The title “prince of the church” carries with it the sound of trumpets, the flash of a ring, the image of royalty. But Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, far from...
Personal spirituality
Read U.S. Catholic’s coverage of personal spirituality, offering insights, stories, and resources to nurture your prayer, discernment, and spiritual growth.
Every Holy Week, we move through the paschal mystery with our bodies: We carry green palm branches, baskets of bread, bottles of wine, towels and basins; we...
Recently a friend asked me why I was Catholic. I mumbled the first few reasons that entered my head—the faith of my family, the enticing power of the...
When weepy Mexican women embrace you in a small, dimly lit chapel, it’s hard to find appropriate words to greet their emotion. And when you speak broken-at...
Although my wife isn’t sure a man can be a feminist, I’m a male feminist. I got to be this way both through conviction and self-defense—I live with three women...
The November night I dedicated my life to Christ—the night I let go—was the night I devoted myself to my career. Faith and craft became one. Standing on a...
In fourth grade, to Sister Clarita at St. Raphael’s Elementary School, I announced I would be a writer. Had I known about jobs with more status and better pay...
The smell of horses and leather filled the air as I made the last harness adjustments, stepped behind the team of willing Belgians, and drove them to the...
My dad sent me a DVD of a documentary about the development of the Helvetica font. In my former life I was an editor, and I have always been interested in...
I am a professor of theology, but I cannot tell you what sacraments are. The sacraments, you see, are not things that can be explained but acts that engage us...
