2011 NBA Christmas Games | Watch NBA Live Stream

NBA Livestream Online Schedule | Watch NBA Live Stream

Today's Game

Boston Celtics vs New York Knicks (12:00 PM ET)

Miami Heat vs Dallas Mavericks (2:30 PM ET)

Chicago Bulls vs LA Lakers (5:00 PM ET)

Orlando Magic vs Oklohoma Thunder (8:00 PM)

LA Clippers vs Golden State Warriors (10:30 PM)

Christmas Eve: Light of Christ

The (white candle) Light of Christ reminds us of our Lord himself. God has given has his only Son Jesus Christ to save us from our sins. This Christmas, the best gift that we can give to our Lord on his Day is by surrendering everything to him and look forward for a life of abundance with Christ in the center & in total control of our lives.

Christmas Gospel

John 1:1-18 - The Word Became Flesh

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
(John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”) Out of his fullness we have all received grace in place of grace already given. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

                                             Merry Christmas to All!!!

My Idea Of A Perfect Christmas Is This...

A PERFECT CHRISTMAS

by Jose Mari Chan

My idea of a perfect Christmas
Is to spend it with you
In a party
Or dinner for two
Anywhere would do
Celebrating the yuletide season
Always lights up our lives
Simple pleasures are made special too
When they're shared with you

Looking through some old photographs
Faces of friends we'll always remember
Watching busy shoppers rushing about
In the cool breeze of December
Sparkling lights, all over town
Children's carols in the air
By the Christmas tree
A shower of stardust on your hair

I cant think of a better Christmas
Than my wish coming true
And my wish is you'd let me spend my whole life with you

My idea of a perfect Christmas is to spend it with you ...

Popular Filipino Christmas Food

Christmas is the much anticipated occasion for the Filipinos. This Yuletide Season, Filipinos love to see colorful Christmas Lights, beautifully decorated Christmas Trees and Christmas won't be Christmas in the Philippines without these best Filipino food in the table.

Puto Bumbong

 A purple-colored Filipino desert cooked in bamboo tubes place on special steamer- cooker. When cooked, they are spread with Margarine and sprinkled with sugar and grated coconut. Commonly eat after the "Simbang Gabi" (Dawn Mass).
(Click here for the recipe)

Bibingka 

This is made from milled glutinous rice (Galapong), coconut milk, margarine, salty egg, grated coconut and sugar. People loves to eat bibingka after "Simbang Gabi" just like the Puto Bumbong.
(Click here for the recipe)

Morcon

This is made of meat-roll stuffed with sausage, carrots and egg. This is one of my favorite Holiday dish. Yummy : )
(Click here for the recipe)

Buco Salad

This is made from young shredded young coconut mixed with fruit cocktail, pineapple chunks, table cream, sweetened milk and sugar palm. After having a great Holiday meal, it is just fair to have a great Holiday dessert like Buco Salad.
(Click here for the recipe)

Other popular Filipino Christmas food are Lechon, Sweet Ham, Pancit, Leche Flan, Ube, Pancit Palabok and many more....

4th Week of Advent: Candle of Love

 
The fourth candle, the "Candle of Love," reminds Christians that God loves them enough to send his only Son to Earth.  

Fourth Advent Sunday's Gospel

Luke 1: 26-38

                                              

                                                       The Birth of Jesus Foretold

 
In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over Jacob’s descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.”
“How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 
The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. For no word from God will ever fail.”
“I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her.

                                          

Christmas Carols

Are traditional or religious songs usually sung before Christmas. But now a days you can hear some Radio Stations play Christmas songs as early as September specially in countries where Christmas is much celebrated.
You will start to hear Christmas Carols in the Church on the 1st day of the Midnight Mass or on the 15th of December.
Popular Christmas Carols like Silent Night, O Come All Ye Faithful and O Little Town of Bethlehem were composed way back on the 18th century.

                                                                Christmas Carols Video

                                       

Play Christmas Trivia Online

Test your skills and have fun. Here are the most recommended sites where you can play Christmas Trivia Online.

1. Christmas Trivia - www.christmastrivia.net
2. Fun Trivia - www.funtrivia.com
3. Xmas Fun - www.xmasfun.com
4. Quiz Rocket - www.quizrocket.com
5. Brownie Locks & The 3 Bears - www.brownielocks.com

 Play Christmas Trivia via You Tube

3rd Week of Advent: Candle of Joy

Now we enter the third week of Advent. For this week The Pink candle - "Candle of Joy" will be lighted. It recalls the Angel singing about the birth of Christ. It was once a tradition for the pope to give someone a rose on the fourth Sunday of Lent before Easter to "liven up" the somber tone of the season. Before the mass commercialization of Christmas, Advent was also a solemn time, as people fasted to prepare for the holiday. The rose custom became part of the third Sunday of Advent. Eventually, the third candle turned pink as well. 

