The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
You have multiplied the nation;
    you have increased its joy…

{Isaiah 9:2-3a}

Hello faithful CP readers, a blesséd third week of Advent to you all! This week is “Joy” week in the celebration of Advent… Some of the posts below reflect that in very different ways; some are related to current events (*cough* Star Wars *cough*); and at least one article reviews the past, finding a surprising discovery about one of the most beloved Christian writers of all time.

Conciliar Post:

Spotlight | Movie Review by John Ehrett

Mother and Child by Kenneth O’Shaughnessy

Rejoicing in Divine Emotion by Alyssa Hall

Good News for Hard Times by Fr Gregory Owen

Joy, Joy, Joy! by Johanna Byrkett

From Our Authors:

Book Review: God on the Streets of Gotham  by Jacob Prahlow

Food, Faith, and Fasting: Book Review  by Benn Cabe

Star Wars Church is the Dark Side: “No Reward is Worth This”  by Drew McIntyre

Across the Web:

When Your Heart’s Aching for a Bit of Christmas Miracle in the Midst of a Lot of Mess  by Ann Voskamp (A Holy Experience)

“Your heart can’t forgive the words that should never have been said, your heart can’t forgive the remark that was more like a blade and left a mark how many years later. Your heart can’t forgive the step-mother, the side joke, the backhand, the over-the-top family that just gets under your skin.

Your heart can’t forgive. That’s why He gave you His.”

C. S. Lewis Was a Secret Government Agent  by Harry Lee Poe (Christianity Today)

“How Lewis came to be recruited and by whom remains a secret. The records of the Secret Intelligence Service, known popularly as MI6, remain closed. Perhaps one of his former pupils at Oxford recommended him for his mission. It was an unusual mission for which few people were suited. J. R. R. Tolkien had the knowledge base for the job, even beyond that of Lewis, but Tolkien lacked other skills that Lewis possessed.”

Cultivating Beauty Belongs to the Community, Not Just the Individual by Emily Carde (Humane Pursuits)

“The need for relationship is written into our very existence. Try as we might to survive alone at times, interacting with and relying on others is one of the most vital aspects of personal growth and even the sense of fulfillment. We need be with others to bounce around ideas, converse, and learn. Our interactions develop our characters and direct our longings towards self-improvement and even community improvement.”

The Contemporary Denial of Reality  by Anthony Esolin (Crisis Magazine)

“People who live atop the citadel of reality can shake their heads and smile at their opponents. They have reality under their feet and round about them and over their heads. Reality is fresh air, bracing and healthy. People who live in the dream world of ideology can never smile at their opponents. One ironical jest is a dire threat. That is because they have built their house on something slighter than sand—airy nothing.”

[Note: The above collection of essays does not necessarily reflect the views of Conciliar Post. Please feel free to engage any of the posts in our comments section below.]

Under the Mercy,
~ Johanna Byrkett, Senior Editor