This is the pattern, the lesson, Easter’s strange suggestion, that even in the tombs of our lives, even when there’s no reasonable ground to hope, we still do not despair.

The history of relics — authentic or fake — is an amazing, fascinating chapter of Christian history through the centuries, especially the relics of Jesus Christ, which remain the most venerated and famous.

No saint (outside the Bible) is more associated with the festival of Easter than St. John Chrysostom.

Just the name “Easter” brings thoughts of new life, springtime, of freshness, of the Resurrection. This is not only a day — not only a few weeks on the church calendar — but, for Christians, a way of life.

This weekend, we said goodbye to one of our little zebra finches, Hermione.

From baking sweet breads to blessing baskets, Holy Week is full of long-standing traditions that transcend cultures and continents. The following list includes a quick overview of family favorites.

In retelling the fairy tales of bygone eras, filmmakers would do well to allow Snow White’s prince to come, Belle’s Beast to transform and Cinderella’s slipper to fit.

We know that God is totally loving and merciful, and is always ready to forgive. And this is why Jesus left the church with the sacrament of penance, to provide a means for reconciliation after post-baptismal sins.

God is good and full of mercy, with plans for us — plans of fullness, not of harm. Increasingly I feel called to serve that reality, to quiet down and let the frenzied world turn its terrible ways while in the grips of a chaos magic that has been increasing in its scope for many decades.

A baby giraffe. A new little—well, not so little—life in the world. It was just the spark of joy this gray April day needed.