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Lent
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…
How a garage sale chalice and you can become new again
Imagine walking through a garage sale dotted with forgotten toys, 1980s videos, tired-looking clothing, and there — sitting between grandma's old dishes and Tupperware — is a case containing an ill-used Communion chalice and a paten.…
The sounds of Good Friday
It’s an image and moment of Good Friday I’ll never forget. More poignantly, it’s the sound that still resonates in my mind and heart more than a decade later. I took an extended break — longer than I probably should have — that particular…
30 ways to spiritually grow this Lent — that aren’t fasting from food
Last year was the first year in my entire life that I took the time to understand that Lent is a time to change your life for God, not sacrifice things you like such as coffee or candy. It’s that simple. It’s about using your time and…
REND YOUR HEARTS
Rend your hearts, not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God (Joel 2:13). Jesus’ call to conversion and penance, like that of the prophets before him, does not aim first at outward works, “sackcloth and ashes,” fasting and…
Savoring the simplicity of Lent
by Jeff Young For me, one of the most beautiful aspects of being Catholic is celebrating the liturgical seasons: Advent, Christmas, Lent, Easter, and Ordinary Time. There’s something so simple, so … human about this. The seasons ground us…
Simple and spiritually fulfilling ways to observe Lent
At its core, Christianity is a religion which revolves around suffering. From the beginning of the Scriptures we see how man’s own folly has condemned us to lives filled with suffering, and the long breadth of human history easily…
Renewing your spirit by decluttering your house
The Book of Ecclesiastes says that there is nothing new under the sun, but clutter actually is a new social problem. For most of history (and in much of the world today), the challenge was to make do with not enough. But for many of us,…
Understanding the enemy and protecting yourself from Satan’s sneakiest trick
When we think of Satan, the first thing that usually comes to mind is how he tempts us to sin. He typically does this by dangling something evil in front of us, hoping that we’ll take the bait. Because he is so devious, however, the…
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…
