I inherited many books from my older brothers—esoteric books from the 1970s on running and weightlifting, and Pietro di Donato’s classic novel Christ in Concrete, about an Italian immigrant family of laborers shattered by the death of their patriarch. But my favorite is Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke. It is a […]
Lent
Posted inFaith in Focus
This Lent, I’m focusing on spiritual conditioning
Can I keep going, push farther, give more?
Posted inFaith in Focus
This Lent, I’m fasting from being an online spectator
It is not simply an act of “fasting from the digital world,” but a deliberate effort toward taking action. If I turn off my phone but never reincorporate myself into the lived world, I will have missed the point.
Posted inFaith and Reason
How to build a faith that’s sturdy enough for real life
What does joy mean when life contradicts it? In the Christian context, it is a “crucified joy,” on that does not deny suffering but rejoices in the triumph of love over death and loss.
Posted inPodcasts
Preaching the pillars of Lent: Fasting
What is fasting for? What biblical precedent do we have for the practices of fasting and abstinence? And how can preachers steer between the two extremes of self-punishment and loophole hunting?
Posted inThe Good Word
When we go to confession, two worlds meet
A Homily for the Third Sunday of Lent, by Father Terrance Klein
Posted inPodcasts
Preaching the pillars of Lent: Almsgiving
What is almsgiving, and why does the Church teach that it is more about justice and right relationship than simply personal charity or philanthropy? In this conversation, Ricardo da Silva, S.J., is joined by Kerry Robinson, President and CEO of Catholic Charities USA., and author of Imagining Abundance: Fundraising, Philanthropy, and a Spiritual Call to Service, a book that reflects on generosity as a spiritual practice rooted in faith.
Posted inFaith in Focus
My Lenten Letters and the Woolly Bear Caterpillar
The Lenten letters I sent to my lapsed, dying father changed how I thought about coming to faith.
Posted inNews
Highlights from Pope Leo’s hand-picked preacher for Curia’s Lenten retreat
“It is tempting to think we must keep up with the world’s fashions. It is, I’d say, a dubious procedure. The Church, a slow-moving body, will always run the risk of looking and sounding last-season,” Bishop Varden told the pope and cardinals.
Posted inThe Good Word
This Lent, count your blessings
Who comes to mind when you deliberately look for those who have been your blessings from God?