The Church has traditionally grounded Lenten spirituality in almsgiving, fasting and prayer as taught by Jesus in his Evangelical Discourse (Matt. Chap. 6). At the mention of “prayer,” our thoughts may turn first just in the direction of vocal prayer, – “saying” prayers. But we should never restrict the concept of prayer just to “words.” ...read more

This title may prompt you to say: “Fasting for Lent is hard enough but fasting for Easter is just too much!” Indeed, a better title might be “Fasting because of Easter.” Whatever? Here’s the reason we fast — some people in the Gospel once asked Jesus why they and the Pharisees fast often, but Jesus’ ...read more

“Have you any spare change?” If you’re a person who does much walking around a city these days you may recognize these words as the appeal of a street person. The “times” seem to be multiplying the number of people experiencing “hard times” – individuals who are depending on public charity for a livelihood. Thus, ...read more

These are the words that we hear on Ash Wednesday as ashes are imposed on our forehead in the shape of a cross: “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel” (or with the alternate formula: “Remember that you are dust and unto dust you shall return”).This invitation on the lips of the ...read more

[This blog comes from Fr. Gordon Kennedy, C.S.B., who helps us out here at Salt + Light. You can catch Fr. Gordon on the Advent round table Focus episode which airs Thursday December 6th and Sunday, December 9th at 7pm and 11pm ET] Of all the Seasons on the Church’s Calendar, I think that the ...read more