The coming of Lent conjures a complicated set of awakenings in my consciousness that rivals the coming of spring itself. Almost all of them involve food. Our...
Lent
Explore U.S. Catholic coverage of Lent, connecting traditional practices with modern life, justice, and spiritual renewal.
Everyone has a favorite Mass song. Maybe it’s “All Are Welcome,” that song you could never get out of your head after elementary school Mass. Or maybe...
My initial encounter with the 17th-century Spanish painter Juan de Valdés Leal’s Pietà came at an auspicious moment in my spiritual journey. After having...
The holiest of weeks began in procession, then and now. At some point we exchanged dirt roads and donkeys for concrete sidewalks and poster board, but the...
Practicing Catholics the world over understand the importance of giving up something for Lent. The typical Lenten sacrifice includes perennial favorites such...
I was standing in the middle of a small frozen lake near our house, chatting with my husband and Nate, another father in our neighborhood. I was in ice skates...
When I was little, I was very shy. Once I went with my cousin Kathy to her friend Linda’s house. We knocked and walked into the kitchen, where Linda’s mother...
Apocalypse is so in right now. It’s almost an essential part of the cultural landscape. It’s not just sci-fi that takes us into the realm where everything...
On Good Friday millions of Christians prayerfully mark the way of the cross. Pope Francis often notes that Christ’s crucifixion is not just historical but...
I took my son to church for Holy Thursday for the first time last year when he was just more than 18 months old. I worried that we’d have to leave early or...
