Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of our Lenten journey, when we enter into the solemn season of Lent and arm ourselves with the transformative practices of fasting, prayer and almsgiving in order to be one with our Lord Jesus in...
Ash Wednesday 2023 readings. Think about this for a minute. An entire people around the globe sets aside 40 days each year to live differently than they do the other 325 days. If we look at this merely as a...
A reflection on the readings for April 3, 2022, the Fifth Sunday of Lent (Gospel: John 8:1-11) In an October 26, 1946, radio message to participants in the National Catechetical Congress of the United States in Boston, Pope Pius XII...
A homily for the Fourth Sunday of Lent (Laetare Sunday)—March 27, 2022. On my way home from an appointment the other day, I was listening to the Spotify All Out 90’s playlist, as one does, when an old favorite that...
Temptations are real. Temptations are inevitable. Temptations are an everyday affair. Yet, we do not spend too much time reflecting on them. This is because our focus is on avoiding temptations rather than succumbing to them. The Gospels, however, tell...
A reflection on the readings for March 6, 2022 – The First Sunday in Lent. Many of us know the story of Doctor Faustus, written in 1592. In the early version of the legend, Dr. John Faustus, called Faust, has...
Today’s General Audience address by Pope Francis brought tears to my eyes. It was the second installment of his Catechesis on Old Age. The title of this week’s teaching was “Longevity: symbol and opportunity,” and he spoke about why he...
When I was 27, I was cast as Louisa, the 13-year-old daughter, in a semi-professional production of The Sound of Music. Physically, it made sense especially since I looked at least 10 years younger than my actual age. My friend...
Excerpt from Hope from the Ashes by Paul E. Jarzembowski (Paulist Press, 2022) The stories of many active churchgoers on Ash Wednesday are surprisingly similar. Each of us could probably recount our own stories of Ash Wednesdays past. After months...
Super Bowl LVI is over, leaving some ecstatic and others crushed. Soon it will be time for March Madness – a thrilling twenty-one-day extravaganza of exceptional sportsmanship. Perhaps not as extravagant or thrilling, but Lent 2022 is also on the...
I have a confession to make. I am, by training, a liturgist. As such, I cringe at the well-known joke—“What’s the difference between a liturgist and a terrorist? You can negotiate with terrorists.”—both because there is a grain of truth...
A reflection on the Sunday readings for March 21, 2021 — the Fifth Sunday in Lent This is the story of Sister Ann Rose Nu Tawng, a Burmese nun. As you are likely aware, recently the military assumed power in Burma...
Popular Posts