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Discipleship Means Complete Obedience to the Will of God Default Thumbnail
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Discipleship Means Complete Obedience to the Will of God

Fifth Sunday of Lent The Book of Jeremiah provides this weekend’s first reading. A common theme runs through all the written prophecies of ancient Israel – namely, that despite human […]

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A Theology of the Body for Lent

In a recent column, I mentioned that the idea of sacrificial fasting – in particular, giving something up for Lent – has fallen out of favor among many Catholics in recent […]

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Cleaning Up for a Special Guest

Kids’ toys were scattered around on the floor. Dog hair had blown into corners (we had shedders). Books were stacked in almost every room in the house, and baskets of […]

How a Lenten Climb Up Tepayac Hill Leads to Christ Default Thumbnail
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How a Lenten Climb Up Tepayac Hill Leads to Christ

I should have been more prepared for the altitude. I knew Mexico City’s elevation had been a concern during the organization of Pope Benedict’s 2012 trip to the country. (Many […]

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The Mission of Lent: Running Toward Love Himself

“By your help, we beseech you, Lord our God, may we walk eagerly in that same charity with which, out of love for the world, Your Son handed Himself over […]

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Rejoice! The Resurrection of Christ Is Drawing Near

Fourth Sunday of Lent The Second Book of Chronicles provides this Lenten weekend with its first reading. Chronicles was written about 1,000 years before Jesus. The identity of its author […]

The Painting Beneath the Painting: Faith That Endures Default Thumbnail
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The Painting Beneath the Painting: Faith That Endures

I was a first grader when I made my inaugural trip to Disney. This month – decades later – I returned with a first grader and a fresh set of […]

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‘You Will Never Wash My Feet!’

Soon enough, we will be celebrating Holy Thursday, also known as the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper. The Gospel reading for that Mass is John 13:1-15, which is not […]

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‘True Confessions’ Offers Inside Perspectives on Church’s Challenges

Parishes closing or consolidating. Fewer and fewer people at Sunday Mass. An aging corps of priests and not enough new vocations to take their place. These and similar items combine […]

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May We Not Be Blind, but See God’s Beatific Vision

“The Lord anointed my eyes: I went, I washed, I saw, and I believed in God.” The Communion antiphon for this Fourth Sunday of Lent, which shares the Gospel passage […]

Lent Reminds Us of Our Humanity – the Good and the Bad Default Thumbnail
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Lent Reminds Us of Our Humanity – the Good and the Bad

Third Sunday of Lent The Book of Exodus is the source of the first biblical reading this weekend. In Hebrew history, the Exodus virtually was unsurpassed as an event of […]

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Understanding the ‘Feminine Genius’ of All Women

“The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, […]