A Single Generosity Enlarges the World

St. Thomas Becket: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

A strong man who wavered for a moment, but then learned one cannot come to terms with evil and so became a strong churchman, a martyr and a saint—that was Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, murdered in his cathedral on December 29, 1170.

His career had been a stormy one. While archdeacon of Canterbury, he was made chancellor of England at the age of 36 by his friend King Henry II. When Henry felt it advantageous to make his chancellor the archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas gave him fair warning: he might not accept all of Henry’s intrusions into Church affairs. Nevertheless, he was made archbishop (1162), resigned his chancellorship and reformed his whole way of life!

Troubles began. Henry insisted upon usurping Church rights. At one time, supposing some conciliatory action possible, Thomas came close to compromise. He momentarily approved the Constitutions of Clarendon, which would have denied the clergy the right of trial by a Church court and prevented them from making direct appeal to Rome. But Thomas rejected the Constitutions, fled to France for safety and remained in exile for seven years. When he returned to England, he suspected it would mean certain death. Because Thomas refused to remit censures he had placed upon bishops favored by the king, Henry cried out in a rage, “Will no one rid me of this troublesome priest!” Four knights, taking his words as his wish, slew Thomas in the Canterbury cathedral.

Thomas Becket remains a hero-saint down to our own times.

Comment:
No one becomes a saint without struggle, especially with himself. Thomas knew he must stand firm in defense of truth and right, even at the cost of his life. We also must take a stand in the face of pressures—against dishonesty, deceit, destruction of life—at the cost of popularity, convenience, promotion and even greater goods.

Quote:
In T.S. Eliot's powerful drama, Murder in the Cathedral, Becket faces a final temptation to seek martyrdom for earthly glory and revenge. With real insight into his life situation, Thomas responds: "The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."

Celebrate endings ~ for they precede new beginnings...

Holy Innocents Yesterday And Today

Herod “the Great,” king of Judea, was unpopular with his people because of his connections with the Romans and his religious indifference. Hence he was insecure and fearful of any threat to his throne. He was a master politician and a tyrant capable of extreme brutality. He killed his wife, his brother and his sister’s two husbands, to name only a few.

Matthew 2:1-18 tells this story: Herod was “greatly troubled” when astrologers from the east came asking the whereabouts of “the newborn king of the Jews,” whose star they had seen. They were told that the Jewish Scriptures named Bethlehem as the place where the Messiah would be born. Herod cunningly told them to report back to him so that he could also “do him homage.” They found Jesus, offered him their gifts and, warned by an angel, avoided Herod on their way home. Jesus escaped to Egypt.

Herod became furious and “ordered the massacre of all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity two years old and under.” The horror of the massacre and the devastation of the mothers and fathers led Matthew to quote Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loud lamentation; Rachel weeping for her children...” (Matthew 2:18). Rachel was the wife of Jacob/Israel. She is pictured as weeping at the place where the Israelites were herded together by the conquering Assyrians for their march into captivity.

Comment:

The Holy Innocents are few, in comparison to the genocide and abortion of our day. But even if there had been only one, we recognize the greatest treasure God put on the earth—a human person, destined for eternity and graced by Jesus’ death and resurrection.

Quote:

"Lord, you give us life even before we understand" (Prayer Over the Gifts, Feast of the Holy Innocents).

Patron Saint of:

Babies

On this day especially. Let's pray for the Holy Innocents of Newtown, CT and their family and friends.

Once In Royal David's City ~ Westminster Cathedral Choir

The choir of Westminster Cathedral and the congregation open the service of Midnight Mass with the traditional carol Once In Royal David's City.

Nothing is worth losing your inner peace

While Our Hearts Are Broken This Christmas, Our Hope Is Not

Written on December 22, 2012 by Bob Russell

I can’t remember ever entering a Christmas season with such a heavy heart. I can’t get the shooting massacre of twenty grade-school children in Connecticut off my mind. The grief those parents and family members are experiencing right now is unimaginable to most of us. The Associated Press reported that Newtown, Connecticut officials have turned off the town’s Christmas lights in memory of those who lost their lives. They reasoned they can’t have a Merry Christmas in the midst of such tragedy and heartache.

