Category Church Teaching

Remembering St. Patrick on this Green-Filled Day

By Matthew Sottile, Editor Every year, on March 17th, we’re reminded of the day devoted to St. Patrick (albeit many are unaware of his religious influences and position in the church while dawning the appropriate green gear and enjoying the…

Perfect for Kids: Tell me About Series

By Anne Louise Mahoney, Editor It can be a challenge to hand on our faith to children these days. With so many activities and distractions vying for their attention, faith sharing can get lost in the shuffle. Luckily, few kids…

The Wisdom of Henri Nouwen: A Lenten Reflection

By Kevin Burns In his book The Road to Character David Brooks presents a series of character-building biographical essays about difficult lives, confident that as readers, consciously or unconsciously, we tend “to bend our lives to mimic theirs.” He includes…

Repent with Sorrow, Give with Joy

By Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director On Ash Wednesday, we begin our annual journey to the foot of the cross. Over the coming weeks, as we work through our Lenten preparations for Easter, the Sunday readings offer both highs and lows,…

2017 Review – Language of the Heart (Revised Edition)

By Anne Louise Mahoney Noel Cooper, Language of the Heart: How to Read the Bible – A User’s Guide for Catholics Revised edition (Novalis, 2017) One Valentine’s Day, when my son was three years old, I decorated the kitchen walls…

Be Servants of Hope in a World of Fake News

By Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director Does the Catholic Church have anything relevant to say about the spread of “fake news” and its impact on political debate? Pope Francis offers an unalloyed “yes!” In his Communications Day Message for 2017 (issued…

The Presentation of the Lord

By Anne Louise Mahoney, Editor The Bible is short on details when it comes to Jesus’ early life. In fact, Luke’s gospel covers Jesus’ first 12 years in a mere 34 verses! But in between his birth and his being…

Not with blows, but with charity: Remembering St. John Bosco

Natalia Kononenko, Editor of Living with Christ “Not with blows, but with charity…” Today we celebrate the feast of St. John Bosco, widely known as Don Bosco. Among other things, he is well known for his ministry to the young…

On the Quebec Shooting

Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director Canada has its own racist demons. Can we learn anything from the killing of six Muslims at a suburban mosque near Quebec City on Jan. 29? How do we respond – as individuals and collectively –…

Merry Christmas from the Novalis Team!

Joseph Sinasac, Publishing Director Why do we love Christmas? Why do we spend so much time, energy, money and angst in preparing for this single day? For many reasons, I suppose, but at its heart, Christmas responds to our deep…