To Embrace All That Is Human
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...
Tagged: Lent
Alliance of the generations
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...
The best and only starting point
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...
Finding Hope in the Ashes: Transforming Our Communities
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...
Lent 2022: Don’t Let it Catch You by Surprise
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...
Prepare well for Lent
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...
Living to Die, Dying to Live
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...
G’Day, Bishop Richard!
Coming up on Where Peter Is Live: As Pope Francis approaches the eighth anniversary of his election as pope, Bishop Richard Umbers joins Rachel Amiri, Melinda Ribnek, and Mike Lewis from the land down under to discuss these last...
Magnanimity: Exercising mercy to become more like Christ
At the beginning of Lent, I reflected on our Gospel call to grow in mercy during this season. Connected to and emerging from this theme of mercy, I believe Jesus is further asking us to form our hearts in union...
OCD, Scrupulosity, and the Journey of Faith
On an unexceptional Friday in February 2012, I came home for a weekend away from college life, as students regularly do. What set my trip apart from others was my motivation: I wasn’t looking to visit family or pets, nor...
The Path of Interior Silence: A Haibun Lenten reflection
The later-afternoon sky fills with cirrus clouds again. The expected snow has not yet arrived, but my rheumatic joints inform me that it’s only a matter of time. That will mean yet another turn at the snow-thrower, gripping it tightly...
Gearing up for Lent
Well, we just got our multimedia output for 2021 going earlier tonight with the first episode of “Where Peter Is Live.” We didn’t announce it publicly in advance and we tipped off our Patreon subscribers just an hour before we...
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