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Lent
It’s not you, Lent, it’s me
Sometimes I feel like breaking up with Lent. (It’s not you, Lent … really, it’s me.) It’s not that Lent has done anything wrong (other than being demanding, relentlessly there every, single year, with no regard for my emotional state as I…
Ash Wednesday Gospel reflection: An outward sign of our faith
A clean heart create for me, God; renew within me a steadfast spirit. (Psalm 51:12) Ash Wednesday, in all its solemnity and reverence, is one of my favorite religious days. I love the humble act of repentance, the cross formed by ashes…
Give up gossip for Lent — and for life
When I joined the seminary back in 2007, and rejoined in 2009, the community came together each morning and evening to pray the Liturgy of the Hours. After two psalms and a canticle are prayed, a brief reading from sacred Scripture is…
Understanding Lenten sacrifices
Each year our family begins Lent in the kitchen. My wife rolls out three long and thick strands of salt dough that she then braids together. Next she attaches one extremity of the dough creation to the other to form a circle. Then the fun…
Easter inspiration from Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI
The Lord is alive and wants to be sought among the living. After having found him, each person is sent out by him to announce the Easter message, to awaken and resurrect hope in hearts burdened by sadness, in those who struggle to find…
Good Friday Gospel reflection: We are forgiven!
“Then handed him over to them to be crucified” (John 19:16). There are at least a thousand lessons to be learned at Calvary, and then there are the mysteries beyond these lessons, which bring us to the shores of an endless sea. But in…
Holy Thursday Gospel reflection: How far is God willing to go for love?
Tonight we begin a journey that takes us from the table to the cross and onward to new life lived in the shadow of that cross and in the light of the Risen Son. And so we wash feet. What a strange time Jesus chose to wash feet — during…
Spring cleaning your home — and your soul
It’s finally spring and with the thrill of opening the windows on that first warm day comes spring cleaning. The latest craze in organization calls for people to rid their homes of objects that don’t “spark joy.” But even if something…
Eastern rite Lent: Pray early and often
Today we will not be talking about a who but a what. Let’s get down with Lent! Literally. What Father is chanting in Old Slavonic is: You suffered greatly for us Jesus Christ, Son of God Have mercy on us Just as in the West,…
Ash Wednesday Gospel reflection: God reads the inside story
The readings for Ash Wednesday all share the same message: change (“return to me with your whole heart,” Joel 2:12); change now (“Behold, now is a very acceptable time,” 2 Corinthians 6:2); and change from the inside out (“pray to your…