This past week I learned that the forty-four year old wife of a beloved associate was diagnosed with lung cancer and she faces a difficult challenge ahead. She is one of the most talented and finest Christian women I know. Her husband and four children are devastated. So am I.

On top of that, I have two sisters struggling with serious health problems. This past Tuesday I visited a church member who is under hospice care at home. And a couple I married three years ago buried a stillborn child on Thursday. It has been a tough month.

Maybe it’s the same for you. While it won’t exactly be a “holly, jolly Christmas this year,” it still can be a very meaningful one. Maybe it will be a deeper celebration than normal, if we think about what Christmas really means. It’s not so much about gifts, parties and laughter. The hope of Christmas is that Jesus came to deliver us from the evil and death that is so much a part of this world. The angel informed Joseph, “She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”

When Ann’s husband was drafted into the military and sent overseas in World War II, she packed her luggage and drove her two young children to her parent’s home in Texas. Since she anticipated her husband would be gone for the better part of a year, this would be an opportunity for her children to get better acquainted with their grandparents.

But late in December, just several months into their stay, a dreaded telegram arrived. “We regret to inform you….” Ann was heartbroken. She handed the telegram to her parents, shared embraces and tears, then asked if she could be alone for a while. She went upstairs to her childhood bedroom to weep and pray.

Well over an hour later she came back downstairs to discover that the Christmas tree and all the decorations in the house had been taken down.

“Why, mother?” she asked. “Why did you take all the decorations down?”

Her mother explained that with so much sadness, it just didn’t seem appropriate to try to celebrate Christmas. “Oh, no, Mother”, Ann protested. “Please, let’s put the tree and the lights back up. Christmas was made for times like this!”

That’s true. This Christmas may not be as festive or lighthearted as others, but while my heart is broken, my hope is not. Christmas was made for a time like this! Christmas is a reminder that while this world stinks sometimes, we have a hope that will never fade away. Because of Bethlehem, Calvary and the empty tomb there is a new day coming when the dead in Christ shall rise and all things will be made new!

Jesus reminded us of that reality when He said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world!” (John 16:33).

So, let’s believe what we say we believe and behave like we know what the birth of Christ really means. Let’s hug our kids, love our families, share the gospel and make the most of this day that the Lord has made. Let’s be joyful in all circumstances and have a hope-filled Christmas because Jesus Christ has overcome the world. And the best is yet to be!

May This Christmas Season Smile Gently On You And Yours

Sunday Reflection for the Fourth Sunday of Advent

The fun some people have had with the Mayan calendar predictions of a great catastrophe on December 21st caught imaginations, I’m not sure how many people took the threat seriously but it did spark interest in how an ancient civilization saw the passage of time and its meaning. Perhaps because we are largely conditioned to a daily timetable prolonged by artificial light and a 24 hour clock.

The yearly rhythm in our country is not based on the agricultural cycle of nature, but seems conditioned to several festivals around which a great deal of retail therapy occurs, so we get out of touch with the patterns and passing of other forms of time. How many of us understand the lunar calendar even a little or know when the agricultural year really begins? A few perhaps, but even so there does still remain an instinctive connection to our ancestral computations, such as a delight in midwinter and midsummer and the qualities of the four seasons, underneath it all good old mother earth and the wider bounds of the Creators time and space exert a much deeper role in our lives than we think.

The liturgy is full of different references to time, not only do we compute Easter, our greatest feast, by lunar calendar and link to an agrarian calendar with Pentecost, the Nativity and Theophany/Epiphany cycle which we are just about to start celebrating, sits alongside the winter feasts of light and new birth that long pre-date Christianity. Traditional feastday time begins as the sun sets with first vespers or evening prayer but ends in a more modern 24 hour clock. Even in the scriptures time litters the setting of so much of our prayer and praise about God.

On this last Sunday of Advent, Zephaniah hints at someone to come whose origins go back into the distant past beyond all human reckonings, the Lord, who is born into human time but whose rule and reign will transcend space and time itself. This Lord, as the letter to the Hebrews points out to us, comes to show us that the true sacrifice is to make good use of our time, responding to the call of God, in the true meaning of obedience, by deep listening and careful discerning through the Spirit of the signs of our times, seeing the Lord with us, in us, working through us in creation. That is precisely what we find Mary and Elizabeth doing in Luke’s Gospel, both of them and the quickening life within them respond to the gift of the Holy Spirit. They accept the blessing of God's time, kairos, that moment God really connects with us. Put simply we recognize that now we are blessed for it is time for the Lord to act with us.

