With the possible exception of Samson pulling down the house on the Philistines, the story of the Magi was my favorite Bible story as a kid. It’s just got so much going for it: mysterious royalty, treasures, a miraculous star, and best of all—camels!

in this season of signs and wonder, today marks one of the most legendary—the arrival of the Magi who followed a star from the East to pay homage to the “newborn king of the Jews.”

Legend tells us that it was Saint Francis of Assisi who “invented” the Christmas crèche, the now familiar Nativity scene with all the figures of angels, animals, shepherds, and the three Magi.

I remember when one of our daughters got lost at an amusement park. She was 4 or 5 years old, and I remember how terrified my wife and I were.

"Jesus advanced in wisdom,” the last line of today’s gospel tells us, and it’s a good thing, because worrying his parents the way he did was not very wise.

I grew up watching an old black-and-white RCA television wishing I had been born into a family like on the Donna Reed Show where dad was a doctor and mom solved all the problems.

The young couple would sit on their small patio at the rear of their small house. They sensed they were blessed to be present at a slow-motion miracle, the nine months waiting for their first-born child.

New jobs, job promotions, acceptance at your first-choice school, straight A’s, getting engaged, the mortgage approved, the account you were vying for, front row tickets to the game of the century—these are all extremely exciting moments in the course of any life, but they pale in comparison to giving birth—at least for most people, under even the worst circumstances.

This weekend usually is one of the busiest travel times of the year. Airports, bus terminals, train stations, and, of course, highways will be filled with people laden down with gifts, all trying to make it home for the holidays.

This church calls this Gaudete Sunday, which means “rejoice.” Gaudete Sunday always reminds me of Fezziwig.