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What I love about the Advent season is that it captures the mixed reality of our lives. Our moments of joy and sorrow are often closely woven together.

Christmas came a bit early for the Missionaries of Charity who serve in the Diocese of Gallup, New Mexico, which has half of its territory in Arizona. And it wasn’t just a stocking-stuffer either.

A colorful, artistic and quite musical celebration honoring Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the diocese, sandwiched an outdoor Mass that nodded to Mary’s title born in Mexico nearly 500 years ago and her title mirroring the day’s notable feast, that of the Immaculate Conception.

BEIRUT (CNS) — On a gloomy, rainy Saturday morning in Beirut, 92-year-old Julia enthusiastically greeted her visitors, Christian and Muslim youth, who had come to set up a Christmas tree in her modest apartment.

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” That iconic line from the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” seems pretty off-base just a little more than a week away from Christmas, doesn’t it? Stop and look around? There’s no time for that.

Be watchful!” and “Be alert!” are two traditional spiritual commands often heard by Catholics during the Advent season in preparation for the birth of Christ at Christmas.

This saint, venerated by Christians since her own time, likely was martyred in Sicily, probably during the persecutions of Roman Emperor Diocletian, who ruled 284-305.

The singers are, by and large, those whose only prior singing experience is from the pew, but it's free and open to all.

In the tradition of the great Desert Fathers of antiquity, Fr. Eugene Florea was consecrated and professed temporary vows (first vows) as a hermit in the Diocese of Phoenix.

The word “cathedral” derives from the Greek word “kathedra,” meaning “chair.” The chair of the diocesan bishop is the seat from which he guides the life of the Church in a particular geographical region known as a diocese.