Fr Robin Gibbons is an Eastern Rite Chaplain for the Melkite Greek Catholics in Britain.

The Virgin's Slumber Song

Dear Jesus, It’s a good thing you were born at night...

Dear Jesus,

It’s a good thing you were born at night. This world sure seems dark. I have a good eye for silver linings. But they seem dimmer lately.

These killings, Lord. These children, Lord. Innocence violated. Raw evil demonstrated.

The whole world seems on edge. Trigger-happy. Ticked off. We hear threats of chemical weapons and nuclear bombs. Are we one button-push away from annihilation?

Your world seems a bit darker this Christmas. But you were born in the dark, right? You came at night. The shepherds were nightshift workers. The Wise Men followed a star. Your first cries were heard in the shadows. To see your face, Mary and Joseph needed a candle flame. It was dark. Dark with Herod’s jealousy. Dark with Roman oppression. Dark with poverty. Dark with violence.

Herod went on a rampage, killing babies. Joseph took you and your mom into Egypt. You were an immigrant before you were a Nazarene.

Oh, Lord Jesus, you entered the dark world of your day. Won’t you enter ours? We are weary of bloodshed. We, like the wise men, are looking for a star. We, like the shepherds, are kneeling at a manger.

This Christmas, we ask you, heal us, help us, be born anew in us.

Hopefully,
Your Children

- Max Lucado

80 YEAR OLD LADY MARRIES A FUNERAL DIRECTOR FUNNY

The local news station was interviewing an 80-year-old lady
because she had just gotten married for the fourth time. The
interviewer asked her questions about her life, about what it felt
like to be marrying again at 80, and then about her new husband's
occupation. "He's a funeral director," she answered. "Interesting,"
the newsman thought...

He then asked her if she wouldn't mind telling him a little about her
first three husbands and what they did for a living. She paused for a
few moments, needing time to reflect on all those years. After a short
time, a smile came to her face and she answered proudly, explaining
that she had first married a banker when she was in her 20's, then a
circus ringmaster when in her 40's, and a preacher when in her 60's,
and now - in her 80's - a funeral director.

The interviewer looked at her, quite astonished, and asked why she had
married four men with such diverse careers.

She smiled and explained,

"I married one for the money, two for the show, three to get ready,
and four to go."

Regrets are the tears of choices...

Don't take anything personally!

Reflection for Gaudete Sunday’

It is no wonder this Third Sunday of Advent is traditionally called ‘Gaudete Sunday’ – that is ‘REJOICING’ Sunday. Read through or listen to the readings carefully. How many references are there to ‘joy’, ‘happy’, ‘dance’ and ‘rejoice’?

Yes, we are to called to rejoice because the Lord is near. We all need the power of God that carries us through difficult times and the support of others which helps us face the reality of our own weakness and limitations.

On Friday there was the terrible shooting at the school in America in which so many children and their teacher were killed. It is very difficult to think of rejoicing in the face of such appalling tragedy. One is reminded of the massacre of the Holy Innocences, coming so soon after the birth of Our Lord Jesus.

Yet when we believe in the abiding presence of God, a God who cares for us so much that he sent his own Son, this gives us a deep sense of Joy in the midst of our everyday lives. That presence of God challenges us to the daily calling to be his servants doing his will with generosity and conviction.

We also have John the Baptist to remind us. We too can ask: “What must we do, then?” Just as did all the people, the tax-collectors, the soldiers etc., we need to be alert to the “feeling of expectancy”, which we hear of in the Gospel.

When we approach our life and our faith with that “feeling of expectancy”, it means we are alert, excited, open-minded, willing to change, wanting to do something extra.
This is a wonderful state of mind to be in. We are not operating from fear, laziness or any of the other attitudes that can inhibit us, we are open minded and anxious to do what is best.

The Gospel demands a response, not just an intellectual one, but a lived one too. This is because the gospel is a meeting with the person of Jesus Christ. It has to be a personal commitment to Him. The crowds were attracted to John the Baptist not just by his words, but by the way he lived. Jesus likewise attracts us to himself by his words, his ministry and by showing us the love of God the Father.

