NATION/WORLD

JERUSALEM (CNS) — Christmas is a reminder of the redemption granted by God, despite encounters with sins such as war, injustice and overconsumption, said the patriarchs and heads of Churches in Jerusalem in their joint Christmas message.

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Does heroism equate with saintliness? Perhaps. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for his friends,” Jesus explains in John 15:13.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — The light of peace, hope and salvation brought into the world with the birth of Jesus is stronger than the darkness of war and despair, but spreading that light requires the cooperation of every person of good will, Pope Francis said in his Christmas address.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Here is a Christmas homily titled “Christ Was Born For This” by Archbishop J. Augustine DiNoia, adjunct secretary of the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. A Dominican, he taught theology for many years at the Dominican House of Studies in Washington.

VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Christmas night tells each person, no matter how poor or sinful, that they are utterly and totally loved by God, Pope Francis said as he celebrated Jesus’ birth.

PHILADLEPHIA (CNS) — In a world and culture that makes believers weary and wary, the Ukrainian Catholic bishops of the United States in a Christmas pastoral message reminded all of the faithful that Jesus didn’t have it so easy Himself, being born into a world that was not very welcoming or peaceful.

WASHINGTON (CNS) — Last Christmas while watching “Dr. Seuss’ How the Grinch Stole Christmas” with his son, Thomas Williams said it “suddenly hit” him that “nearly all the clever poetry surrounding Christmas has virtually nothing to do with Jesus Christ.”

As the Advent season unfolds, Sr. Engracia Robles and her team of religious and volunteers prepare for the traditional celebration known as “Las Posadas,” at the Comedor (soup kitchen) of the Kino Border Initiative in Nogales, Sonora, located a couple hundred yards from the border between Mexico and the United States.

WOODBURY, Minn. (CNS) — Bob Mathewson got a celebrity’s welcome at St. Ambrose of Woodbury Catholic School one early December morning.

GUILFORD, Vt. (CNS) — Christmas comes early to Shirley Squires’ Guilford home.