Details:  Firefighters in Coachella Valley, California battled a blaze at a local Islamic society mosque on Friday, one that may have been ignited intentionally and has been described as a possible “fire-bombing,” local media reported. Initially reported shortly after 12 p.m. local time, the fire occurred at a mosque belonging to the Islamic Society of the Coachella Valley, according to NBC Los Angeles. It took roughly half an hour to put out the fire, which was primarily contained to the... Read more

The video, from the Ravens: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93s9pHGUpjY The story:  Justin Tucker can sing.  The Baltimore Ravens kicker performed a rendition of Schubert’s Ave Maria at a Catholic Charities Christmas Festival event on Thursday night which was held at Baltimore’s Basilica of the National Shrine of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Who knew Tucker could sing like this? Photo: Wikipedia Read more

Jaweed Kaleem at Huffington Post uncovers a widening stream of anxiety—and deeper awareness of our own mortality—in the American psyche: A few days ago, while driving to a movie near his Fort Worth, Texas, neighborhood, Patrick O’Malley suddenly feared for his life. “This could be risky,” O’Malley remembers telling his wife, thinking of the possibility of dying in a sudden, random mass shooting during the screening of he movie “Spotlight.” It was a particularly unusual feeling for O’Malley, a psychotherapist... Read more

Vatican Radio has the details:  Catholic churches in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu are canceling Christmas in order to divert funds to help victims of flooding in Chennai – the worst in more than a century that are being blamed on climate change. Dozens were killed and thousands were left homeless as Chennai – the fifth most populous city in India – suffered the worst November for rainfall in more than 20 years and the wettest December day... Read more

It could be the one you send to this little girl. Details: When firefighters pulled Safyre Terry’s father from the ashes, she was underneath him — buried in his arms and still alive. It was an early May morning in 2013 when, investigators said, an arsonist set fire to the family’s apartment stairwell in Schenectady, N.Y., not far from Albany. Safyre, then 5, lost her father, her younger sister and two younger brothers in the blaze. Safyre was severely burned... Read more

The other morning, I was trying to describe for my wife Ron Howard’s new movie “In the Heart of the Sea.” I’d been invited to an early screening and she was wondering what I thought of it. I mentioned some of the details and plot points: copious amounts of whale blubber, blood erupting from a wounded blow hole, a ship being torn apart by a monstrous whale, starvation, deprivation, suicide, even cannibalism. “And yet after that,” she said, “they still didn’t kill the... Read more

Just get a load of this, via Rome Reports:  And check out the artist’s website for more: Sky News, meantime, has this: An Italian land artist has created a 24,000 square metre image of Christ in a field. Dario Gambarin prepared the huge artwork using a tractor – and achieved different depths and colours with the help of a rotating harrow and a plough. White spray paint and nylon cloth were used for his eyes. The piece, entitled Suffering Christ,... Read more

From CNS:  Catholics are called to witness to their faith in Jesus before all people, including Jews, but the Catholic Church “neither conducts nor supports” any institutional missionary initiative directed toward Jews, says a new document from a Vatican commission. How God will save the Jews if they do not explicitly believe in Christ is “an unfathomable divine mystery,” but one which must be affirmed since Catholics believe that God is faithful to his promises and therefore never revoked his... Read more

From The Orlando Sentinel:  Visitors to the Florida Capitol likely won’t see a Nativity scene this year. They also won’t see a protest display from the Satanic Temple. However, they could see a menorah. And an irreverent disco ball-topped, multi-colored gay pride festivus pole — built of beer cans — might still be on tap. A Christian group that has put up Nativity scenes the past two years said Friday it won’t bring a creche to the Capitol rotunda for... Read more