It is normal to feel that other believers somehow have it all “wrapped up” when it comes to living a spiritual life.
Spirituality
Posted inPodcasts
‘Sacraments aren’t vending machines’: Preaching God’s grace as encounter, not transaction
Ricardo da Silva, S.J., speaks with Anthony Ruff, Benedictine monk and professor of liturgy to unpack what sacraments truly are—and how to preach them with both depth and imagination.
Posted inFaith in Focus
Meet the longest-serving Native American Catholic deacon in the United States
Deacon Black Bear made it his mission to integrate Native American spiritualities and Catholic rites and rituals.
Posted inFaith in Focus
Carlo Acutis and I: The (complicated) spiritual connection of a shared cancer journey
It is precisely because of our shared cancer journey that I fondly recall first hearing about Carlo Acutis, whose cause for canonization was opened on Oct. 17, 2012, shortly after I learned my own cancer was in remission.
Posted inPodcasts
Jesuit Cardinal Stephen Chow on the true meaning of discernment
“Do not trivialize discernment,” Cardinal Chow says on today’s episode of “The Spiritual Life” with Father James Martin. ”Like, hmm, what lunch do I want to have?”
Posted inPodcasts
Preaching that cuts deep: the sharper edges of God’s Word
What is preaching and what is it for? The Rev. Lynn Barger Elliott, a fourth-generation Presbyterian pastor, brings the wisdom of that legacy to remind us that preaching takes root in lived experience and recalls how witnessing her mom undergo back surgery gave new insight into a passage from Hebrews.
Posted inShort Take
Why U.S. Catholics kneel during the Eucharist—and the rest of the world stands
While most people see standing as an innovation coming from Vatican II, in fact, kneelers became common in Catholic churches only in the last 200 years.
Posted inFilm
The unsettled soul behind the comic facade: Peter Sellers
Peter Sellers, of “Pink Panther” fame, lived life on a permanent search for spiritual purpose. It has to be said that it took him in some slightly curious directions.
Posted inFaith in Focus
How St. Ignatius’ Examen has shaped my poetry
As a poet, I often use the examen to remind myself to be fully present to what I’m experiencing, and to let those moments ferment and mature.
Posted inFaith in Focus
Catholics: Act like God’s (worker) bees
Maybe if Catholics were to think of ourselves and conduct ourselves as God’s workers and drones, as holy bees within God’s holy hive, the world would benefit.