{"id":342,"date":"2012-12-24T01:01:20","date_gmt":"2012-12-24T01:01:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/gooddaysbaddays\/?p=342"},"modified":"2012-12-17T00:24:58","modified_gmt":"2012-12-17T00:24:58","slug":"glory-to-god-in-the-highest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/12\/glory-to-god-in-the-highest.html","title":{"rendered":"Glory to God in the Highest!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Christmas Eve, Christmas Day! Glory to God in the Highest!<\/p>\n

We have come through Advent with a fuller understanding of what this holy season means and is, and we have deepened prayer and faith.<\/p>\n

We are here! And Christ is born!<\/p>\n

Relax in this profound joy, and find comfort in this wondrous love.<\/p>\n

Yes, there are great problems in our world. There are terrible events that have shaken us. There is illness and pain that brings us low.<\/p>\n

But rising above these is a soaring song of angels praising God and wishing us peace.<\/p>\n

Peace.<\/p>\n

Peace to all of good will.<\/p>\n

If you are ill, if you are in pain on this day, you may not feel like jumping up and down or shouting with happiness.<\/p>\n

But, you can settle into God’s peace and know that this day is meant to be enjoyed as the simple expression of God’s love for us, and the gift of his Son made man.<\/p>\n

So,\u00a0 give glory to God! Jesus is born! Goodness envelopes us. And Hope has come again to a rough, spare manger and to our hearts.<\/p>\n

A blessed Christmas to you,<\/p>\n

Maureen<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day! Glory to God in the Highest! We have come through Advent with a fuller understanding of what this holy season means and is, and we have deepened prayer and faith. We are here! And Christ is born! Relax in this profound joy, and find comfort in this wondrous love. Yes, there…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":548,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[306,3,43],"tags":[2120,313,314,312,311],"class_list":["post-342","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christmas-season-2012-2013","category-chronic-pain-and-illness","category-encouragement-in-life","tag-christmas","tag-christmas-joy","tag-glory-to-god","tag-jesus-birth","tag-praise"],"yoast_head":"\nGlory to God in the Highest! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/2012\/12\/glory-to-god-in-the-highest.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Glory to God in the Highest! - Good Days...Bad Days With Maureen Pratt\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Christmas Eve, Christmas Day! Glory to God in the Highest! We have come through Advent with a fuller understanding of what this holy season means and is, and we have deepened prayer and faith. We are here! And Christ is born! Relax in this profound joy, and find comfort in this wondrous love. 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She expected to be writing scripts. God had other plans. A few years after her graduation, Maureen was diagnosed with a life-threatening case of organ-involved lupus. Her life turned upside down as she grappled with the effects of the illness and other health conditions that ensued. She was no stranger to serious health challenges; even as a child, Maureen had survived numerous bouts of pneumonia, flu, and other infections. But lupus made her take a fresh look at her life goals - and took herlifelong, strong Catholic Christian faith and writing in a direction she'd never imagined. Today, Maureen writes and speaks about walking with the Lord while living with chronic pain and illness. Her most recent book is \"Don't Panic!: How to Keep Going When the Going Gets Tough (Franciscan Media). She is also the author of, \"Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain & Illness\" (Image Books\/Randomhouse), \"Beyond Pain: Job, Jesus, and Joy\" (Twenty-Third Publications), \"The First Year: Hypothyroidism, Second Edition\" (Perseus) and \"Taking Charge of Lupus: How to Manage the Disease and Make the Most of Your LIfe.\" She writes the syndicated column, \"Living Well,\" for Catholic News Service, and has also written for Saint Anthony Messenger Magazine, Journey for Women Magazine, The Upper Room Magazine, LupusNow, and Arthritis Today. Maureen's health continues to be a challenge, however she feels honored to be able to bring her perspective, from experience and knowledge, to others. \"Good Days...Bad Days with Maureen Pratt\" is a new way for Maureen to reach people who carry the burden of illness and pain in their lives, or who care for someone who does. Through the blog, she hopes to bring issues of health, wellness, and spirit into focus and, especially, inspire others that, no matter what health challenges, illness, or hardships they endure, each person can find a good way to realize the wonderful potential God has placed within each heart and soul.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.maureenpratt.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/author\/mpratt"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/548"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=342"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/342\/revisions\/346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/gooddaysbaddays\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}