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Nativity of the Lord, Dec. 25 (Year A) Isaiah 9:2-4, 6-7; Psalm 96; Titus 2:11-14; Luke 2:1-16

Jesus is GodöÏÓãÊÓƵapp response to the prayers, yearnings and hopes of human beings in all times and places.

There are a million Catholic complaints about Christmas.

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.

OTTAWA – An Ottawa priest is hoping a book made for children can deliver a very serious Christmas message for adults, too.

CHICAGO – On a recent overcast Sunday morning in northwest Chicago, the pews of the small wood-paneled St. Ephrem Chaldean Catholic Church were filled to overflowing. Among the rows of Massgoers sat Firaz Rassam and her sisters.

Part of the appeal and notoriety that Pope Francis gained during the first two years of his pontificate came from his penchant for using his cellphone to call people out of the blue, from a struggling single mother to his cobbler back in Argentina to an ostracized bishop, and even the odd journalist.

JERUSALEM - On Christmas Eve, the entrance to the West Jerusalem YMCA was decked out in colorful lights against the night sky, and a Christmas tree sparkling with ornaments stood in the lobby. Jewish Israelis and international visitors, guests at the YMCA's popular restaurant, stopped to take pictures in front of the tree.

VATICAN CITY - Christmas is a reminder that through the birth of Christ, hope and peace are possible and that only through his grace can humanity find peaceful solutions to the world's most difficult problems, Pope Francis said.

The Most Reverend Douglas Crosby, O.M.I., Bishop of Hamilton and President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB), has videotaped his message for Christmas and the New Year. Entitled Goodness abounds, Bishop Crosby refers similarly to the theme of mercy which the Church celebrates this month and throughout the coming year as the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy. The production of this video has been made possible thanks to the collaboration with Salt + Light Television.

December means curtains up for church Christmas pageants, hand-bell concerts, caroling kiddie choirs and Nativity displays on the front lawns.

Christmas practices are developed and celebrated in different ways in families, and certain tasks and jobs become traditions. So how did it happen that growing up in my large family I became the one to go out into the forest and get the annual Christmas tree?

It will be a sadder Christmas for Rick Campanelli and his family this year as they celebrate their first Christmas without family matriarch Antoinette, who passed away over the summer. Antoinette was the heart of the Campanelli family holidays. She prepared everything from the gifts to decorating the family home in Hamilton, Ont., and, of course, cooked Christmas brunch and dinner. The whole family rallied around AntoinetteöÏÓãÊÓƵapp love for Christmas.

VATICAN CITY - If Pope Francis sees the Church as a field hospital after battle, then his annual Christmas address to the Roman Curia often looks like the triage tent, with him holding the charts.

My hands are covered in flour and my mom is wrist deep in dough. The oven is preheated and the cookie trays are lined with parchment paper. She asks me to choose the cookie cutter for this year, and I select the angel.

TORONTO - To curb the commercialization of Christmas, Alice Chan has made a tradition of volunteering with her two sons over the Christmas holidays.