Our daily lives are different in so many ways, transformed suddenly almost a year ago and then evolving bit by bit every day.

In many ways, it feels we have been in one long Lent for almost a year now.

Being a teacher may not buy me the BMW of my dreams, but days like this make me feel like a millionaire.

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.

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.

We so rarely know what will be asked of us on any given day. All we can really do is accept each task as it’s placed in front of us.

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.

Father Doyle fields questions about language in the Nicene Creed and the Catholic position on cremation.

Remember way back at the beginning of the pandemic when we were all jockeying for yeast and discussing sourdough starters? It seems like a distant memory. Lately, I feel I’m thinking more about which local restaurant I want to support tonight.

Welcome to the Year of the Ox.