The act of planting a garden is the easier part: It’s the small daily acts of caring over the long haul that can be a challenge.

Last year, 'America' published “An (unconventional) Advent Playlist.” This is my (much more conventional) Advent playlist.

“This generation” of religious leaders whom Jesus takes to task in today’s Gospel resist the new and different.

If I had ever managed to find time to take the divinity school course on “Troubling New Testament Texts,” I would have lobbied to include today’s Gospel passage on the syllabus.

Why is bad news so much easier to believe than the good?

I like to think of Elizabeth’s unborn baby, the future prophet John the Baptist, dancing with delight in today’s Gospel of the Visitation.

How can we spare the time to let others know of our care and concern?

The paralytic’s friends might have told him in dismay, “Let’s come back another day when it is less of a hassle.” But that is not what they said.

Our deepest desires are God’s desires dwelling within us: desires for peace, for love, for hope, and, most of all for God. So this Advent, this season of desire, ask God to reveal to you your deepest desires.

There is scarcely a parent alive who has not at some point uttered the words, “You’re not wearing that, are you?”