Even in an emergency, non-ordained laypeople are not able to confer absolution; nor can Catholic deacons, even though they are ordained.

Father R. Aaron Wessman, the author of “The Church’s Mission in a Polarized World” (New City Press), explores how we might rein in the momentum of hate that is pushing us further and further apart.

It’s hard to believe that Lent starts in just a few days and that Ash Wednesday is this week. I’m looking forward to Lent and have no concrete plan yet—except filling our prayer basket with intentions to pick each morning.

In a job that demands self-sacrifice and service, perhaps it’s more difficult these days to find police applicants in a world replete with self-service and entitlement.

As we look ahead to the start of Lent, I’ve been thinking that that is a question we can ask ourselves about our relationship with God. “How do we show God that we love him, and how does he show us that he loves us?”

It is incumbent upon us as God’s sons and daughters to choose to abstain from the exercise of such power, to leave this fruit untouched so that we might better see and understand the authentic life of love and joy God has created for us to live.

We mourn the loss of the tens of thousands of lives in Turkey and Syria after this horrific earthquake, and we rejoice in the same spirit of the rescuers for each one who was saved.

The difference in customs regarding the Christian initiation of infants amounts to a difference in emphasis between the broad liturgical traditions of Christian East and West.

Even people who remember not to scarf down a box of Nerds minutes before Mass still have questions left to discern and explore.

The road to joy may be the path of suffering. Endo’s “Silence” is a brilliant account of that paradox, and perfect Lenten reading.