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 f...

  How many gift shops can boast the presence of a divine cat, always willing to meet with and pose with customers? Sure, a few can. Among them, a leader is the gift shop at Old Mission San Juan Buatista, where Sula, parish cat and a member of the staff at Old Mission, as well as author of six books, lives in residence. Well, lived in residence pre-covid. With current covid curtailments, she retired to live with her godparents nearby in Hollister and now works on Sundays, where she attends Mass to comfort people who need her and engage with customers at the gift shop next door. Among other Catholic products, such as rosaries and statues, the gift shop also sells all of Sula's books, and the proceeds go toward the restoration fund for the Mission. Sula has raised a lot of funds to help save her Mission! To read more about the Mission and the gift shop, click HERE . To see more information about Sula and her books, click HERE .

excerpt from Easter at the Mission (Sula) -  Life at the Mission Gift Shop The people I know best, those who take care of me, can be found at the Mission Gift Shop. There, I have quite a big staff. (You have heard that dogs have owners but cats have staff, right?) My staff is a group of wonderful people. Mary Anzar was the first person I met many years ago when I was called to my mission at the Mission. Benito Garcia used to work at the Mission Gift Shop but now works at the parish office; we are still attached to each other so I regularly walk over to the parish office to see my Benny. Stacey Gentry supervises my staff, takes good care of me, and most important, serves as my official photographer; you will see her beautiful pictures in this book. I have known Kaleena Scargill for many years. She used to clean the church, I would follow her around, and she would take pictures of me that ended up in some of my previous books. Marie Reed is very kind to me, and she makes sure that ...

photo by Stacey Gentry: Sula, parish cat at Old Mission/MSI Press "author" in the creche Shared by Dr. Dennis Ortman , author of a number of award-winning books -  CHRISTMAS STORY “ And the Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us, and we saw his glory. ” --John 1: 14   Even as a child, I knew that Christmas was about more than Santa Claus coming and getting gifts. The baby Jesus was born. In addition to the Christmas tree and outdoor lights, we set up a Nativity scene in our home. Our parents told us the story and introduced the characters. At school, we re-enacted the Christmas story. We all vied to play Mary or Joseph, but I ended up being a sheep. The nuns explained that the story was about the birth of Jesus, the Son of God, who came to save us from our sins. I wasn ’ t sure what that meant, but I knew it was a very happy occasion. We sang joyous Christmas carols at church and in the neighborhood. At home the family gathered to share a meal and exchange...

Today's tip for parents from two talented teachers comes from  365 Teacher Secrets for Parents  by Cindy McKinley Alder and Patti Trombly.                                                                     #112 Books as Gifts   Books make great gifts because they have whole worlds inside them, and it’s much cheaper to buy somebody a book than it is to buy them the whole world. ~Neil Gaiman               How many times has your child been invited to a birthday party and can’t think of anything to buy his friend? When it is time for your child’s birthday, is he stumped for ideas? The next time you are stuck trying to figure out what to buy as a gift for a child, think about a book!         ...