No matter which year of the three-year lectionary cycle we are in, the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Lent is always the same: the Transfiguration. What on earth is it doing here? Isn’t Jesus revealing his glory the opposite…
Prayer is the action that grounds us in our faith. It is a personal and communal experience that brings us closer to God. It is so much a part of us that sometimes we are unaware that it is happening.…
Lent can be such a rich experience if we make time for it. Something I like to do each year is choose a book or two that will accompany me through the season. Reading even 20 minutes a day grounds…
“Forty days,” the experts say, “it takes to break a bad habit. Give or take a week or so.” “Forty days,” they say, “it takes to form a good one.” “Forty days,” we say, “it takes to change a heart.”…
It seems macabre to have a special day devoted to reminding people they are going to die. Yet on the surface that appears to be the reason behind Ash Wednesday. “Ashes to ashes and dust to dust” and all that……
What is the Reupholstered Psalms about? This book contains reworked versions of the first 50 psalms in the Hebrew Bible. I call them “reupholstered” because the technique used in writing them is akin to the wise and, unfortunately, underutilized art…
The tradition of saints in our Catholic Church is filled with legends, myths and inspiration. In reading about St. Valentine, I was reminded of how influential the Church has been in modern culture throughout history. Also, we cannot deny that…
As a Catholic girl of Irish descent who grew up in rural Ontario, I didn’t grow up with Disney princesses. I grew up with apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. When I was around six or seven years old, someone my…
The 20-Minute Retreat: 18 Sessions with the Saints to Nourish Your Faith, by David Perrin Wouldn’t it be great to go on a week-long retreat one of these days? Imagine the peace and quiet, and the time to yourself for…
Jim went out smiling. Cancer, for all its devastation, couldn’t deprive his eyes of their sly sparkle, nor his face of its tenacious warmth. Jim Webb, SJ died a religious in the most radical sense of the term: tied to…