What shall we make of the burning Holy Land, during a Christmastide when we celebrate the angelic announcement of a messianic birth that marks the inbreaking of the peaceable kingdom of Isaiah 11:6-9?

An independent film called “Trinity’s Triumph,” written and produced by a Newark archdiocesan priest, brings Catholic priests into the everyday landscape, peeling back the stained-glass curtain on the priesthood.

It’s all about accompaniment, this declaration, but — both theologically and pastorally — some will doubtlessly find it confusing and yes, messy.

The new document teaches that people seeking God shouldn’t be turned away, regardless of their state of life or moral situation.

Gov. Greg Abbott, R-Texas, signed an immigration bill into law Dec. 18 that makes it a state crime for unauthorized migrants to cross into Texas from Mexico. Catholic organizations including the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops have opposed the legislation.