The angel Gabriel brings wondrous news to young Mary in this Sunday’s gospel: "Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus.” The news is not so good for pregnant women in Mexico who live near lead recycling shops. Increasing numbers of spent batteries are shipped from the U.S. to poorly regulated shops . . .

The psalmist sings of the goodness of the Lord this Sunday, highlighting the fact that God will “forever” act with kindness toward the people. An elegantly simple lab experiment strongly suggests the oft-maligned rat is capable of acting with empathy . . .

When King David presumes to build a house for the Lord in this Sunday’s first reading, God has to remind the overreaching monarch exactly who plays the role of the divine and who does not in the epic of salvation history. Scientists this week say they have found signs pointing to the existence of the Higgs boson, a subatomic particle . . .

As families across the nation begin to gather to celebrate the year-end holidays, President Barack Obama welcomed home some of the last U.S. troops to leave Iraq this week, marking a symbolic end to a nearly nine-year war . . .

“You know how it takes a village to raise a child? It takes the church to raise a vocation. The future of religious life isn’t dependent on the religious themselves; it’s an issue for the entire church.”

This year's "Black Friday" holiday shopping day was a good one for merchants—including gun dealers. On November 25 Americans bought 129,166 firearms, 32 percent higher than the previous one-day record.