Third Advent Sunday's Gospel
John 1:6-8, 19-28

 
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
Now this was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was. He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, “I am not the Messiah.”
 They asked him, “Then who are you? Are you Elijah?”
   He said, “I am not.”
   “Are you the Prophet?”
   He answered, “No.”
 Finally they said, “Who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?”
 John replied in the words of Isaiah the prophet, “I am the voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way for the Lord.’”
 Now the Pharisees who had been sent questioned him, “Why then do you baptize if you are not the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the Prophet?”
 “I baptize with water,” John replied, “but among you stands one you do not know. He is the one who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.”
 This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.

Christmas Giants

World's Largest Christmas Tree

ITALY - Pope Benedict XVI uses the Sony S Tablet to illuminate the World's Largest Christmas tree. With a tap of his finger, the Pope wirelessly brought into life the Mount Ingino Christmas while sitting on his chair in the Vatican. This Giant Tree is said to be 650 m high and covers 130,000 sqm, or equivalent to 30 soccer field. The Tree features 730 multi-colored lights, lit up every 7th of December (Immaculate Conception Eve).

Giant Christmas Lantern

PHILIPPINES - The Giant Lantern Festival (known as Ligligan Parul by the locals) is celebrated on the Saturday before Christmas Eve each year. This spectacular event is the reason why the province of Pampanga is recognized as the Christmas Capital of the Philippines.
This year, the Giant Lantern Festival will be held at Robinsons Starmills on December 17, 2011 and will feature huge parols representing the different cities and towns in Pampanga.
Last year Grand Prize Winner is from Barangay Sta. Lucia. They spent 500,000 pesos to build their Giant Lantern.

Biggest Snowman

ENGLAND - The 2010 Biggest Snowman set in the Guinness World Records is from Wales, England. Ben Pritchard & Greg Williams took 9 hours to do the Snowman standing at 7 feet high and with a waist of 142 inches.

Give Love on Christmas Day

You can Make A Wish Come True this Christmas by donating on charitable institutions / foundations. There are ways where you can give to them your donations like by visiting their booths on malls or in fast food restaurants who are supporting this foundations.

 GMA Kapuso Foundation

Give-A-Gift: Alay Sa Batang Pinoy project is the GMA Kapuso Foundation's yearly Christmas project. This project is unique in that, we identify different sectors of marginalized children in our society and give them gift packages according to their specific needs. Children with cancer receive free six-month chemotherapy package. Meanwhile, corrective surgery package is given to children born with congenital defects like hernia, cleft-palate, and cross-eyes. Malnourished children are enrolled in a 120-day sustained Feeding Program. Children from conflict areas, children of fisher folk and farming communities, children from indigenous communities and children with special needs receive school supplies, toys, and a Noche Buena package. Children of incarcerated parents are treated to a Christmas party with their mom or dad.

 ABS-CBN Bantay Bata Foundation

Iisang Pamilya Tayo!

Every child, every tree, every school and estero is connected to us in some way. Our country is our home, our fellow Pinoys , our family - our Kapamilya. And so when we see suffering in its various forms - an abused child, a denuded forest or a polluted river, we feel.

The last two decades have shown us how every Filipino is prepared to take part in championing a cause. Our different advocacy programs show the spirit of Bayanihan within us, - programs that were born out of the need to help our fellowmen.

This Christmas, we invite you to be part of worthy projects. By making an on-line donation, you help fund projects that make significant impact on children, the environment and communities.You can also donate in behalf of your loved ones. As a token of our appreciation we will send them a downloadable Christmas icon that represents the Program you have chosen to support in their behalf. To make it more special, their name will be written on it together with a special Christmas wish.

Merry Christmas Kapamilya and may we create a better world for Children always !

 TOMS ONE for ONE

With every pair purchased, TOMS will give a pair of new shoes to a child in need. One for One.

And thanks to our amazing customers, as of September 2010, TOMS has given over one million pairs of new shoes to children in need around the world. Check out the One for One model in action.

Saint Nicholas a.k.a Santa Claus

December 6 - Feast Day of St. Nicholas

Saint Nicholas, the origin of Santa Claus or Father Christmas in Catholic tradition, is remembered Tuesday as the Church marks his feast day.
Saint Nicholas Day is a festival for children in many countries in Europe related to surviving legends of the saint, and particularly his reputation as a bringer of gifts. The American Santa Claus, as well as the Anglo-Canadian and British Father Christmas, derive from these legends. "Santa Claus" is itself derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas.

2nd Week of Advent: " CANDLE of PREPARATION"

This week the "Candle of Preparation" will be lighted. This candle reminds us to get ready to receive God.

This Sunday's Gospel

Mark 1: 1 - 8
1	The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
2	As it is written in Isaiah the prophet, "Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, who shall prepare thy way;
3	the voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight -- "
4	John the baptizer appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins.
5	And there went out to him all the country of Judea, and all the people of Jerusalem; and they were baptized by him in the river Jordan, confessing their sins.
6	Now John was clothed with camel's hair, and had a leather girdle around his waist, and ate locusts and wild honey.
7	And he preached, saying, "After me comes he who is mightier than I, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.
8	I have baptized you with water; but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit."