Before becoming a mother, I had no idea how important my relationships with other mothers would be.

Among the many beautiful feasts of the Blessed Virgin Mary is the Visitation. This year it falls on a Sunday and so won’t be celebrated in the liturgy. Nevertheless, it should not be passed over in silence. Among its important lessons is the beauty of interior freedom – Mary’s interior freedom.

When Mark Scallion arrived at Mount St. Mary’s, the former high school star found himself sitting on the bench. Instead of giving up, he embraced a new role — and made college basketball history in the process.

It’s spring. Let’s take our prayer to the gardens where we hear the voice of someone who promises never to leave us alone, and who calls our name in the shadowy dawn.

Our belief in the absolute permanence of marriage is rooted in what Jesus himself taught us in St. Matthew’s Gospel…

By all odds, the distinguished intellectual landmark in the project of integrating Catholicism and Americanism is “We Hold These Truths: Catholic Reflections on the American Proposition,” a collection of essays published in 1960 by the theologian Jesuit Father John Courtney Murray.

Participation in the “communion of saints” is one of the great gifts conferred in baptism. As I give thanks for the gift of my baptism seventy-five years ago, it is incorporation into this “great cloud of witnesses” (Hebrews 12:1) for which I am particularly grateful.

Back in the fall, my sister Maureen reached out to tell us that her son, a junior in high school, had landed an actual role in his school musical.

What goodness of God, to give the gifts we need: extra time, real companions, rich stories and relentless grace. In the family of faith, even in our hardest days, we are never alone on the road.

Now it occurs to me that since I didn’t say my penance right away, my confession was invalid and I shouldn’t have received Communion at Mass. Is this a new sin I need to confess?