A Merry Christmas from Oddwalk

A little early, we know. It's going to be a busy two or three days, obviously, so we'll be on blogging vacation. See you all later! Enjoy a great Christmas, holy, peaceful, and joyful!

More Oddwalk News Articles

Hey everybody,

The main Oddwalk site (oddwalkministries.com) just got updated with a media page where we can put news clippings, audio, video, etc. In addition to a new promo flyer, there are a couple new news articles over there:

- One about our recent visit to Sioux City, IA - you can also see this online here, and

- One about our newest CD put together by the Catholic Missourian - you can also see this article by clicking the pic on the left.

Check back to that page often for new Oddwalk goodies!

Christmas Concert Update

The Oddwalk Christmas concert at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows was a success! Not only was it a lot of fun, but the fundraiser for Sgt. Jon Brough went well too. The first musical group of the evening, from Holy Redeemer in St. Louis helped out, announcing the cause, and taking donations before Oddwalk went out to play. Over the course of the night, over $300 was raised to support The Brough family. The Shrine Gift shop was also donating a dollar from each sale of two special ornaments to the collection. No report yet on how many were sold, but more than a dozen or two would be a safe bet.

All in all a fantastic night at the Shrine! Thanks to all of you who were able to support Oddwalk in person last night and those who support us in other ways, both last night and throughout the year!

UPDATE TO THE UPDATE:

Jon Brough went home from the hospital today (December 23rd). You can read more about it in this article from the Belleville News-Democrat.

What a great Christmas gift for the Brough family. Praise God!

What is Christmas all about?

‘‘There are worlds of money wasted, at this time of year, in getting things that nobody wants, and nobody cares for after they are got,’’ one observer noted recently.

Well, not so recently.

Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote those words in 1850.



Watch the whole show here.

Christmas Concert for Sgt. Jon Brough

If you live close to the Belleville/St. Louis-area, we would like to invite you to join us for a Christmas Concert this Thursday night (December 21). This is a special concert because we will be collecting money to benefit Sgt. Jon Brough, a Belleville police officer (and friend of Shannon's) who was seriously injured in a raid on a home a month or two ago. Because of these injuries, Jon has lost his sight and sense of smell. He also has years of surgeries ahead of him. Sgt. Brough has a wife, Wendy, and two grown children. Click here to see our previous post about this.

This concert will be held in the Visitor's Center lobby at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows in Belleville. It will start at 7:30pm and will run about an hour. As an added incentive, the Shrine Gift Shop has graciously agreed to donate $1.00 for every Family ornament ($ 8.50) and Our Lady of the Snows Souvenir Ornament ($ 8.95, inset) that they sell that night from 5pm-9pm.

The Oddwalk Christmas Show is usually a pretty good time and it's a great place to bring your family. E-mail us at oddwalk@oddwalkministries.com if you have any questions.

Did you know Elvis recorded a song about the Rosary?

We didn't.

Click here to listen and read a bit about it.

Not sure about the theology of the first little bit... Hm.

Did you want the karaoke version?

Be amazed: google "elvis rosary"!

Person of the Year

YOU. Just look in the mirror.

Not sure I'm (Orin) terribly excited by the choice - it falls flat for me on two accounts:

1) It seems to want to avoid earmarking someone in particular as most influential, interesting, unique, etc.

2) It also only further reinforces a society that forgets the underpinnings of community - that is, that we must look around ourselves and fashion our behavior for the good of humanity, not just the good of ourselves.

What thinketh thou?

elfyourself.com

To see elfin-Orin elf-dance, click here.

Do you want to make your own?
Go ahead, you know you want to.

Prayers Needed

Friends of the Oddwalk family (specifically friends of Orin and Erin) are in much need of prayer, sorry, can't go into a lot of detail. Just remember this family when talking to and listening to God. Thanks.

More Vegas Pics

More vegas pics, thanks to Erin C - see more at Cerneka Family Adventures!

Hanging out at the booth

Oddwalk at the NFCYM Birthday Bash

Shannon's head, even larger than usual
(we just mean he has a physically large head to begin with)

Your favorite Keytar Hero

(Yes, Erin H is very proud)

Don't forget to keep playing our Haiku Challenge III, just below!

