A meditation for Easter

“The idea of a preacher who sings as a part of their homily is part of many African American cultural traditions,” explains Kim Harris. “The songs carry so many of our stories, hopes, and beliefs, and what we’re thinking about and believing and preaching about.”

The pope called for specific, concrete, immediate steps that political leaders could take to end the wars and bring peace to the Holy Land and to Ukraine.

"Let us lift our eyes to him and ask that the power of his resurrection may roll away the heavy stones that weigh down our souls," the pope said in his homily on March 30.

Those chosen to lead the Way of the Cross included minors living in foster homes, people with disabilities, migrants, catechists, priests and cloistered nuns.

"The concern of the risen Jesus is not to confuse his enemies, but to go and reassure his dismayed disciples," he said.

Right there at the cross, in Jesus, our humanity doesn’t fall beyond its edges. Even there, even then, he continues to love. And even in that dense darkness—or loneliness—that he experiences as a human being, he doesn’t let himself forget that he is loved too.

The 12 women whose feet were washed by Pope Francis included women from Italy, Bulgaria, Nigeria, Ukraine, Russia, Peru, Venezuela and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

"We, the members of the Society of Jesus, continue to be lifted up in prayer, in lament, in protest at the death and destruction that continue to reign in Gaza and other territories in Israel/Palestine, spilling over into the surrounding countries of the Middle East."

While some children have been evacuated from conflict, more than 1.1 million children in Gaza and 3.7 million in Haiti have been left behind to face the rampaging adult world around them.

Easter will not be postponed this year. It will not wait until the war is over. It is precisely now, in our darkest hour, that resurrection finds us.

The paradox at the heart of Christianity is that we must die in order to live again. And few movies witness to that truth like “Romero” (1989).

History has ignored Joanna, as it has most of the other women who followed Jesus from Galilee to Jerusalem and provided for him and the Twelve “from their resources” (Lk 8:2-3).

For parishioners at Most Holy Trinity Church in Phoenix, Ariz., dramatizing Christ’s Passion on the Via Crucis is a way of passing on the faith.

During my time as the assistant Catholic chaplain at a state prison, I learned how chaplains must model their ministry to those who are vulnerable in the same spirit as St. Veronica.

For me, Communion is holy and very real, a connection to God and to God’s people. As a hospital chaplain, though, my job is to support the spirituality of patients and families right where they are. 

A Homily for Good Friday, by Father Terrance Klein

A conversation with Cardinal Wilton Gregory on synodality, the dangers of social media and the role of young people in overcoming divisions in our church and country.

A Homily for Holy Thursday, by Father Terrance Klein

Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection made us into one with our great maker.