We can widen the circle. In this Year of Faith, we can apply all the above message in our lives, by reciting the simple prayer daily:

Lord, let me see your face, know your heart
And experience your love in my life.
Strengthen in me the precious gift of faith.
I believe Lord; help my unbelief. Amen.

We pray that we can ‘see His face’ in those around us and in the most un-expectant situations. Yes, we believe, but if only our faith and vision of God were stronger!

What beautiful thoughts to reflect on in this remaining part of Advent.

This is the positive approach we can have with just over a week to go before we celebrate the birth of Christ our Saviour. We can have a happy, joyous approach over these last few days as we are rushing about in last minute preparations. Happy Advent!

Fr Joe Tyan is Parish Priest at St John Vianney's Church in West Green Road, north London, and Chair of Westminster Diocese Justice and Peace

Our Hearts Are Broken Today

Update on my wife, Mary Jo

Hello eveyone,

I just wanted to let everyone know how Mary Jo's treatments are going. She had her third treatment last Friday, December 7th. She had a CT Scan on Tuesday, and we got the results today. The size of all of her lymph nodes have been reduced considerably. So, the chemo drugs are doing their job. She was not nearly as tired this time.

Her next treatment is scheduled for December 28th. She will have a CT Scan and PET Scan after that one. The plan is still for 6-8 treatments.

During the second week of January we will be going to Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center in Nashville. Mary Jo's oncologist team at Baptist East want the group at Vanderbilt to look at her case to help determine a post treatment strategy to keep the lymphoma in remission because of the blastic variant form of mantle cell lymphoma that she has.

We truly appreciate all of your prayers.

Mary Jo and I wish all of you a blessed, healthy, peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Gerry

Dear Santa Letter

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned, and cuddled my two children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor, sold sixty-two cases of candy bars to raise money to plant a shade tree on the school playground and figured out how to attach nine patches onto my daughter's girl scout sash with staples and a glue gun.

I was hoping you could spread my list out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache after a day of chasing kids (in any color, except purple, which I already have) and arms that don't flap in the breeze, but are strong enough to carry a screaming toddler out of the candy aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like a car with fingerprint resistant windows and a radio that only plays big-people music; a television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking daughter doll that says, "Yes, Mommy" to boost my parental confidence, along with one potty-trained toddler, two kids who don't fight, and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without the use of power tools. I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting, "Don't eat in the living room" and "Take your hands off your brother," because my voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can only be heard by the dog.

And please don't forget the Play-doh Travel Pack, the hottest stocking stuffer this year for mothers of preschoolers. It comes in three fluorescent colors and is guaranteed to crumble on any carpet making the in-laws' house seem just like mine.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind I could also use a few Christmas miracles to brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare ketchup a vegetable? It would clear my conscience immensely. It would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an organized crime family; or if my toddler didn't look so cute sneaking downstairs in his pajamas to eat contraband ice cream at midnight.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the chimney and come in and dry off by the fire so you don't catch cold. Help yourself to cookies on the table, but don't eat too many or leave crumbs on the carpet.

Your's Always,
Mom

P.S. One more thing: You can cancel all my requests if you can keep my children young...

[forwarded by Joan Brookins]

today'sTHOT============================

Christmas began in the heart of God. It is complete only when it reaches the heart of man.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

===============================

5 million pilgrims flock to Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine

REUTERS

A pilgrim carries a picture during celebrations marking the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe at Basilica's square in Mexico City.

Millions of pilgrims flocked to Mexico City's basilica of the Virgin of Guadalupe on Wednesday, arriving on their knees, feet or bicycles to see one of Latin America's most revered religious icons.

The annual pilgrimage attracts Roman Catholics from across the region to view the dark-skinned Virgin's image, which they believe was miraculously imprinted on a piece of fabric after the virgin appeared before indigenous peasant Juan Diego in 1531.

Around 4.8 million people had passed through the basilica by mid-day, carrying shrines or portraits of the Virgin of Guadalupe, according to city officials. The capital expects six million pilgrims to visit the site in 2012.

Thousands had spent the night outside the modern, circular basilica. Some slept in tents while many lied down in the open air.

A group danced in indigenous clothes.

Roman Catholics travel to the basilica at the start of December in a pilgrimage that culminates on December 12 to give thanks for help with personal problems or illnesses.

