Christmas
When worship becomes entertainment is it really essential?
By Kenneth L. Woodward — December 23, 2020
(RNS) — When civil authorities, faced with a killer virus and the responsibility to contain it by limiting large gatherings, see humongous churches fashioned like theater auditoriums, no one should be surprised if they analogize houses of worship and treat them accordingly.
A Christmas without family and community
By Thomas Reese — December 23, 2020
(RNS) — Christmas celebrates God’s great surprise, but we need to see it through children’s eyes.
‘No man is an island,’ wrote John Donne on a grim Christmas amid a pandemic
By Andrew McGowan — December 22, 2020
(RNS) — These famous few lines suggest a kind of compassionate solidarity, a sense of deep connection when others die, or might die. But Donne’s real point is not just compassion for others, even during a plague, but the necessity of attention to the self.
Christians in Holy Land face bleak Christmas season due to COVID-19
By Michele Chabin — December 18, 2020
(RNS) — A usually festive and economically important time for the Holy Land’s tiny Christian minority has been changed with an absence of pilgrims.
Death expert Gary Laderman: ‘This holiday season is going to be a killer’
By Yonat Shimron — December 14, 2020
(RNS) — The holidays mark the passage of time and provide ritual forms of continuity and reassurance, says Laderman. For many that won't happen this year.
The weary world rejoices
By Jana Riess — December 14, 2020
(RNS) — As we wait for Christmas and for a vaccine, I'm reminded that the most beautiful birth in history happened in a place literally mired in crap.
Vatican unveils nativity scene and lights up tree for Christmas
By Claire Giangravé — December 11, 2020
VATICAN CITY (RNS) — 'Christmas reminds us that Jesus is our peace, our joy, our strength, our comfort,' Pope Francis said at the Vatican’s traditional lighting ceremony, Friday (Dec. 11).
Church pageants go virtual amid a COVID-19 Christmas
By Emily McFarlan Miller — December 9, 2020
(RNS) — With kids and the internet involved, virtual pageants, it turns out, are just as delightfully unpredictable as more traditional performances at churches.
Do you see what I see? Planetary alignment to create a ‘Christmas star’
By Emily McFarlan Miller — December 7, 2020
(RNS) — Astronomers have floated the idea that a similar conjunction of planets could be a scientific explanation for the star of Bethlehem in the Christmas story.
COVID cancels Singing Christmas Trees, other Christmas extravaganzas
By Bob Smietana — December 7, 2020
(RNS) — A holiday tradition since the 1930s, Singing Christmas Trees, like other large-scale Christmas events, have been canceled by COVID-19.
Drive-thru live Nativities are tailor-made for a COVID-19 Christmas
By Emily McFarlan Miller — December 4, 2020
(RNS) — It’s an idea whose time has come as the pandemic stretches into the Christmas season.
In a year of waiting and hoping, Advent reminds us that patience can be healthy
By Wes Granberg-Michaelson — November 28, 2020
(RNS) — Advent comes with this countervailing message: Expect God to show up in unexpected places, like a subway car, a Zoom call, or a stable.
RNS holiday gift guide 2020: Puzzles, prayer cards and more gifts for staying in
By Emily McFarlan Miller — November 25, 2020
(RNS) — Religion News Service is bringing back our holiday gift guide, full of ideas for all the people of faith — or no faith — on your list.
A very COVID Christmas: Having an unforgettable holiday season when you’re stuck at home
By Jana Riess — November 16, 2020
(RNS) — Traci Smith's book of Advent crafts and practices is perfectly timed to help you have a joyous Christmas even in the midst of a pandemic.
Salvation Army starts red kettle program early amid ‘tsunami of human need’ caused by pandemic
By Adelle M. Banks — September 14, 2020
(RNS) — Some of the people who have been Salvation Army donors in the past are now among those seeking assistance, a national leader says.
