Lent

Perhaps Catholics in the United States might redouble their efforts to give alms this Lent and to reflect in greater depth on the spiritual benefits the practice can bring.

Certain memories linger in our hearts with special clarity. For me, a long-ago Holy Saturday that marked the day before my reception into the Catholic Church is one of those.

The day before this issue went to press, we watched on our newsroom monitors the devastating fire at the Cathedral of Notre-Dame in Paris.

The liturgies of Lent and Easter, like the churches themselves, are built upon the conviction that the resurrection changes everything.

Jesus understands not only our bodily suffering, but also our spiritual suffering, in these feelings of abandonment. He was like us in all things, except sin. And he experienced all that we did.

We might find the quiet peace of genuine trust if we surrendered our willfulness early and often, rather than as a last resort.