Second Sunday in Advent (Year C) Dec. 9 (Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126; Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6)

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VATICAN – The annual unveiling of the Vatican’s Christmas tree and Nativity scene brought some much-needed warmth to people’s hearts as winter approached.

I love making lists. It is how I fall asleep at night. Sometimes I try to name every baseball club and at least one player from each team, or think of 10 music albums I would bring with me should I ever be sent to an offshore penal colony or to the opera.

VATICAN – Christians can turn Christmas into a "pagan" or "mundane" holiday by focusing on the gifts and the tree rather than on the birth of Jesus and his promise to come again, Pope Francis said.

As Christmas becomes more and more commercialized, parents like Robin Bredin are looking to the local parish for opportunities to show his children that Jesus is at the core of the celebration. 

As we begin a new liturgical year and also the season of Advent, here is a short quiz:

VATICAN – From the beach town of New Smyrna, Florida, just a stone's throw away from Daytona Beach, Rich Varano never imagined his unique talent of sculpting sand would take him to the heart of Christianity.

People around the world are poor for a lot of different reasons. 

When Pope Francis initiated the World Day of the Poor to be marked on the 33rd Sunday of Ordinary Time — Nov. 18 this year — it was easy for people to see this targeted at the familiar pictures that are all too real of Third World poverty.

Wanted: Christmas artists

The Catholic Register's popular children's drawing contest is back!

VATICAN – As the Christmas season draws near, the Vatican postal service prepared a unique set of commemorative stamps designed by a talented, yet unlikely, artist: a prisoner serving a life sentence.

VATICAN – On Tuesday Pope Francis said there is a strong link between the death of St. Stephen, the Church's first martyr, and the birth of Christ, who came to offer message that is often uncomfortable and calls us to convert.

Fr. Peter Turrone went to Montreal’s St. Joseph’s Oratory to thank the patron saint for the blessings received this year at the Newman chaplaincy and parish. What he didn’t expect was to leave with even more to be thankful for.

VATICAN – Those who recognize the Lord in the baby Jesus in the manger also should recognize his presence in children suffering today because of war, poverty and immigration, Pope Francis said.

When the story of Jesus’ birth is told in the same breath as the story of Santa Claus and Frosty the Snowman, it’s easy for the greatest story ever told to lose its weight as historical truth.