It was a fresh wind that sent the white smoke billowing away from the roof of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City on March 13, 2013. This ancient herald of a new pope was the first indication of how a…
There are many Easters in my memory: from the ones experienced as a child with new dress-up clothes and maybe a special hat. (Easter bonnets were a real thing when I was young.) There were Easter baskets filled with treats,…
Easter is about resurrection — new life springing forth. But before we can get to Easter, we have to go through the Passion of Jesus Christ, the narrative of his suffering, agony and death on the cross. We play out…
In October of 2015 my wife Annette and I went on a tour of the Holy Land. Each place we visited there held its own special significance, but there was one in particular that stood out for me as the…
I once attended a Mass in El Salvador. The worship space was a small aluminum shed with rows of wooden benches and a space for the priest, and wooden altar at the front. It was a wonderful experience. I do not…
How much do you know about St. Patrick? Did you know that he was not born in Ireland? He was born a Romano-British citizen in the 5th century and so much of what is said about Patrick is a legend.…
One of the pillars of Lenten practice is prayer. Visio Divina (Divine Seeing) is a prayer form that helps our Lenten journey by opening scripture visually. Visio Divina is a way of drawing closer to God through contemplating images. It…
Ash Wednesday, which we observe today, is a centuries-old tradition that initiates the 40 days of Lent prior to Easter. The smudge of ash applied on our foreheads in the shape of a cross sets the tone for Lent by…
Lent tends to sneak up on me. Maybe it’s because I live in a snowy place where the landscape still looks like a Christmas card in March… I find that one way to get into the spirit of Lent is…
The world is a bit of a mess these days, isn’t it? Sometimes I just can’t face the news. There is so much conflict, political instability and suffering of all kinds. Our planet is in peril, and it’s hard to…