In the Disney film Encanto, the Madrigal family’s story begins when Abuela and Abuelo flee civil war in their home country of Colombia. Abuelo sacrifices...
Lent
One year ago, at the start of Lent 2021, I put my foot down. There would be no fasting, no penance, and no “giving up” this year, I decided. Like many other...
“Repent, and believe in the gospel.” These two summonses, or better, invitations, are spoken over us as Christians are marked with ashes at the beginning of...
Along with almsgiving and prayer, fasting is a central Lenten practice. More recently, fasting has emerged as a popular secular dieting practice too. Thanks to...
Of all the great Triduum teachers, trees captivate me the most. I make a point to wander through my local arboretum each Good Friday. These Midwestern trees...
As a story loses its history, it gains its meaning. This is never truer than in stories shared among families about their common memories. Over the years, the...
In March 2020, when much of the United States entered some iteration of lockdown or quarantine (and in some places never really left that state), I accepted...
Exactly one year ago, the pandemic ended the weekly way of the cross and other Lenten activities that required in-person gathering at the parish of Betty...
Broken can be beautiful too. This is the lesson of kintsugi, an ancient Japanese art form that gives new life to broken pottery. The word kintsugi means “to...
Jessica Coblentz relies on firsthand experience of fasting to drive her research questions. She studies what we’re doing as people of faith every Lenten season...
