While the structure of the liturgy may seem at odds with modern preferences for spontaneity, the pope said, its rhythms help believers step away from a culture focused on productivity and rediscover what is essential.
Liturgy
Posted inShort Take
Why food drives should be a regular part of Mass
A food donation offered during Mass could invite the congregation to claim more fully their active role in the liturgy.
Posted inFaith and Reason
Performative piety: Why liturgy is not a space for self-expression
Christ is present above all in the flesh of the faces and circumstances in front of me.
Posted inNews
Cardinal Roche: Liturgy meant to promote unity, not personal preference
Debates over the liturgy should ultimately be understood through the lens of unity, not individual preference, said Cardinal Arthur Roche, prefect of the Dicastery for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
Posted inPodcasts
Interview: Charlotte’s Bishop Martin on making disciples in a booming diocese, and why we should all care about the liturgy
This week on “Jesuitical,” Ashley and Zac speak with Bishop Michael Martin, O.F.M. Conv., of the Diocese of Charlotte. Bishop Martin sparked headlines in 2025 when a document leaked with plans to restrict the Latin Mass and other liturgical practices in his diocese.
Posted inBooks
Review: Christianity against empire
Do you know that hauntingly beautiful moment in a story where the narrator zooms the perspective out just enough for you to see that everything is connected? When the shocking realization dawns that the plot was driven by an unseen force the entire time, our experience of the story itself is altered. Reading Kat Armas’s […]
Posted inNews
Leo’s new papal staff highlights Christ’s victory over death
While Catholics have been accustomed to the famed silver papal staff featuring the suffering of Christ crucified and used by the pontiffs for decades, a new staff, or crosier, used by Pope Leo XIV, emphasized the victory of the risen Christ over death.
Posted inNews
New Communion rules spark debate over bishop’s authority in Charlotte diocese
The letter has exposed divisions in the Diocese of Charlotte over liturgical authority, leadership style and worship practices that predate Bishop Martin’s letter.
Posted inExplainer
Why is New Year’s Day a holy day of obligation?
Q: If the church’s new year begins on the first Sunday of Advent, then why is the secular New Year’s Day (Jan. 1) a holy day of obligation? A: You are correct that the church’s liturgical new year usually begins in late November with the first Sunday of Advent, and you are likewise correct that […]
Posted inMusic
Praise and worship: the modern soundtrack of the U.S. Catholic Church
Across denominations, praise and worship music can be found both in Sunday morning church services and on Spotify playlists.