The Pew Research Center recently declared that so-called nones, or the religiously unaffiliated, make up 26 percent of the U.S. population, up from 17 percent only a decade ago.

The technological changes Guardini witnessed during his lifetime (1885-1968) were far more dramatic, jarring and violent than anything we are likely to see in our own era. Yet the deeper I go into his writings, the more convinced I become of their urgency and relevance in the here and now.

“Up until the last five or 10 years, Mass was offered every day. Then it was hard to get priests [every day]; then it was hard to get priests on the weekend. There were [fewer priests] in the parishes and they were being stretched thin.”

The Rev. James Martin, S.J., leads listeners through an Examen on the role that the saints can play in our spiritual lives.

Prayer is a frightening loss of control, in which we are forced to confront ourselves. It’s a profoundly humbling experience.

Msgr. Rossetti had been riding his bike to catch games of the newly named Nationals (previously the Montreal Expos) when they came to the city in 2005 and played at RFK Stadium, three years before Nationals Park opened, so he jumped at the chance to be part of this ministry.