The temple lies at the foot of Tepeyac hill, where the Virgin of Guadalupe is believed to have appeared 481 years ago. The new basilica was built in 1976 to replace one built in the 18th century.

Oscar Ramos arrived by bicycle from the city of Puebla, about 135 kilometres east of Mexico City, with a wooden shrine on the back.

“It was an exhausting journey. We almost didn't make it,” Ramos said.

The late pope John Paul II canonised Juan Diego as the first indigenous saint of the Americas in 2002.

TOP EMAIL JOKE:

After landing my new job as a Wal-Mart greeter, a good find for many retirees, I lasted less than a day.

About two hours into my first day on the job a very loud, unattractive, mean-acting woman walked into the store with her two kids, yelling obscenities at them all the way through the entrance.

I said pleasantly, 'Good morning and welcome to Wal-Mart. Nice children you have there. Are they twins?'

The ugly woman stopped yelling long enough to say, 'Hell no, they ain't twins. The oldest one's 9, and the other one's 7. Why the hell would you think they're twins? Are you blind, or stupid?'

So I replied, 'I'm neither blind nor stupid, Ma'am, I just couldn't believe someone slept with you twice. Have a good day and thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart.'

My supervisor said I probably wasn't cut out for this line of work.

h/Terry Meiners

THE pope has tweeted

In perhaps the most drawn out Twitter launch ever, Pope Benedict XVI pushed the button on a tablet brought to him at the end of his general audience on Wednesday.
It read: "Dear friends, I am pleased to get in touch with you through Twitter. Thank you for your generous response. I bless all of you from my heart."

Later in the day he was to respond to a few messages sent to him from around the world.

As the countdown to his first tweet from his Twitter handle (at)Pontifex neared, the Pope had garnered nearly a million followers in the eight languages of his account.

The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico

Our Lady of Guadalupe sung by Molly Chesna

Our Lady of Guadalupe

The feast in honor of Our Lady of Guadalupe goes back to the 16th century. Chronicles of that period tell us the story.

A poor Indian named Cuauhtlatohuac was baptized and given the name Juan Diego. He was a 57-year-old widower and lived in a small village near Mexico City. On Saturday morning, December 9, 1531, he was on his way to a nearby barrio to attend Mass in honor of Our Lady.

He was walking by a hill called Tepeyac when he heard beautiful music like the warbling of birds. A radiant cloud appeared and within it a young Native American maiden dressed like an Aztec princess. The lady spoke to him in his own language and sent him to the bishop of Mexico, a Franciscan named Juan de Zumarraga. The bishop was to build a chapel in the place where the lady appeared.

Eventually the bishop told Juan Diego to have the lady give him a sign. About this same time Juan Diego’s uncle became seriously ill. This led poor Diego to try to avoid the lady. The lady found Diego, nevertheless, assured him that his uncle would recover and provided roses for Juan to carry to the bishop in his cape or tilma.

When Juan Diego opened his tilma in the bishop’s presence, the roses fell to the ground and the bishop sank to his knees. On Juan Diego’s tilma appeared an image of Mary exactly as she had appeared at the hill of Tepeyac. It was December 12, 1531.

Comment:

Mary's appearance to Juan Diego as one of his people is a powerful reminder that Mary and the God who sent her accept all peoples. In the context of the sometimes rude and cruel treatment of the Indians by the Spaniards, the apparition was a rebuke to the Spaniards and an event of vast significance for Native Americans. While a number of them had converted before this incident, they now came in droves. According to a contemporary chronicler, nine million Indians became Catholic in a very short time. In these days when we hear so much about God's preferential option for the poor, Our Lady of Guadalupe cries out to us that God's love for and identification with the poor is an age-old truth that stems from the Gospel itself.

Quote:

Mary to Juan Diego: “My dearest son, I am the eternal Virgin Mary, Mother of the true God, Author of Life, Creator of all and Lord of the Heavens and of the Earth...and it is my desire that a church be built here in this place for me, where, as your most merciful Mother and that of all your people, I may show my loving clemency and the compassion that I bear to the Indians, and to those who love and seek me...” (from an ancient chronicle).

