Pope Francis, his liturgy office and his communications team made very deliberate decisions over the past year with the goal of letting people experience how close the pope was to them in their isolation and suffering.
Lent
Jesus wasn’t just good, he is God, papal preacher says
Plenty of non-Christians believe that Jesus was a real person and that what he taught can make the world a better place, but what makes a person a Christian is believing that Jesus is God, said the preacher of the papal household.
Hope, after the long, long Lent
It will take months, perhaps the rest of the year, to get to the point where enough people have been vaccinated that everything can return to normal – or a new normal. It will be exceedingly good to get back to Mass and the sacraments, resume gatherings with friends and families, and participate in parish activities and in-person classes.
Doing the impossible
It is freeing to abandon our cares to God and focus on the necessary tasks that have been put before us.
The fish-stick dilemma
As we focus on growing closer to Jesus, may we carve out time and opportunities to walk with him in joy. If that happens to include fish sticks for dinner, let me know what time I should be there.
Washing dishes for Lent
We are blessed to have dirty dishes to wash.
Homebound, Operation CRS Rice Bowl nonetheless raises awareness of hunger
In the Archdiocese of Baltimore, 37 parishes are participating in Catholic Relief Service’s Operation Rice Bowl this year.
This Lent, risk prayer
Don’t underestimate yourself. God has need of the talents you have been given. Prayer shows us how to use and multiply our gifts.
Do nothing for Lent
Many years for Lent I take on too many goals and give up too many things. A few days into Lent, I invariably realize I have failed at everything I planned to give up and take on.
Lent’s promise in bleak times
Perhaps it’s a blessing, then, that the church gives us Lent in midwinter. It’s a season of soul-searching; the gray skies give us no other choice but to turn inward and examine the dark spaces we’d rather not explore.
For Lent, ask if one’s life is centered on God or oneself, pope says
Lent is a time to reconsider the path one is taking in life and to finally answer God’s invitation to return to him with one’s whole heart, Pope Francis said.
Ash Wednesday: Guided by St. Clare of Assisi
This Lent, I call on St. Clare of Assisi to show me the way. I need a sister in Christ to lead me through Lent radically different than in Lents past — to embrace penance, conversion and self-sacrifice as Jesus refines me.