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On Dec. 31, nearly half a million people will complete a yearlong journey of reading the entire Catholic Bible with "The Bible in a Year" podcast.

Pope Francis asked people to celebrate a "real Christmas" by recognizing Jesus in their lives and cultivating peace in their hearts.

At a rather formal meeting in the Apostolic Palace and a more relaxed one with balloons and silly hats in the Vatican audience hall, Pope Francis told children that Christmas is a sign of how much God loves them, and they are called to share that love.

With the celebration of Christmas just around the corner, Christians should look for ways to share the joy of Jesus' birth rather than draw up a laundry list of complaints, Pope Francis said.

Responding to 11 questions it said had been raised about Pope Francis' document restricting celebrations of the pre-Vatican II Mass, the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments offered a few concessions to bishops but insisted the entire Latin-rite Catholic Church must move toward celebrating only one form of the Mass and sacraments.

"Abortion pill reversal facts," said the Google ad from the pro-life group Live Action. "We may be able to help you."

Tekla Bedwell's adventures include the year she worked aboard a luxury yacht crossing the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Spain.

In the residential neighborhoods of southeastern Phoenix, just south of the commercial and industrial areas where Interstate 10 curves away from Sky Harbor International Airport, the faithful who worship with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass – the traditional Latin Mass – have a new home where they can celebrate their Catholic faith.

The decrease of vocations to religious life, including in the Society of Jesus, is a lesson in humility and a reminder that a calling to religious life depends on God, Pope Francis told Jesuits in Greece.

It's not the North Pole, and the workers aren't elves, but the woodshop at Blanchet Farm in Carlton does produce joy and goodwill.