Christmas
Let the Virgin Mary bring Christians and Muslims together at Christmas
By Zahra N. Jamal — December 24, 2021
(RNS) — Mother Mary’s healing power is the beacon of hope and light we need right now.
Five Christmas sermon blunders that get Judaism (and Jesus) wrong
By Amy-Jill Levine and Marc Zvi Brettler — December 24, 2021
(RNS) — Christmas brings out some of the worst ignorance of Jesus’ Judaism.
God needed an admin in heaven
By Jeffrey Salkin — December 23, 2021
(RNS) — A Christian administrative assistant taught me everything about life.
Wary of omicron, churches shift Christmas services online
By Jack Jenkins — December 23, 2021
WASHINGTON (RNS) — On Wednesday evening, the Washington National Cathedral announced it was shifting to virtual services for the entire holiday season.
How the church’s focus on Mary’s virginity became a curse for women
By Serene Jones — December 22, 2021
(RNS) — The shaming of women that rose from the Christmas story goes against Jesus’ teachings.
Exceptions for ‘Jewish tourism’ rankle US Christians blocked from Israel at Christmas
By Yonat Shimron and Michele Chabin — December 21, 2021
(RNS) — Birthright Israel delegations and similar Jewish travel programs were exempted from a travel ban that has canceled Christian trips to Israel at Christmas.
Denzel Washington: ‘I wanted to please God’ in latest directing effort
By Adelle M. Banks — December 21, 2021
(RNS) — ‘True love never dies. That's what they have — not had — have,’ Washington said of Dana Canedy and her partner who was killed in Iraq.
What to give your Jewish neighbors for Christmas
By Avi Shafran — December 16, 2021
(RNS) — Fighting antisemitism starts with the people you live and work with.
Childless at Christmas
By Karen Swallow Prior — December 16, 2021
(RNS) — Some holiday traditions offer particular challenges to those who aren’t part of a nuclear family at Christmas, challenges the rest of us might not even imagine.
A child is coming to save us. Perhaps he’ll remind us to do better by the children we have.
By Phyllis Zagano — December 15, 2021
(RNS) — Has the story of the Christ child taught us anything?
Am I a New Yorker Yet?
By Roxanne Stone — December 15, 2021
There's nothing like going home for the holidays to make a person wonder where they really belong. Katelyn and Roxy are joined by Elizabeth Passarella, a southern evangelical transplant who moved to NYC more than 20 years ago
At Vatican’s Peruvian Nativity scene, Pope Francis again warns against ‘indifference’
By Claire Giangravé — December 10, 2021
(RNS) — The pope used the Vatican crèche's spotlight on the diversity of Peru to continue a campaign against indifference toward people at the margins.
Gen Z is looking for meaning this holiday season, but maybe not where we expect
By Josh Packard — December 10, 2021
(RNS) — Three ways to spend quality time with young people at this time of year.
New podcast ‘Hark!’ explores the stories behind the most beloved Christmas carols
By Emily McFarlan Miller — December 8, 2021
(RNS) — Christmas carols are packed with theology and history that even the most regular churchgoers may not know, according to podcast host Maggi Van Dorn.
Pope Francis likens European efforts to ‘cancel Christmas’ to dictatorship
By Claire Giangravé — December 6, 2021
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — Pope Francis commented on a leaked EU document, accusing it of trying to 'cancel Christmas' and calling it a form of 'ideological colonization.'
