Dec 21, 2021
This episode features a conversation between Mat
Schmalz and LDF host Dan Wotherspoon
about images, rituals, and meditations surrounding the Christmas
season. Mat, who teaches religious studies at the College of the
Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts, is a cradle Catholic and
has for the past twenty years or so also engaged with Latter-day
Saints, and here shares openly, and in a very approachable way,
about Catholic traditions centered on the Christmas
story.
In the first section, Mat teaches us about three holy days in the
Catholic calendar: the Annunciation, Advent, and Epiphany—the
symbols at play in these, other traditions surrounding them, and
more. Mat also shares about Christmas Mass, the time he met
Mother Teresa, and some of the emphases Catholicism place with
regard to the various individuals and animals present in the
Nativity narrative. He also shares about the direction his own
meditations have taken him.
This is a great conversation between two friends that also includes
questions from Mat about various LDS subjects. A shared spirit in
their exchanges is how readily each shares their "holy envy" about
things more emphasized in the others' tradition.
Listen in to learn, and to perhaps find ideas that can help shape
your experiences this Christmas season and in seasons to come.
Merry Christmas!