Faith

Native nations in Minnesota managed the early months of the coronavirus pandemic with relatively few cases and deaths. But that changed in the fall, as COVID-19 cases and deaths surged. A doctor helping lead the coronavirus response for the White Earth Nation talks about fighting the virus with science and spiritual practices.

Evangelicals, says Ed Stetzer of the Billy Graham Center at Wheaton College, should start to reckon with their own behaviors and actions that may have helped fuel the insurrection at the Capitol.

For most of her adult life, sobriety has been hard for Heather Russell to maintain. When the pandemic hit, she worried she’d go back to drinking, after nearly a year of sobriety. Instead, Russell says 2020 was a lesson in tapping resilience she didn’t know she had.

For Jorie Bernhardt, 2020 was a year of incredible joy and deep disappointment, isolation and connections in unexpected places.

Instead of speaking in front of a crowd of thousands, Pope Francis delivered his Christmas Day message from inside a hall at the Apostolic Palace and urged authorities to make COVID-19 vaccines available to all, especially for the most vulnerable and needy.

Only 100 or so people attended the service, and they wore masks and socially distanced. The Mass began two hours early so all could make it home before Italy's virus curfew.

In a year of darkness, Rabbi Shloime Greene says the lights of the menorah take on even greater significance. That’s why he organized drive-through menorah lightings in three southern Minnesota cities.

Mount Zion Temple organized a Hanukkah car parade on Summit Avenue in St. Paul on Sunday to spread some light, and joy, and hope this holiday season.

Jewish cantors in Wisconsin are celebrating Hanukkah in a new way during the pandemic: They will gather virtually and broadcast a concert of holiday music for audiences across the country.

In Erica Perl's new children's book, a family's box of Hanukkah items are misplaced during a move. Their neighbors help them to make their holiday a success — so they add a ninth night to thank them.