I had expected Mass to bring with it a bursting of spirit. But this is Mass—nothing is going to jump out of a cake.

I was raised Catholic. I know the strategy. The first-class seats are at the end of the pew.

Purim and Mardi Gras serve, paradoxically, as a farcical introduction to a period of deep religious seriousness.

A pilgrimage on the Camino de Santiago has historically been many things, including, in the Middle Ages, a penance for one’s sins. Last year, 277,915 athletes, bikers, families and friends made the Way of St. James a challenge, vacation or spiritual experience.

People like me have unconsciously learned to hate the bodies God created because they do not meet the standard created by society.

Lessons from a Jesuit road trip to Illinois.