I have a confession to make: I have not been to confession yet this Advent. Every year, I bug people to go sometime during the season, and I think most of my family has been. But I have not yet gone myself.

Where a lot of Catholic Christmas hymns lean into the more fantastical elements—angels, stars, kings—“In the Bleak Midwinter” points us instead to the ordinary.

From Masses to baptisms, weddings and confessions, the church provides a window into the religious life of Catholic expatriates in Qatar.

“Let’s reduce the level of Christmas spending a bit,” the pope said. “Let’s have a simpler Christmas with more modest gifts. Let’s send what we save to the people of Ukraine, who are suffering so much.”

A Reflection for Sunday of the Third Week of Advent, by Kerry Weber

Results of a poll of 9,000 Christian churches last December were released this Dec. 1. What Christmas carols made the Top 10?