For the early church, the reality of the Resurrection was central, not only in the structure of the liturgical celebration, but also in the pattern of the liturgical year. Easter was the greatest feast of the whole year.
Easter
Posted inFaith, Faith in Focus
The case against confirming baptized Christians at the Easter Vigil
To receive already baptized Christians into the church at the vigil may be well-intentioned, but liturgically speaking, it is akin to suggesting that the candidates were not actually Christians before being received into the church.
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
Podcast: The way Catholics calculate the date of Easter could be changing
For Thanksgiving week, “Inside the Vatican” is bringing you a brief update on a few of the top Vatican stories.
Posted inArts & Culture, Ideas
Jo Koy’s ‘Easter Sunday’ magnifies the sacredness of tradition, family and Catholicism in Filipino culture
I decided that the best way to gauge reactions to the film was to gather feedback from none other than my own Filipino-American family.
Posted inFaith, Pope Francis Homilies
Pope Francis’ vigil message: Let the women lead out of the darkness of war
On this night, brothers and sisters, let us allow the women of the Gospel to lead us by the hand, so that, with them, we may glimpse the first rays of the dawn of God’s life rising in the darkness of our world.
Posted inFaith, Lent Reflections
Holy Saturday’s best-kept secret
Holy Saturday can feel like the sleepless night-before-Christmas of the Triduum. But it can be a meaningful part of Easter—and not just a time to dye eggs or make tomorrow’s dessert.
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
Good Friday: When we love selfishly, we kill the thing we love.
In preaching Christ crucified, the church reveals both our guilt and our redemption. A love that cannot step free of self eventually kills what it loves.
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
On Holy Thursday, Jesus flips our very understanding of God
We have always wanted to be God, to claim the right of truth, to receive and not to give. Yet on this night, Jesus pours it all away, our very understanding of God, over our feet and into a basin to be pitched.
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
Words can’t prove the resurrection. But for Mary Magdalene, Jesus’ voice reveals the truth of Easter.
In so many of our resurrection accounts it is the voice, not the face, that reveals the presence of the living, resurrected Christ.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
The Gospel of John has been used to justify anti-Semitism—so we should stop reading it on Good Friday
“The Jews” didn’t kill Jesus. And if the Gospel of John makes people think that, we should read a different Gospel on Good Friday.