Story by Pete Burak Starting Ash Wednesday, Catholics enter the season of Lent, where we are called to fast, pray, give alms and prepare for the joyful celebration of Easter. Many of us, however, approach Lent simply as an uncomfortable time of reluctantly “giving up x” or “doing more y.” We just try to survive [...]
Story by Sister Ann Shields Let’s make Lent “count” in a particular way. Let me explain: A lot of things go in and out of our minds, almost 24/7. The daily “traffic” is enormous: books, magazines, Internet, radio, iPhones, videos, personal conversations, music, disagreements and arguments, banal sitcoms, negative humor, ridicule of people, lies, verbal [...]
Story by Veronica Szczygiel We've all had to make sacrifices. During the pandemic, for example, we couldn’t do the things we normally do, see the people we wanted to see and visit the places we planned to travel to. We gave these up, and many of us continue to limit them, in order to ensure the [...]
April 19, 2005: Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, was elected as the successor to Pope John Paul II on. April 24, 2005: Papal Inauguration Mass in St. Peter’s Square, during which he was invested with the pallium and the Ring of the Fisherman. May 7: He took possession of his [...]
Story by Joe Pisani Lent is upon us and that means it’s a time for serious prayer and fasting. The older I get, the more I’m convinced prayer and fasting is the only hope for America. Not politics. But we life in a strange age, when secular society looks down on such spiritual practices, and [...]
Story by Douglas Culp Our God is a Trinitarian communion: Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Wondrously, the Father created us to share in this eternal communion. We know this as the plan of salvation. Of course, it might be better termed the drama of salvation. The two paths In the story of the Garden of [...]
Story by Bishop Earl Boyea The Eucharist! It is a great “thanksgiving.” When Jesus told us to do this in memory of him, he wanted us to repeat his own sacrificial offering to the Father. Jesus’ sacrificial offering was a thanksgiving to the Father. Jesus was giving thanks for the Father’s will being done, even [...]
Story by Douglas Culp No one exists in isolation. Our very existence necessarily means that we are in relationship with the God who holds us in being – whether or not we want to acknowledge this. We are not solely victims of impersonal forces acting apart from us, but we are actually agents that help [...]
Story by Mike Frieseman Jack W. Chan of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in Lansing, Mich., is a natural-born, tried-and-true missionary pilgrim if there ever was one. Jack would most likely shy away from calling himself a “missionary,” but considering his past service and current function as the scheduling coordinator of the Holy [...]
Story by Veronica Szczygiel After weeks spent quarantining and parishes planning appropriate safety measures, it’s now time to return to Mass, if you haven’t already! The long absence from the Eucharist we experienced made us feel a deep yearning for Jesus’ presence in his most precious body and blood. Let us view this opportunity to [...]