A doll representing the infant Jesus in St. Catherine's, the Franciscan church in the town of Bethlehem. David Silverman/Getty Images Every Christmas, a relatively small town in the Palestinian West ...

Every Feb. 2, the universal Church celebrates the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. Mary and Joseph bring the newborn Jesus to the Temple, the holy place, the house of God. The presentation of ...

Christmas is believed to have first been celebrated in 336 AD by the Romans, but it did not become a widespread Christian festival until the ninth century. It is held on December 25 each year to mark ...

Now let’s review some of the prophecies about the birth of Jesus: Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2) fulfilled: (Matthew 2:1) (Luke 2:4-6). Messiah would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7:14) ...

Christmas! The mention of Christmas brings forth a flood of images and experiences – celebrations, time off work, church services, credit card debt, and family gatherings. For those who hold a ...

At the Christmas Eve vigil Mass, ask your pastor to read all 25 verses in Matthew's Gospel rather than using the shorter form that skips over the genealogy. I know proclaiming Matthew's genealogy can ...

The Gospel according to Luke was not written by a witness to the birth of Jesus. St. Luke probably never even saw Jesus. Instead, he studied the written accounts of the birth and life of Jesus, ...

The birth of a child is typically a cause for celebration. It is a time of great joy and anticipation. In the case of the biblical Christ-child, the birth of the Baby Jesus was met with uncertainty, ...

In the last few decades, that knowledge has taken a back seat to the hustle and bustle of shopping, parties and Santa Claus. Even the "comfort and joy" heralded is more about general feelings of ...