VATICAN CITY - Pope Francis closed the Year of Faith by calling on people to keep Christ at the center of their lives, especially in times of trouble.

VATICAN CITY - With his apostolic exhortation "Evangelii Gaudium" (The Joy of the Gospel), which the Vatican has scheduled for publication Nov. 26, Pope Francis finally makes his real debut as papal author.

VATICAN CITY - After a two-hour private meeting with the patriarchs and major archbishops of the Eastern Catholic churches, Pope Francis prayed for peace and full religious freedom throughout the Middle East.

NAZARETH - Archbishop Fouad Tawl, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, urged “faith and only faith” during a Mass celebrated Nov. 17 in the city of Jesus’ childhood to mark the final week of the Year of Faith.

1st Sunday of Advent (Year A) Dec. 1, (Isaiah 2:1-5; Psalm 122; Romans 13:11-14; Matthew 24:37-44)

The image of beating swords and spears into ploughshares and pruning hooks is both beautiful and painful. It is beautiful in that it represents the heartfelt yearning of humanity for millennia for a time when nations no longer resort to war. The pain lies in the realization that we are ever so far from this state of harmony and peace.

There has always been an innate and healthy tension between theology and catechesis, between what’s happening in theology departments in universities and the church pew. Theologians and bishops are often not each other’s favourite people. And that’s understandable. Why?

VATICAN CITY - For someone who has frequently been shunned and humiliated because of a disease that has severely disfigured his entire body, receiving the pope's loving embrace was like being in paradise.

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican will publish Pope Francis' first apostolic exhortation Nov. 26, two days after he formally delivers it to the church at a Mass concluding the 2012-13 Year of Faith.

This past weekend I re-read A Grief Observed, C.S. Lewis’s personal account of dealing with the death of his wife from cancer. I searched the book for some words of comfort to help deal with my own pain at the loss of a family member.

Christ the King (Year C) Nov. 24 (2 Samuel 5:1-3; Psalm 122; Colossians 1:12-20; Luke 23:-35-43)

The historian Lord Acton observed that “All power tends to corrupt; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” A thorough study of history or a perusal of the newspaper offers convincing proof. When human beings are in a position to exercise absolute power over others without accountability disaster usually follows. No one should have too much power or be untouchable.