December 2010508 is a show about Worcester. This week’s panel is Nicole Apostola, Kevin Ksen, and Dee Wells. We talk about the dual tax rate, the T&G blog article, the Crompton Park skating rink, the lack of bidders on the old courthouse, city employee travel expense controversies and government transparency, and good stuff in Worcester.
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As predicted, we welcomed Christmas on the road, but within a few hours were in the arms of family, and had a very lovely Christmas day.
We celebrated the Feast of the Holy Family at St. Austin’s Parish in Nairobi, Kenya, where the church was packed, the music lovely, and the homily namechecked Facebook.
No photographs of the church, I’m sorry to say, but continuing my long-running “quirky creche” series, here are a couple of nativity scenes that caught my eye this week.
The household nativity scene above is pretty standard, except for the Godzilla-sized sheep lurking behind it. “You should see the shepherds….”"
This one is at the Mwangaza Jesuit Centre. There are several pieces of fantastic religious sculpture there, but our subject today is nativity scenes, so here it is. I like that the shepherd is playing some sort of bagpipes, and also that the background decor is made of gift wrapping paper and Christmas lights. Nice touches, which I’ll keep in mind next time I help make a creche.
We had a little pre-Christmas celebration today, lighting all the Advent candles, exchanging gifts, and listening to holiday music.
We’re travelling over the next few days. If all is well will celebrate with family, but what with this week being what it is, there’s a good chance we’ll end up spending the 25th in an airport somewhere, and we thought we might as well have a little Christmas celebration at home just in case.
If we have to spend Christmas stranded, we’ll be part of a long tradition, including many TV specials and the birth of Christ itself.
I don’t know what my internet access will be this week, either, so here’s my #1 nativity scene of 2010, from the Christmas pageant at Pleasant Street Baptist Church.
A Christmas tree, a tabletop nativity scene, kids on a couch, a living nativity scene, a huge cross, the Snow Ghost, and a hymn on a huge screen among the angels. There’s enough theology here, even at low resolution, for a novel, with a couple icons left over.
508 is a show about Worcester. This week: Christmas.
Audio: mp3 link, other formats, feed
Video: Downloads and other formats
Want to help with this week’s 508 show? Make a short video (3 seconds to 3 minutes) that has to do with Worcester, Christmas, the holidays, or whatever is preoccupying you this week. Send it to me. I’ll edit the ones that go best together into a show, and link to the rest.
The video will be posted to the net and cablecast on WCCA TV13.
Father John Madden, pastor of St. John’s Church in Worcester, has won the Worcester Human Rights Commission’s Eleanor T. Hawley Award for outstanding contributions to the field of Human Rights.
According to the City Manager’s letter on the subject:
From serving more than 3,000 meals annually, to housing men in recovery from addiction, a free medical clinic, English as a Second Language classes, to the church’s ministry to Vietnamese residents, Father Madden protects and respects each and every person’s human rights.
The St. John’s soup kitchen has been one of the best around, and a fantastic manifestation of the Catholic Worker spirit in the city. (Fr. Madden spend a number of months living at the New York Catholic Worker house before helping found the soup kitchen at St. John’s.)
We used to write about St. John’s and Fr. Madden much more often around here; we should get back to it.
Hilda Ramirez of the Youth Center also received this award. Congrats to them both!
508 is a show about Worcester. This week, Mike and Brendan offer some predictions for 2011.
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I went to Mass in Stockholm Cathedral midday today. It was presided by Eva Brunne, Bishop of Stockholm. I was pleased to affirm her ministry in this way. Incidentally, I am now under the pastoral care of Irja Askola, Bishop of Helsinki.
If you only see one Christmas pageant this year, make it the one at Pleasant Street Baptist Church: 5pm, Sunday, December 12, Pleasant and Ashland, Worcester, Massachusetts.
Starring Bruce “Snow Ghost” Russell as “a wise man—or a wise guy.”
This week’s show is a “highlight reel” of the late Jeff Barnard’s appearance on the show. Produced by Mike Benedetti and Nicole. Co-hosted by Brendan Melican. Featuring Jacob Berendes, Kevin Ksen, Anne Lewenberg, Nat Needle, Bruce Russell, and Scott Zoback. Like the episodes from which it was compiled, this show has a tremendous amount of complaining about the newspaper.
This program will be cablecast on WCCA TV13 in Worcester at 7pm tonight, and on the homepage at wccatv.com.
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Video: Downloads and other formats
Clips from episodes 10, 19, 37, 38, 40, 42, 46, 47, 50, 51, 100, 114, and 131.
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