Columns
By Russell Shaw
It happens every year on Ash Wednesday. In our downtown parishes, women and men, old and young, office and construction workers, corporate lawyers, police officers, messengers and many others cut short their lunch hours and stream up the aisles to have a cruciform smudge of ashes planted on their foreheads. It’s a yearly reminder that …
2/14/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Richard Miserendino
GOSPEL COMMENTARY Feb. 11 Mk 1:40-45 Recently while watching an old TV show, I heard one of the “smart” characters quip that he “could never believe in a God that takes attendance on Sundays.” He was echoing a popular belief that we’ve all heard: Why would a good and loving God really care about obedience …
2/10/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Msgr. Charles M. Mangan
Penance, also referred to as self-denial and mortification, joins prayer and almsgiving as the “works” of Lent that the church points to as necessary if we wish to imitate Jesus Christ. Many penitential practices are connected to food and drink. Food and drink have been abused before, but today there is evidence of much gluttony. …
2/7/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Elizabeth Foss
I’m tired of multi-tasking. I’m tired of productivity. I’m tired of the blurred lines between work and home. I’m tired of scrolling Instagram while watching a football game, talking on the phone while searching online for a recipe, and people texting everywhere — including behind the wheel of a car. If we are in the …
2/7/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Christina Capecchi
One after another, influencers are taking the plunge. The cold-water plunge. I couldn’t help but follow along when Elizabeth Ries, a lovable TV personality from Minneapolis, joined the trend this week, heading to Duluth, Minn., to dip into Lake Superior. It was zero degrees, and the mother of three was multi-tasking: filming for TV while …
2/7/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Many have noticed already that Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, falls on Ash Wednesday this year. At first glance, this is an odd juxtaposition. The date usually associated with chocolates, flowery festivities and fine meals is, this year, a day of fasting and abstinence, and the start of the penitential season that will lead us through …
2/7/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Jack Peterson, YA
Gospel Commentary Jan. 28, 2024 Mk 1:21-28 Have you ever heard a speaker and been totally captivated by them and their message? Have you had a moment where you felt like the person spoke directly to your mind and heart with a message that was remarkably true and, at the same time, directed specifically at …
1/27/24
Reading Time
3
min
By Mary Beth Bonacci
Well, it’s January. January is the month, a few years back, when something happened to me and my family (a story for another time) that has required a lot of forgiveness work — work I have not yet completed. That work, incomplete though it may be, has taught me a lot about what forgiveness is …
1/25/24
Reading Time
5
min
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Each year, the March for Life is an opportunity to bear witness to the unique dignity of each human being, made in the image of God with an irreplaceable part in the human family. Thousands join me on the cold streets of the nation’s capital to remind our leaders of their sacred obligation to defend …
1/25/24
Reading Time
4
min
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