Ash Wednesday isn’t a holy day of obligation, but in English-speaking countries, it still has a powerful draw even for Catholics who are otherwise non-practicing.

Lent is a time of personal and communal conversion, when we acknowledge that God calls each one of us to draw closer and we examine the ways in which we need to grow in response to that call.

A reflection for Ash Wednesday from James Martin, S.J.

Reflections on Scripture, prayer, fasting and almsgiving.

I do not have time to go to the church’s rosary for peace in Ukraine, but I go anyway. I have to do something, even though I feel like my small gesture will amount to nothing.

A good rule of thumb for Lent: Be childlike, not childish.