History and Ash Wednesday illustrate a mutual truth: Ideas are much easier to suggest than to suppress.

“The rite of the imposition of ashes serves as the beginning of this return journey. It exhorts us to do two things: to return to the truth about ourselves and to return to God and to our brothers and sisters.”

This week, I gave Playground, a more customizable version of ChatGPT, a series of prompts for Ash Wednesday homilies. And the results were pretty astonishing.

Each Ash Wednesday, our pews are overflowing. How can we turn our Lenten promises into a dialogue with those who might not usually attend Mass outside of this day?

I didn’t know Bishop Dave as well as others did, so part of me also feels like my sadness is unjustified. And then there is regret.

A Reflection for Ash Wednesday, by Sam Sawyer, S.J.

“If you take refuge in an idea, in an ideology, whether right or left or center, you are making the Gospel a political party, an ideology, a club of people,” Pope Francis said during his general audience on Feb. 22.

What book will you pick up this Lent? America editors have never been shy about making recommendations on this topic, and over the years, various contributors have also given suggestions on everything from Scripture to novels to devotional reading and more.

A Reflection for Tuesday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, by Zac Davis

Pope Francis has unequivocally confirmed that bishops must obtain authorization from the Holy See before granting permission to celebrate the pre-Vatican II Mass in parish churches.

Two former F.B.I. agents who went on to hold leadership roles in the church say a memo characterizing traditionalist Catholics as possible domestic threats is a troubling example of the bureau not following its own guidelines.

Mardi Gras is not only Catholic, it’s French, Creole, African-American, African and Native American. And there are layers to this ornate carnival that reveal a powerful history of Black joy, resistance and rebellion.

Los Angeles Auxiliary Bishop David G. O’Connell was committed to ‘the ordinary person, not the rich Catholic,’ said Linda Dakin-Grimm, an immigration attorney who worked with the bishop. His death is being investigated as a homicide.

With the first anniversary of Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine just days away, the head of the Ukrainian Catholic Church spoke about gratitude and powerlessness in the face of a “blind, absurd, sacrilegious war.”

A prominent Jesuit artist whose mosaics decorate churches around the globe has been barred from pursuing his artistic activity after 15 more people came forward with fresh accusations against him of spiritual, sexual and psychological abuse.

Bishop David O’Connell, an auxiliary bishop in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles known for his advocacy for peace, was shot and killed Saturday, the Los Angeles Times reported.

A Reflection for Monday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time, by Simcha Fisher

A Reflection for Saturday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time, by Heather Trotta

Traditional Catholic networks have evaporated, and professional marketing of our faith is needed to fill the void.