“Pure love … knows that only one thing is needed to please God,” St. Faustina wrote, “to do even the smallest things out of great love—love, and always love.”

This week’s 7 Quick Takes includes Easter fun and a trip to the zoo.

Two boys and two bicycles and two bicycle helmets and a new love for bargain shopping. Not bad for a beautiful spring afternoon.

Yes, we encounter pain and suffering on earth, but we walk with one another, and God is with us every step along the way.

If I were getting graded on how I’ve done this Lent, I am not sure I would pass.Maybe that’s why I am especially grateful for the prayer basket we filled with intentions before Lent even began.Every morning we’ve pulled out a name for our intention of the day. We’ve prayed for

For weeks our first grader has been reminding me that soon it would be our turn to bring the snack to Cub Scouts. I haven’t focused much on it, but he has been taking it very seriously.Our turn came the Wednesday before Easter—Spy Wednesday—so I suggested we should bring pretzels.

One year ago I drove to the hospital to hold my niece for the first time. She was precious and sweet and snuggly and warm.This weekend we celebrated her first birthday. Throughout her party, she was laughing and crawling and bouncing and reaching over to give her big sister a

How did you celebrate April Fools Day?

Every day during Lent we pull a slip of paper out of our prayer basket and read the name of the person or people listed there.We’ve prayed for cousins and grandparents, deceased family members and living friends. We share stories about the people we’re praying for, and—when I think of

This Lenten season, as we fast and serve and pray, I hope we can try to find moments just to be with God.