The penitential and grace-filled season of Lent begins with the celebration of Ash Wednesday, which this year falls on Feb. 10. Particularly within the context of the Extraordinary Jubilee of Mercy, we are all called to use this holy season as a time of prayer, reflection and preparation to enter into the celebration of the central mysteries of our faith at Easter.
Following a request by Pope Francis, the Vatican issued a decree specifying that the Holy Thursday foot-washing ritual can include “all members of the people of God,” including women – a practice already observed by the pope and many priests around the world.
ON A RECENT TRIP out West, I once again became aware of one of St. John XXIII’s reasons for initiating the Second Vatican Council: to encourage the Church to adjust to changing times.
My dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, Several Sundays ago, the Gospel portrayed for us the Greeks who went to Phillip and asked the question, “We want to see Jesus.” This question has been repeated millions of time during the two millennium since the death and Resurrection of Jesus. People want to meet Jesus. They want to meet Him in the flesh, but also, more importantly, they want to meet Him spiritually.
The Easter Vigil service is the most dramatic liturgy of the Chuch calendar. It begins with the church in complete darkness. And then a single flame atop the Paschal Candle pierces the darkness, a symbol of the Light of Jesus Christ Risen from the dead. Light overcomes the dark. Good prevails over evil. Sight where there was blindness.
2015, to date, has been a difficult and violent year for the world, to say the least. Perhaps more than ever, we need the realization, in the midst of all the tragedy that surrounds us, that the battle is already won — Christ is the victor over sin and death. A simple little Easter story can remind us of this.
By Kristi Anderson ST. CLOUD, Minn. (CNS) – Who was Jesus? Why do we need a pope? How were we made by God? All of these are good questions that anyone considering becoming Catholic might ask. But the questions are even more poignant when they come from a young man who grew up in a […]
As Holy Week and Easter approached, Pope Francis wanted to show his ongoing concern for people persecuted and displaced by violence in Iraq and in northern Nigeria.
Palm Sunday scenes from Myanmar to Jerusalem.
Sean Faison-Ince, senior St. Edmund Prep Easter is a reminder of Jesus’ significance to me. It also reveals to me how many people are Catholic just like me. Seeing the parishioners walk down my street shows how many faithful there are. Anna Occhino, senior St. John’s Prep Easter is a time of reverence and […]
