What did they see? What did they know? Why are we enthralled with them? Well, first, they saw a star. The star is called the Star of Bethlehem because when the magi followed it, it stopped in Bethlehem over the manger where Jesus lay. The magi came from the east, following the star. They seemed to know what the star meant because on the way, they sto