Creation, the Garden, Adam and Eve, the serpent, and the forbidden fruit. What does this story express about our desires and ourselves? ...read more

Pope Francis gave the homily at the Holy Mass with Blessing and Imposition of Ashes on Ash Wednesday. He said that “the rite of the imposition of ashes exhorts us to return to the truth about ourselves and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters.” Read the full text of his homily below: ...read more

Joel 2:12-18 “Blow the trumpet in Zion; sanctify a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Sanctify the congregation; assemble the aged, gather the children… Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep. Let them say, ‘Spare your people, O Lord.'” (Joel 2:15, 17) What is the ...read more

In his message for Lent 2023, Pope Francis reflected on the Transfiguration of Our Lord and the “’retreat’ on Mount Tabor” as an image of the Church’s journey to Easter as well as of the synodal path. The Holy Father said that “Lent leads to Easter: the ‘retreat’ is not an end in itself, but ...read more

Last time I tried to make a case for reading Scripture. Our faith teaches that, not only should we read and study Scripture, but we should pray with Scripture. When I was growing up in the 70s, this was not taught in Catechism class. Although, come to think of it, it’s not like anyone taught ...read more

Many people associate Lent with sacrifice and giving up something they enjoy. However, Lent isn’t just about suffering and repentance: it’s also about spiritual growth. It’s a time for introspection, reflection, and self-examination. As Catholics, we are called to look inward, turn away from our vices, and seek God’s healing, strength, and guidance to make ...read more

I find that Lent is a certain “dying to ourselves.” Often, we imagine this happens through giving something up, and it certainly does. There are many things that we can remove from our lives to amplify God more: social media, coffee, online shopping.  But what if amplifying God can come about through a different means, ...read more

About 15 years ago, I decided to read the Bible cover to cover. Not that I hadn’t read the Bible before: of course I had – in spurts. In fact, the Bible that my Mom gave me when I left home at 16 is almost all underlined, with scribbles on the margins and falling apart, ...read more

For the last two weeks (part 1 and part 2) I’ve been trying to imagine what our world would be like had Jesus never been born. It’s easy to say that The Church would not exist or that we would have no Pope. There would be no priests, deacons, religious sisters or brothers, nor there ...read more

Last week I was imagining a world without Christmas. That would mean no Christmas music and no Christmas movies. But a world without Jesus would mean much more to our popular culture. One of my favourite Broadway musicals is Les Miz. I never read the novel, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and wasn’t crazy about ...read more