Christmas is an invitation to look differently at the world, to stop and appreciate the small things, Pope Francis reminds us.

The time for end of year celebrations has arrived. For many people, it will be a period of relaxation, family gatherings and spending time with friends.

Flower-embroidered tablecloths will be spread. The food will be special and the wines delicious.

Everyone will perhaps eat a little more than they should but hopefully not to excess. It’s great to have the opportunity to celebrate.

As a young man, St. Augustine lived a hedonistic life, one in which sensuality and self-indulgence reigned supreme. Along the way, prior to his becoming a Christian he had a son by a woman to whom he was not married. Augustine was brilliant and renowned. By worldly standards he lived a spectacularly successful life. His mother Monica had prayed for his conversion for over thirty years and eventually her prayers were answered.

1) Christmas Eve.

This year, the fourth Sunday of Advent falls on December 24th. After the testimony of John the Baptist (Third Sunday of Advent), the liturgy of the Word of this fourth Sunday offers us the testimony of Mary, Virgin Mother of God, who has devoutly kept in her heart the great things that the Lord had done to her.

Pope Francis again upbraided the high-level Catholic prelates that run the Vatican bureaucracy in an annual pre-Christmas speech December 21.

Pope Francis again upbraided the high-level Catholic prelates that run the Vatican bureaucracy in an annual pre-Christmas speech December 21, telling them to get beyond what he termed an "unbalanced and degraded logic of plots and small cliques" in order to better serve him, the global church, and the world at large.

His Majesty King Abdullah’s working visit to the Vatican Tuesday, DEcember 19, for talks with His Holiness Pope Francis acquired an added significance since it took place in the wake of President Donald Trump’s provocative and unlawful recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and his decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Director of the Catholic Center for Studies and Media (CCSM) Fr. Rifa’t Bader said that several propitious indications have emerged in our recent meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah II with the prevailing atmosphere of Christmas. We have been used to meeting with His Majesty the King every year, yet this year’s meeting has had a special atmosphere with the issue of Jerusalem dominating the meeting, and with addresses delivered by Christian and Muslim figures who had earlier arrived from Jerusalem.

Late in the afternoon that first Christmas eve, a man could be seen walking in front of a donkey, coming from the north on the road leading into the city. Passing by a field of shepherds with their sheep, this man, whose name was Joseph, led his donkey through the gates of the city of Bethlehem, to look for a place to stay the night.

Riding atop the donkey was Joseph’s young wife, whom he had married a little less than a year ago, whose name was Maryam, a name meaning “the perfect and beautiful one”.

The attack in a Methodist church of Quetta shocks the faithful in the “Land of the Pure”, which celebrate the Year of the Eucharist. While Isis is proselytizing in Lahore, the government remains weak.

Interview with Archbishop Pizzaballa, apostolic administrator of the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem: after Trump's decision, “In all this brawling of hypothesis, there is a positive note: we are back to talking about the Holy City and its centrality”

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The third Sunday of Advent is called “Gaudete Sunday.” It comes from the first word of the “Entrance antiphon” or “Introit” of the Mass. “Gaudete” is Latin for “rejoice,” and the text of the antiphon is from Philippians 4:4, “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I say, rejoice!” It appears in a shorter form in today’s second reading: “Rejoice always.” More on this later.