Making the sign of the cross is a gesture that says, in shorthand, that a person is Catholic. It appears as an icon in popular culture, and as a gesture it is...
Religion
Essays explaining our faith, including stories about church teaching, Vatican documents, canon law, liturgical theology, and other Catholic topics.
So here’s the story of my friend, Wes, from Kentucky. We’ve never met, but I’ve known Wes for years. He reads the reflections I write in this or that magazine...
On a winter’s day in New York City early in 2020, urban religion expert Tony Carnes walks down Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens, a boulevard that can be...
Most folks wouldn’t name the Books of Kings among their go-to reads. Why not? The Books of Kings are cool! Not because of the kings, necessarily, but because...
In the weeks and months following the global economic shutdown due to the novel coronavirus and the international quarantines and shelter-in-place orders...
We’ve recently had a taste of what it’s like not to go to church. We literally couldn’t gather. Since the root word for church, ekklesia, means “assembly,” not...
What does it mean to be in exile? The Christian tradition treats the idea of exile as a spiritual phenomenon: being sundered from our pristine beginnings, cast...
Will there be enough? This question invaded our thoughts and made a bid for our souls in the early weeks of the pandemic this year. Fear of insufficiency made...
When a megachurch popped up on the outskirts of Kate Bowler’s town, she didn’t understand why her friends were drawn to its worship. Over time, she discovered...
Christ preached turning the other cheek, doing good to those who persecute you, and loving your enemies. At the Sermon on the Mount, he reminded us that the...
