A Reflection for Friday of the Second Week of Advent, by Valerie Schultz

That is what the Madonna represents: the initial whole, the divine unity of us, the world and God, is something that must be lost.

On this episode of “Inside the Vatican,” Colleen and Gerry cover the case of Marko Rupnik, a well-known Jesuit artist who has been barred from hearing confessions or offering spiritual direction after allegations of abuse.

The pope started crying and had to pause for a moment after he prayed, “Immaculate Virgin, today I would have liked to bring you the thanksgiving of the Ukrainian people for the peace we have long asked the Lord for.”

As the pope’s step faltered, his cries for peace increased, although not without controversy and criticism.

The Incarnation continues in the church, the body of Christ.

The Rev. Hans Zollner said the recent statement by the Jesuit order about the Rev. Marko Ivan Rupnik “raised questions that, as far as I see, can only be answered by the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith.”

After Dorothy Day's death in 1980, her biographer William Miller wrote her obituary for America, noting that "the amazing thing about her life was the improbability of it all."

A Reflection for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception, by Ricardo da Silva, S.J.

Centering prayer helps me find those places in my heart where God's grace is playing.