Most people discover that coming back to the church is not an event as much as it is a process that involves a little pain, a little laughter, some thinking, some prayer, some discernment and a lot of letting go.

The door to that future is always open for us: it is the door of the confessional where sins committed after baptism are forgiven.

There have been many canonized saints who were treated very badly by church leaders of their day, through no fault of their own.

Robert P. George, McCormick professor of jurisprudence and director of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University, recently spoke with OSV News’ Charlie Camosy about how St. John Paul II’s encyclical “Evangelium Vitae,” released 30 years ago, provided a pro-life vision that remains relevant today.

As the lunch came to a close, she brought out the gender reveal cake. I have never been to a gender reveal party, but I love any reason to celebrate a new little one.

George Matysek Jr. remembers the late Elizabeth Ann Murphy, a victim-survivor of child sexual abuse and a fierce advocate for justice. She dedicated her life to ensuring survivors’ voices were heard, challenging fellow Catholics to listen and take action.

I smiled the whole way back to my seat. After Mass, we chatted about how wonderful it was that I had been able to receive the Eucharist from him. What an unexpected surprise and delight.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church lays out a very different understanding of hope for the Christian, not merely as an expectation, but as a supernatural virtue:

We stand before Christ, transcending time, awaiting the moment when the energy of light and life — unleashed at creation, and subsumed (just once) into the quiescence of a grace-filled womb — flares through that enshrouded body, reanimating, resurrecting.

Pope St. John Paul II could well be called the “apostle of life.” He spent his entire pontificate boldly proclaiming the inviolability of innocent human life.