With the members of Holy Apostles Parish feeling the Christmas spirit a little bit more this year after the announcement that the parish would not be merging and Ss. Peter and Paul church would not close,

Parishioners felt the spirit of the day, and the church’s Contemporary Ensemble raised their voices in joyous music.

Pope Leo XIV on Christmas Day deplored the “falsehoods” used to justify wars that leave young people “forced to take up arms” and “sent to their deaths,” while also drawing attention to the humanitarian suffering of displaced people — including families living in tents in Gaza — in a homily centered on the vulnerability of the Word made flesh.

Catholics who are loyal to tradition may plan to attend a Christmas midnight mass, also known in Spanish as the “Misa De Gallo,” in Miami-Dade County.