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Welcome to Wednesday. Actress and writer Jeannie Gaffigan polls Catholic friends and draws on her own experience to celebrate an unusual 2020 Christmas. Pope Francis has given Catholics a special gift this year in the form of his latest book, says Michael Sean Winters. Daniel Horan turns to a historical figure to offer Christians a spiritual guide to celebrate God’s humanity.
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** Quarantined and Catholic, a Gaffigan Christmas ([link removed])
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Jeannie Gaffigan’s family loves Christmas traditions. The actress, producer, writer, philanthropist and mother of five is most well-known for the comedy empire she created with her writing and producing partner and husband, Jim Gaffigan, so it’s ironic, she says, that Christmas holds fond memories for a family that is unable to partake in many holiday traditions due to Jeannie and Jim’s line of work.

In normal years, the family has learned to adapt by being together, wherever they are. "We have made togetherness on holidays a priority and a commitment," Jeannie writes.

And yet in 2020, we’re all scrambling to adjust our holiday traditions, including the Gaffigans. "Having to cancel Christmas plans on top of everything seems particularly cruel," says Jeannie. She reached out to several Catholic friends and in this piece, she shares some ideas for how to make Christmas meaningful in 2020.

Read the full piece here. ([link removed])

More background:
* In most U.S. cities, COVID-19 restrictions will prevent Catholics from gathering for large cathedral Masses, but indoor, outdoor and livestreamed Masses are still being planned. NCR Bertelsen intern Lucy Grindon reports on major dioceses' plans ([link removed]) .
* With Italy returning to a COVID-19 lockdown over the Christmas holidays, the Vatican has announced ([link removed]) that most of Pope Francis' usual appointments will be livestreamed with few or no members of the public present.
* One of NCR’s most read stories of 2020 is this August report from Brian Roewe ([link removed]) about the night that Jim Gaffigan, known as a ‘clean’ Catholic comedian who tells jokes about food, being pale and avoiding too much activity, snapped in a series of tweets opposing President Donald Trump’s re-election.

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** Pope Francis' great Christmas gift to us all ([link removed])
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For Catholics in the United States, Christmas came early this year. And it came twice, says Michael Sean Winters.

Pope Francis had a lengthy op-ed published ([link removed]) in The New York Times on Thanksgiving morning. Then, the book from which that essay was extracted, Let Us Dream: The Path to a Better Future ([link removed]) , came out.

In this new book, Winters says,"Francis helps show how to spread peace on earth, how to bring mercy into our human relations, how to be reconciled with God and with one another. The Holy Father helps us to become more ready to receive the gift of grace offered us by the Christ child. He encourages us to stretch, and offers consoling thoughts when we fall."

Read the full column here. ([link removed])
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** More headlines
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* Christmas is about celebrating the humanity of God, writes Daniel Horan ([link removed]) , and Christians can use St. Bonaventure’s spiritual treatise The Tree of Life as a reflection guide for this unusual Christmas season.
* On EarthBeat, Carol Glatz reports for Catholic News Service ([link removed]) that Vatican City State officials say that reaching "zero emissions" is an achievable goal. The tiny nation has already achieved its goal of becoming pesticide-free.

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** Final thoughts
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We’ve just announced our first member events of 2021, both focused on human trafficking. The sessions will be held in partnership with Global Sisters Report, with Srs. Gabriella Botani and Jean Schaefer speaking on January 19 ([link removed]) and Jennifer Reyes Lay and Sr. Maryann Agnes Muller speaking on January 21 ([link removed]) . Become an NCR Forward member ([link removed]) to join these special events.

Until Thursday,

Brittany Wilmes
Engagement Editor
[email protected] (mailto:[email protected])
Twitter: @bwilmes ([link removed])

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