Brother Mary Joseph lay in state at Mepkin Abbey, his simple funeral liturgy soon to begin, fitting for a man who lived a simple life at the South Carolina Trappist monastery.

In a sense, the pope’s messages all amount to the same thing: Hello and God bless you. But there is a care in the language that is striking.

Coaching ice skating, in some ways, isn’t far from teaching others about the church: It requires a knowledge of the rules involved, but it also means that I, too, must be willing to learn and listen and respond.

It is easy to think of older people as always having existed in their current condition. Does it make us feel younger to think that way? More superior? Perhaps we hope it holds our own mortality at bay.

The Harvard Study of Adult Development has found that deep relationships are a key to long term emotional well-being. As I read their findings, I found myself wondering how many people would include a relationship with God as one of the deep personal relationships of their lives.

How the spiritual sponsor of A.A.’s Bill W. began his ministry