What does the Christmas season promise you this year? We all have an expectation even if we rarely pull it out to look at it. For some it’s the expectation of a credit card bill that takes too long to pay. Others dream of just the perfect gift to buy. Some dread to go shopping. Some delight in family visits that are all too rare. Others...

On a cold Christmas Eve in 1952, when Korea was in the throes of civil war, one young woman struggled along a village street, obviously soon to deliver a child. She pleaded with passersby, "Help me! Please. My baby." No one paid any attention to her. A middle-aged couple walked by. The wife pushed away the young mother and sneered, "Where's...

Legend tells of a young girl who walked to a Christmas church service in a small Mexican village. It was traditional to bring gifts to lay before the nativity scene for Jesus, but the child lamented she was too poor and had nothing to offer. Suddenly, an angel appeared, explaining that even the simplest gift, offered in a spirit of love, would...

Centuries ago in Asia Minor (present-day Turkey), a boy named Nicholas loved the story of the Magi, the wise men who traveled from afar to bring gifts to the baby Jesus. He admired that they came and left with no fanfare. Years later, after Nicholas became a priest, he showed the same humility by quietly distributing food and gifts among the poor....