"I'm from Newtown, Connecticut, where the shooting was. Is it possible that Santa can bring extra presents so I can deliver them to the families that lost kids?" — A child who called the Santa-tracking operation at a Colorado Air Force Base on Christmas Eve, as related by volunteer Sara Berghoff.

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"All the families who lost those little kids, Christmas will never be the same. Everybody across the world is trying to share the tragedy with our community here." — Newtown, Conn., resident Philippe Poncet.

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"The great moral question of our attitude toward the homeless, toward refugees and migrants takes on a deeper dimension: Do we really have room for God when he seeks to enter under our roof? Do we have time and space for him? The faster we can move, the more efficient our time-saving appliances become, the less time we have. And God? The question of God never seems urgent." — Pope Benedict XVI at a Christmas Eve Mass.