Patron Saint of:

Americas
Mexico

Strong goes against grain with move to stay

By Andrea Adelson

Charlie Strong spoke passionately, emotionally, beautifully, honestly and confidently Thursday morning, a man so determined to be a real leader he made a choice just about every leader in college football would not have made. 

He stayed. 

For loyalty. 

For the love of his players. 

For the love of his community. 

For the love of his family. 

We have become so accustomed to coaches bolting for the next available opportunity at bigger, richer programs, that most everybody expected Strong to leave, too. But Strong's decision to stay at Louisville served as a reminder that sometimes the best opportunity you have is the one staring you in the face. 

Strong could have easily gone to Tennessee, and everybody outside Louisville would have congratulated him for landing a job at an SEC power, after toiling nearly all his life as an assistant in that very same conference. 

When the job offer came Tuesday, Strong had to weigh his options. And think. He remembered meeting with Louisville athletic director Tom Jurich back in 2009 during his job interview, recalling how a person he barely knew put all his trust and faith in him, after so many athletic directors slammed the door in his face. 

"He gave me my first chance to be a head football coach," Strong said at his news conference, tearing up during his opening remarks. "I was always on everybody's short list. But Tom let me know from the very beginning I was the only one on his list." 

Strong woke up Wednesday and went on his customary morning run, already leaning toward staying. “How do you walk away from someone who really trusts and believes in you?” he thought. 

Many folks close to Strong have always believed his intense sense of loyalty to Jurich would give Louisville the advantage against just about any other job offer. Jurich gave Strong his first head coaching job, after 26 previous years as an assistant got him nothing but empty handshakes and plastic smiles. 

But this particular offer at Tennessee felt different -- if only because it was the best available opening he had been connected to, and was an SEC behemoth ready to give him whatever he wanted. 

AP Photo/Kevin Rivoli

Coach Charlie Strong, who turned down Tennessee's offer this week, says he's staying at Louisville.

Strong, however, is not built like most coaches. He is not a career opportunist, not somebody to game the system, work schools against each other to get a better, more lucrative contract. Strong is a humble guy who comes from humble origins, who refused to let his ego make this decision for him. 

He believes in loyalty, faith and trust -- buzzwords coaches constantly use when they urge their players to give ‘em everything they’ve got. But most of the time, loyalty, faith and trust get trampled on the way out the door. 

“You think, ‘I can go in that conference, I can go beat this team, I can go beat this team, you let your ego get in the way,’” Strong said. “But it's not about that. It's about people, and it's about how you affect their lives.” 

Strong is a coach genuinely committed to making his players better, his program better, and himself better. The lure of the SEC is tremendously great. We saw that earlier this week when Bret Bielema left a good job at Wisconsin for Arkansas. When it became known that Strong was the No. 1 target at Tennessee, a great sense of unease took over Louisville, because fans have seen this story play out all too recently. 

Bobby Petrino walked out the door, too, after leading his team to a BCS game. 

But there is a huge gulf between a man like Petrino and a man like Strong. 

When Strong met with his players Wednesday afternoon, he told them he had a decision to make. Openly. Honestly. 

He looked around the room, and saw many young men who grew up without fathers, or loved ones who walked out on them. 

"Now you're getting ready to do the same thing," Strong said. "I just could not do that to this football team." 

Would he have left if Tennessee had been in better academic standing, or if the program was in better position than it is now? That is irrelevant now. 

Does this mean Strong will stay in Louisville forever? Maybe. Maybe not. There are never guarantees in college football, not even when a smaller football program triumphs over a much larger one. "I hope it's not something to come up every year," Strong said. 

He did enough for today to end the speculation, at least for another season. And quite honestly, the focus on today should be the way Louisville won and the way Strong won. This was a triumph for the little guys. 

For the honest guys. 

For the loyal guys.

When written in Chinese, the word "crisis"

A GIFT OF GIVING

By B.J. Cassady

Looking forward to Christmas 1995, to me, described a paradox. How can one enjoy Christmas when their loving spouse recently passed away from cancer, and yet Christmas is a time for celebration...

I had a friend, recently divorced, who was going through his first Christmas without his children that he loved so dearly. I called my friend and invited him over to my house for Christmas. He didn't seem overly thrilled, but had nothing else to do. I did the same for another divorced person who had a day without family or friends. I told them to dress nice but withheld my plans from them.