Haiku Challenge III

Well friends, it's about that time again, time for our third Haiku Challenge! Whee! Our simple rules:

-Lines are in lengths of 5-7-5 syllables
-The first word of your haiku must be the last word of the previous haiku
-You can play more than once, but not until someone else has haiku-ed

That's pretty much it! Leave your entries in the comments. Here's one to start us off:

Now is the season,
Lights twinkle all around us -
Christmastime is here!

Next haiku starts with the word here. Have fun!

Ground Control to Major Tom

This picture is of my wife, Erin, who works as a transport nurse for a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. This picture was taken just before Erin took off in a helocopter to take care of another sick baby. MY HERO!!

-Shannon

"Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord."

Today we celebrate the Immaculate Conception of Mary, the mother of Jesus. We look to our Blessed Mother as the greatest model of how we all should approach our relationship with God.

Here is an excerpt from today's Gospel:

...Mary said, “Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord.
May it be done to me according to your word.”
Then the angel departed from her.
-Luke 1:38

(The Immaculate Conception refers to the conception of our Blessed Mother free from Original Sin. It often gets confused with the virginal conception of Jesus in Mary's womb.)

Vegas Videos

Not of us unfortunately, but of some other parts of the Saturday Night NFCYM birthday bash that we were a part of - some very very funny stuff!

First, a Chris Padgett and Jesse Manibusan Dance-off to the vocal styings of Joia Farmer:


Next, Decaf (Bob Rice and Chris Padgett) in action, "Hand Motions in Heaven"

Requiem for a Snowman

Thanks to Jared!

I wish I could take credit for this:

Found while surfing around this afternoon:

"I have the clothes and you have the beard for it. Together we could make a great Santa."

Happy St. Nicolas Day!

Daily Mass Readings Podcast!

The daily mass readings and in fact the whole NAB version of the Bible have always been available at the USCCB website. Now, though, you can get the audio (podcast, or right in your browser) if you'd rather listen than read. Check it out!

The Loss of a Friend

When I was in high school, the youth ministry programming for the Belleville Diocese (where I lived) was organized as the Catholic Youth Organization or C.Y.O. Our diocese did a great job of offering faith-building opportunities for high school students.

One of the things that made our diocese great was that each deanery had it's own youth ministry organizational structure as well. It's like a state and its counties. These deaneries provided additional youth ministry events to help us get closer to God and connect with the life of the Church.

The lay person in charge of our deanery was Mary Hirl. Mary was a lively woman who cared deeply for the teens and their faith. She worked very hard and is partly responsible for my entry into the world of youth ministry.

Mary Hirl passed away on Tuesday. I don't have many more details than that, but the news makes me very sad. She will be greatly missed.

Please keep Mary and her family in your prayers this week.

-Shannon

Hey, quit shaking that box!

Boy booked for opening Christmas present

By SEANNA ADCOX
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- A fed-up mother had her 12-year-old son arrested for allegedly rummaging through his great-grandmother's things and playing with his Christmas present early.

The mother called police Sunday after learning her son had disobeyed orders and repeatedly taken a Game Boy from its hiding place at his great-grandmother's house next door and played it. He was arrested on petty larceny charges, taken to the police station in handcuffs and held until his mother picked him up after church.

"My grandmother went out of her way to lay away a toy and paid on this thing for months," said the boy's mother, Brandi Ervin. "It was only to teach my son a lesson. He's been going through life doing things ... and getting away with it."

Read more here!

An Early Merry Christmas from the Keytar

Orin's keytar asked him earlier today to pass along this Christmas message to all of you:

Click here to listen.

Click here to sing along.

Explanation: for some curious reason, Wham's "Last Christmas" is the demo song on the model of keytar Orin owns...

Vegas Coffeehouse Pics

Thanks to DJ Bill Lage for the pics!

Memories of NCCYM 2006

Until we catch up back home and have some pictures to post, here are some of Oddwalk's memories of NCCYM 2006:

- Avoiding the St. Louis Storm
- Purple booth again!
- Where's that guitar peg?
- Speed "Oh St. Joesph" & "Let The Children..."
- Popple
- Quizno's guacamole
- CoffeeHouse lights and sounds and smoke machine...
- Bare Naked Ladies (the band)
- GIA Skybox
- Great conversations at the booth
- Dance rehearsal
- The Jamminest "Jammin' with Jesus" ever
- 4 hours of sleep

I'm sure we'll add some more as our brains un-fog! Glad to be home!