VATICAN CITY -- The Christmas season is a time to reflect on what life is all about, Pope Francis told an international group of performers.

VATICAN CITY – Make time to get ready for what Christmas really is about – the child born in Bethlehem signalling that "God is with us," Pope Francis said.

I found myself rushing through a grocery store on a busy Friday afternoon at the end of an arduous week. There was Christmas music blaring throughout the store, my stomach was grumbling and I was frantically picking my way through the produce section before I had to be at work.

TORONTO – September isn’t just the start of another school year.

There������Ƶapp no better way to get ready for Christmas than to open your ears to a little Advent music — not the jingles in the mall but music that slows time down just enough to allow for some peace and reflection.

Where I am able to organize things — in my parish, at the chaplaincy — we sing Advent hymns in Advent. But otherwise, Christmas concerts are the order of the day by early December. And so it was that last Saturday I had the privilege of attending the annual Christmas concert of St. Michael������Ƶapp Choir School in the afternoon at Massey Hall, and then the Christmas pageant (“Gaudy” to employ the local nomenclature) at Massey College in the evening.

BETHLEHEM, West Bank – Even the Christmas decorations seem more cheerful this year in Bethlehem.

In the Scripture readings for the Second Sunday of Advent, two of the three outstanding Advent guides (Isaiah, John the Baptist and Mary) show us the proper attitude to assume as we prepare to welcome the Saviour of the world.

VATICAN CITY – The season of Advent is a reminder to us to open our horizons and have concern for more than just material things, the Pope said Sunday during his Angelus address.

Celebrating Advent doesn’t have to just be about Advent calendar chocolates and writing letters to Santa Claus.