As Jesus prepared to enter his Passion, he climbed 28 stairs to meet Pontius Pilate. Two thousand years later, pilgrims from across the world travel to Rome to venerate and prayerfully ascend the stairs, meditating on the Passion and death of the
The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoyevsky chose John 12:24 as the epigraph for his famous novel The Brothers Karamazov. The verse, one of my favorite verses of Scripture, reads, "Amen, amen, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the
Lent is intended to be a season for intensifying the disciplines of our faith -- not the only time when we practice them! Prayer, fasting and almsgiving should be part of our lives all year, and not just when the statues are
The “doldrums” are a windless area of the world’s oceans that impeded and slowed ships before the rise of motor driven seagoing vessels. It’s where we get a term for being emotionally stalled, morally adrift or spiritually mired. Just as sailors once
As we prepare to enter into the most sacred days of the liturgical year, we have a prime opportunity to make up for any shortcomings that may have been part of our Lent this year, or to “level up” for a strong
Holy Saturday is often overlooked in the celebration of Holy Week. On Holy Thursday we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist. On Good Friday we remember the Lord’s Passion. But by Saturday, we’re already attending to all the preparations for Easter Sunday.
Sister Mary Grace still remembers when she, as a novice, trained with Navy SEALs. “We were invited to Long Island on a beach just to kind of get some insight and inspiration from … Navy SEALs,” she recently revealed during a new
The Seventh Last Word: "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." (Lk 23:46)
We celebrate this Fourth Sunday of Lent because we have seen the sign of love: the glory of the Crucified One, the cross, the wood of our salvation.
During a recent pilgrimage to Mexico City, Father Patrick Briscoe had the opportunity to climb Tepayac Hill, where Our Lady of Guadalupe had appeared to St. Juan Diego hundreds of years ago. While he had prepared for the pilgrimage in other ways,