Russell Pollitt S.J., shares with “Preach” host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., how he uses org charts for homily planning, and how his brother’s suicide and presiding over the funeral of a drowned toddler led him to rethink his preaching style and theological framework.
Lent
Posted inFaith, Last Take
This Lent, let yourself be bored
As Lent draws nearer, we can begin to reflect: Do we open our hearts to God as we go about our days? Or are we disrupting every spiritual inclination with notifications and news feeds?
Posted inFaith, Podcasts
The Vatican’s chief liturgist on why preachers need to take their homilies more seriously
When asked by host Ricardo da Silva, S.J., why he chose the message of “Welcome Home” and not to preach “in a heavier way,” to emphasize the penitential nature of the season, Cardinal Arthur Roche replies: “Well, because I think, really, that’s what Lent is all about.
Posted inFaith, Last Take
Returning to the Source: Enriching Lent by entering into the Gospel
The most difficult task of a Christian involves that of being a living exemplar of the virtues present in Jesus. The Lenten season can be a gift in continuing this process of personal transformation.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
Fasting, praying and working out: What ‘Exodus 90’ gets right—and wrong—about asceticism for men
‘Exodus 90’ is meant as a spiritual and athletic exercise for men that centers on prayer, fasting and fraternity. It gets some things wrong and some things right. In the process, it reveals some of the failures of the church today.
Posted inFaith, Short Take
We should all renew the Friday penance. (But it doesn’t have to mean giving up meat.)
When the church allowed meat on Fridays, the intent was not to end the call for penance. Friday penance outside of Lent can now have a more personal nature, drawing each of us closer to God.
Posted inFaith, The Good Word
‘It is finished’: The meaning behind Jesus’ last words on the cross
A Homily for Good Friday, by Terrance Klein
Posted inFaith, Speeches
Pope Francis: This Holy Week, do some spring cleaning for your soul
“Look at the closet of your soul—how many useless things you have, how many stupid illusions,” the pope said. “Let us return to simplicity, to things that are true, that don’t need to be made-up.”
Posted inFaith, Pope Francis Homilies
Read: Pope Francis’ homily for Palm Sunday 2023. ‘The abandoned’ are the ‘Christs of our day.’
“Christ, in his abandonment, stirs us to seek him and to love him and those who are themselves abandoned. For in them we see not only people in need, but Jesus himself, abandoned.”
Posted inFaith, Vatican Dispatch
Pope Francis, out of hospital, presides at Palm Sunday celebration
Pope Francis, recovering from bronchitis, delivered a forceful Palm Sunday homily asking us to remember the “many abandoned Christs” in our own time, or those who experience suffering and solitude.