My concern with Advent is that it can reduce our hoping for the surprising act of God to waiting for God to give us what we expect.
Faith in Focus
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This Advent, don’t run away from darkness—spiritual or literal
When both the literal and the spiritual darkness of the world feels overwhelming, we must not turn away.
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What researching my ancestry taught me about being an adopted child of God
We are not only the family of God because of an act of love but, because he was born as one of us, we are now also biologically like God. We are genetically related to him because he became one of us.
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Father James Martin: My 5 favorite jokes about Jesuits (inspired by Pope Francis)
Today in The New York Times, Pope Francis praised the value of joy, humor and laughter, and noted “jokes about and told by Jesuits are in a class of their own.” Here are 5 of my favorite.
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Want to make a personalized donation this Christmas season? Try your parish’s giving tree.
Although there are many ways to donate during the Christmas season, the giving trees may be the most meaningful to me. This format for giving provides an intimacy not always present through other forms of donating.
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My final vows as a religious sister—and the people who got me there
I hoped my final vows would be an occasion of encounter with the goodness of God for each person present
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Mariachi, rosaries and devoted Latino Catholics: My morning at a procession for Our Lady of Guadalupe
In the face of fear and threats to our community, Latinos from around the city gathered in a public veneration of Our Lady of Guadalupe––seeking comfort in her and in each other.
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What religious communities can learn from the death (and rebirth) of malls
A look at bygone shopping malls should stand as a warning not to let parishes be taken for granted.
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Our Lady of Champion: America’s own Marian miracle is a story of immigrants, service and survival
Despite the popularity of pilgrimages to the National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion, located in Wisconsin, the apparition was not officially approved for worship until 2023.
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This Thanksgiving, follow Abraham Lincoln’s lead: thank God—and repent
For Lincoln, Thanksgiving was a day to not only reflect on our blessings but repent for our shortcomings and find ways to seek reconciliation to God and to our neighbors.