December 2020

VOL. 85, NO. 12

Scroll through the Table of Contents to view what’s in this month’s print issue. Some articles are available only in the print issue: Subscribe today to get full access to all the material you see listed below. And remember to sign up for our weekly email so you never miss an online article!

Features

A different Christmas

BY MELANIE L. HARRIS

This Christmas, take time to mourn our broken world and move into a more just future.

Extraordinary times

BY TERESA CODA

To live a good life, embrace the liturgical year.

Columns

THE EXAMINED LIFE

Community cooks

BY RENÉ OSTBERG
Look to parish cookbooks for comfort and community this Christmas.

CULTURE IN CONTEXT

Taste and see

BY PAMELA HILL NETTLETON
A Christmas cookbook arrives just in time for a homebound holiday season.

SALT & LIGHT

One of us

BY FATHER BRYAN MASSINGALE
Stand in awe at how God loved us enough to become a truly human body.

MARGIN NOTES

A season of peace

BY KEVIN CLARKE
Pope Francis offers a vision for a world in peace this Christmas.

TESTAMENTS

We need a little Christmas

BY ALICE CAMILLE
During pandemic, the Advent prophecies of Isaiah give comfort.

GLAD YOU ASKED

Departments

Editors’ Note
You May Be Right (Letters to the Editor)
Signs of the Times (News)
Catholic Tastes (Humor)
Reviews
Eye of the Beholder (Art meditation)

Expert Witness

All creation worships

an interview with Teresa Berger

When we attend Mass—whether virtual or in-person—we are joining worship with all of creation.

Essays

Unexpected Journey

BY DAVID RUSSELL MOSLEY
Liturgy speaks when we can’t find the words.

The gift of encounter

BY DAVID CLOUTIER
This year, direct your Christmas energies toward genuine justice.

Sounding Board

Jolly good fellows

BY SUSAN SALAZ
Is Santa Claus a myth, magic, or a model of faith?

In Person

Divine light

BY FATHER JEROME JOSEPH DAY, O.S.B.
A stained glass artist lets Christ shine through her work.

Home Faith

Wait for it

BY MATT PAOLELLI

Enjoy the wait this Advent. It’s the best kind of pause we’ll have all year