Holy Days of Obligation in the coming weeks: 
• Christmas Day on Monday, Dec. 25, is a Holy Day of Obligation. The faithful must attend two Masses between Dec 23-25: one for the Sunday obligation and one for the Christmas obligation. For instance, the Sunday obligation may be fulfilled by attending the Saturday Vigil Mass or a Sunday morning Mass; the Christmas obligation may be fulfilled by attending a Mass after 4 p.m. on Christmas Eve or a Christmas Day Mass.
•The Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God on Jan. 1, 2024 is not a Holy Day of Obligation this year. (Decree of U.S. bishops, Dec. 13, 1991)  

COLORADO SPRINGS. The St. Serra Apostolate of Colorado Springs will hold its Anniversary Dinner and Silent Auction on Jan. 15, 2024 at 4 p.m. at the Newman Center, 4785 Stanton Rd., Colorado Springs, 80918. Tickets are $45 per person; attendees can bring one additional priest or religious sister for $25. Make checks payable to St. Serra Club of Colorado Springs and send to 228 N. Cascade Ave., Colorado Springs, 80903 by Jan. 5. For more information, call 719-576-0641 or send an email to SerraCOsprings@diocs.net.

COLORADO SPRINGS. St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Colorado Springs is changing the time of the Sunday evening Mass to 5 p.m., effective Jan. 7. For more information, visit www.stfranciscs.org.

At the end of the new Ridley Scott biopic “Napoleon,” the director lists the total number of French soldiers killed under Napoleon’s command. As if the three hours of 19th-century warfare were not enough to remind you of the brutality of war, Scott drives it home as a last indictment of Napolean.  The numbers are sobering, but the disregard for human life seems to be his message. 

In February 1986, I started getting nauseous at the same time each day. A friend suggested I might be pregnant.  I highly doubted it, but decided to go to Planned Parenthood in early March for a pregnancy test. I was shocked to discover I was nine weeks pregnant.