The first reading encourages all of Jerusalem to “see your children gathered from the east and the west” for a great event, as God is about to “show the world your splendor.” Leaders from all ends of the earth have gathered in Paris for a two-week climate summit  that, it is hoped, will forge a binding agreement . . .

Saint Paul expresses a fervent wish in Sunday’s reading from Philippians: “How I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus. And this is my prayer: that your love may increase ever more and more.” As Pope Francis completed his African tour  this week, he took his message of peace . . .

The message John the Baptist brings in this Sunday’s Advent gospel is that now is the time to reform our way of life and take a new direction. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Tuesday that it was time to reform and take a new direction in police practices in the city, as he asked for the resignation . . .

The Lord “has done great things for us” the psalmist affirms this Sunday; “our mouth was filled with laughter and our tongue with rejoicing.” Tara Knightley and her 11-year-old daughter Caitlin were all smiles and laughs after Caitlin did a great thing when her mother suddenly went into labor . . .

I remember when my grandfather died, Nona dressed herself in black like many peasant women before her. It seemed that a year was the minimum amount of time for mourning that was considered acceptable. But she chose to spend the rest of her life in public wearing no other color. 

“Our lists of the top donors are usually dominated by people in their 70s or 80s. This is a message to other young people who are deciding what to do with their great wealth.”

Of 162 countries reviewed in a study on world peace, only 11 were not involved in conflict of one kind or another. And the world as a whole has been getting incrementally less peaceful every year since 2007.