Reading 1 Is 7:10-14 The LORD spoke to Ahaz:Ask for a sign from the LORD, your God;let it be deep as the nether world, or high as the sky!But Ahaz answered,“I will not ask! I will not tempt the LORD!” Then Isaiah said:Listen, O house of David! Is it not enough for you to weary…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Exchanging Christmas gifts and organizing holiday parties are all well and good, but Christians should contemplate the scene of Jesus’ birth to recover what is truly important during the Christmas season, Pope Francis said. At his weekly general audience Dec. 20, just five days before Christmas, the pope told people that…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — When St. Francis of Assisi staged the first Nativity scene 800 years ago, he did so to remind people of the powerful, awe-inspiring truth that God became human in Jesus, Pope Francis said. Nativity scenes are not simply works of art or folk art, the pope told hundreds of people involved…
Reading 1 Jgs 13:2-7, 24-25a There was a certain man from Zorah, of the clan of the Danites,whose name was Manoah. His wife was barren and had borne no children. An angel of the LORD appeared to the woman and said to her,“Though you are barren and have had no children,yet you will conceive and…
VATICAN CITY (CNS) — With song, cake and circus performers, Pope Francis celebrated his 87th birthday in festive style at the Vatican. As in previous years, the pope spent his birthday Dec. 17 in the Paul VI Audience Hall with the children of those assisted by the Vatican’s “Santa Marta” pediatric dispensary, which gives medical…
WASHINGTON – In response to the Declaration “Fiducia supplicans” issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith today, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) offered the following statement from its spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, executive director of public affairs. “The Declaration issued today by the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the…