Giving Advent and Christmas the greater share
December 16, 2025 at 7:29 a.m.
It often seems to me that this Readers’ Corner page is a metaphor for everyday life. Each issue, I have this finite amount of space that is not nearly enough to accommodate the many different elements and topics I would like to share with our readers.
We are all faced with this similar dynamic in our lives – trying to get more done than there are hours in the day; spending more money than our budgets will bear, and being everything to everyone when we are, after all, just human beings who get fatigued, distracted and, sometimes, even frustrated.
This is often the time of year when we must wrestle with our limitations, even as the demands attached to the secular Christmas holiday seem relentless. Spending time in quiet and prayerful preparation for the coming of Christ’s birth might seem incongruent with our daily pace and is too often relegated to just another item on the task list.
Unless, that is, we decide to reorder our perspective. Unless we are intentional about prioritizing our spiritual needs and not allowing Advent to pass us by as we are busy making holiday preparations. Readers may find inspiration toward that end in this month’s many Advent and Christmas pieces, beginning on page 11 and located throughout the issue.
Sharing space in this December issue are two special coverage sections that I highly recommend to our readers – one on Artificial Intelligence and the other on the current immigration crisis. Much has been said in recent months on both of these key topics that deserve our dedicated attention. But, much like the torrent of information that runs through our newsfeeds for a day and is gone, significant teachings from our faith leaders on these critical topics are sometimes seen and soon forgotten.
Though it may run against the grain of this social media age, messages that are important and necessary and true cannot be repeated and studied enough. That is especially so when the messages come from Pope Leo XIV and Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., along with other experts and trusted voices. We encourage you to spend some time with this special content beginning on pages 33 (AI) and 43 (immigration). We also hope that it will serve as a springboard for you to continue to read and deepen your understanding on these unfolding issues for our brothers and sisters in the United States and around the world.
As always, there is lots more in this latest issue of the magazine. Please be sure to check out our BEST COVER SURVEY on page 18 and let us know your first, second and third ranking picks for The Monitor’s best cover in 2025.
The people who work together to bring you The Monitor – from our publisher, Bishop O’Connell, to those who work on editorial, art and graphics, advertising and circulation – have you, our reader, in mind at all times. May God bless you and your loved ones with a joyful Christmas and a peace-filled new year!
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It often seems to me that this Readers’ Corner page is a metaphor for everyday life. Each issue, I have this finite amount of space that is not nearly enough to accommodate the many different elements and topics I would like to share with our readers.
We are all faced with this similar dynamic in our lives – trying to get more done than there are hours in the day; spending more money than our budgets will bear, and being everything to everyone when we are, after all, just human beings who get fatigued, distracted and, sometimes, even frustrated.
This is often the time of year when we must wrestle with our limitations, even as the demands attached to the secular Christmas holiday seem relentless. Spending time in quiet and prayerful preparation for the coming of Christ’s birth might seem incongruent with our daily pace and is too often relegated to just another item on the task list.
Unless, that is, we decide to reorder our perspective. Unless we are intentional about prioritizing our spiritual needs and not allowing Advent to pass us by as we are busy making holiday preparations. Readers may find inspiration toward that end in this month’s many Advent and Christmas pieces, beginning on page 11 and located throughout the issue.
Sharing space in this December issue are two special coverage sections that I highly recommend to our readers – one on Artificial Intelligence and the other on the current immigration crisis. Much has been said in recent months on both of these key topics that deserve our dedicated attention. But, much like the torrent of information that runs through our newsfeeds for a day and is gone, significant teachings from our faith leaders on these critical topics are sometimes seen and soon forgotten.
Though it may run against the grain of this social media age, messages that are important and necessary and true cannot be repeated and studied enough. That is especially so when the messages come from Pope Leo XIV and Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., along with other experts and trusted voices. We encourage you to spend some time with this special content beginning on pages 33 (AI) and 43 (immigration). We also hope that it will serve as a springboard for you to continue to read and deepen your understanding on these unfolding issues for our brothers and sisters in the United States and around the world.
As always, there is lots more in this latest issue of the magazine. Please be sure to check out our BEST COVER SURVEY on page 18 and let us know your first, second and third ranking picks for The Monitor’s best cover in 2025.
The people who work together to bring you The Monitor – from our publisher, Bishop O’Connell, to those who work on editorial, art and graphics, advertising and circulation – have you, our reader, in mind at all times. May God bless you and your loved ones with a joyful Christmas and a peace-filled new year!