The three of us, at my house, made Christmas canes from pipe cleaners, and after an hour I told my friends to get in my van, as I had a surprise for them.

So off we went.

First stop, a nursing home, left few dry eyes. We visited the ones who had no company, prayed with them and left them little Christmas canes and some candy. One lady, feeling really bad, asked us to pray for her. So we prayed with our hands on her body, and we felt a Power hard to describe.

Second stop, Presbyterian hospital...cancer wing. First you need to understand how hospitals work with the sick. If possible, patients are sent home for the holidays. The ones remaining in the hospital live too far, are too ill, or have no support from family or friends. About 1/2 of the cancer wing was deserted.

We visited the staff and gave them candy and our little Christmas canes, then we visited the dying and ill. How can one describe being humbled? The patients asked for our prayers. We visited with every patient in the wing. We left the patients with a smile. When we left the hospital, we had nothing else left to give, but we received much. Our emotions were drained, we were exhausted, in tears but felt elevated to a 'high' impossible to describe. We all thought "But for the grace of God'...

Last stop. We visited my wife's grave, decorated it, placed candles and sang Silent Night. Our voices were quivering because we found Christmas that day. We gave all we had to give, and it cost us about five hours of our time and about two dollars in pipe cleaners and candy. I said a silent prayer of thanks to my wife for teaching me to give.

May we, in this crazy but special time of year learn from the Teacher of teachers, Giving IS better than receiving. Merry Christmas to all, and a happy new year.

Copyright 2011 B.J. Cassady. Permission is granted to send this to others, with attribution, but not for commercial purposes.

today'sTHOT============================

He who has no Christmas in his heart will never find Christmas under a tree.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

===============================

You are a leader if...

HOW TO CONFUSE SANTA CLAUS ~ Part 1

~ Instead of milk and cookies, leave him a salad and a note explaining that you think he could stand to lose a few pounds.

~ While he's in the house, go find his sleigh and write him a speeding ticket.

~ Leave him a note explaining that you've gone away for the holidays. Ask if he would mind watering your plants.

~ While he's in the house, replace all his reindeer with exact replicas. Then wait and see what happens when he tries to get them to fly.

~ Keep an angry bull in your living room. If you think a bull goes crazy when he sees a little red cape, wait until he sees that big, red Santa suit!

~ Build an army of mean-looking snowmen on the roof, holding signs that say "We hate Christmas" and "Go away Santa."

~ Leave a note by the telephone telling Santa that Mrs. Claus called and wanted to remind him to pick up some milk and a loaf of bread on his way home.

~ Throw a surprise party for Santa when he comes down the chimney. Refuse to let him leave until that huge cake arrives.

~ While he's in the house, find the sleigh and sit in it. As soon as he comes back and sees you, tell him that he shouldn't have missed that last payment, and take off.

~ Leave a plate filled with cookies and a glass of milk out with a note that says, "For The Tooth Fairy. :)" Leave another plate out with half a stale cookie and a few drops of skim milk in a dirty glass with a note that says, "For Santa. :("

today'sTHOT============================

An apple a day keeps the doctor away; an onion a day keeps everyone away.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

=====================

A Twin Funny

A family had twin boys whose only resemblance to each other was their looks. If one felt it was too hot, the other thought it was too cold. If one said the TV was too loud, the other claimed the volume needed to be turned up. Opposite in every way, one was an eternal optimist, the other a doom-and-gloom pessimist.

Just to see what would happen, on the twins' birthday their father loaded the pessimist's room with every imaginable toy and game. The optimist's room he loaded with horse manure.

That night the father passed by the pessimist's room and found him sitting amid his new gifts crying bitterly.

"Why are you crying?" the father asked.

"Because my friends will be jealous, I'll have to read all these instructions before I can do anything with this stuff, I'll constantly need batteries, and my toys will eventually get broken." answered the pessimist twin.

Passing the optimist twin's room, the father found him dancing for joy in the pile of manure. "What are you so happy about?" he asked.

To which his optimist twin replied, "There's got to be a pony in here somewhere!"

today'sTHOT============================

The only difference between a yard sale and a trash pickup is how close to the road you put the stuff.

=======================================

PASS IT ON!
Yeah, you can send this Funny to anybody you want. And, if you're REAL nice, you'll tell them where you got it! www.mikeysFunnies.com

===============================