The pope’s monthly prayer intentions reflect the tension between the comfort and challenge of the Gospel. On March 13, the 11th anniversary of Francis’ papacy, there is no better gift than to pray with and for him.
Faith in Focus
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I find ‘Fiducia Supplicans’ hard to accept. Maybe that’s the point.
Amid all the wrestling with theology we do, maybe our job is also to notice what is being done to us. To behold the way God uses vexing things like conflict in the church to work on us, to purify us.
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How yoga helped me find God and peace with my aging body
I understand that yoga can be a controversial practice. But for many of us older people, it helps us pay attention to our bodies and our minds, to the way they can work together for our health and well-being.
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Men for Others: How the famous Jesuit maxim evolved—and what it means to Gen Z
On the surface, the message of the Jesuit maxim “men for others” is simple, but its history and evolution only add to its layered and meaningful message.
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Renowned artist Father Bill McNichols on icons, saints and contemplation
A conversation between theologian Christopher Pramuk and iconographer Father William Hart McNichols.
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What I’ve learned about life—and death—by distributing ashes on Ash Wednesday
There’s something distinctive about the physical and spiritual intimacy of distributing ashes.
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Ash Wednesday lessons from my Catholic high school days
It is a radical thing to declare oneself a sinner, but on Ash Wednesday, we willingly wear that sign of guilt across our foreheads.
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The Catholic Case for Galentine’s Day
Feeling conflicted about eating those heart-shaped chocolates on Ash Wednesday this year? Try celebrating Galentine’s Day with your gal pals on Feb. 13 instead.
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How Julian of Norwich’s writings on suffering have helped me as a cancer patient
“If we come to understand that God suffers alongside us as one who truly knows what it means to suffer, our anger morphs into love and our suffering mysteriously becomes a means of transformation.”
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When my siblings died by suicide, the church failed us. Now, it’s finally listening.
The gift of my Catholic faith is one I cherish above all others. And, yet, how do I love a church that once considered my brother and sister to be unworthy of eternal life with God?