Public health precautions in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic have meant that Catholics around the globe are unable to be physically present at our Holy Week and Easter liturgies. Our dismay is completely justified. A confluence of factors has...
Millions of Catholics around the world are now facing the reality that they won’t be able to attend any Holy Week liturgies or receive Communion on Easter Sunday. The Triduum is one of my favorite times of the year. I...
I have increasingly had the feeling that I’m reaching a breaking point. In this current crisis of health, wealth, and love of neighbor, I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by it all. Maybe you’re feeling it too, and asking yourself:...
Last Friday’s extraordinary Urbi et Orbi blessing received a very positive reception. Most Catholics on social media, even many who are usually critical of Pope Francis, praised the ceremony as a much-needed beacon of hope in the midst of the...
Six months ago, my unborn son died. He was 22 weeks old. My wife and I are still grieving him and, if we are honest, we will grieve him for the rest of our lives. I don’t mean, of course,...
When I hear the words “Apostolic Penitentiary,” I don’t usually think about the maternal love of the Church (actually, I had to go to Wikipedia to look up exactly what this tribunal does when I first heard of it). However,...
Recently I’ve been struck by a verse in chapter seventeen of John’s Gospel. Jesus is with his apostles during the last supper, offering a long prayer, and at one point he says to his Heavenly Father, “Now this is eternal...
Scripture tells us, “No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13.) Thus, the most famous biblical formula for martyrdom equates and balances sacrifice with a service or benefit for others. This...
The world is currently facing a pandemic that has the potential to kill millions of people and permanently change the way we live. Not surprisingly, many employers, in efforts to promote “social distancing,” are transitioning to largely virtual office settings,...
Over the course of Pope Francis’s papacy, but particularly after the promulgation of Amoris Laetitia, some Catholics have expressed angst over what Pope Francis means when he calls for “accompaniment,” a term he uses whenever he describes ministering to those...
“Brothers and sisters, let us guard ourselves and be attentive to the temptation of the Father of Lies and Division, the master of separation that, tricking us into searching for a given good or answer to a specific situation, ends...
“Behold the desert, place of life not of death, because to converse with the Lord in silence restores life to us.” Pope Francis, Ash Wednesday General Audience (Source: Zenit) In his weekly audience for Ash Wednesday this year, Pope Francis returned...
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