Through life's many stages, a day to overflow with gratitude for the many blessings from the hand of a loving God.

Editor’s Note. “Families,” Pope Francis noted in a homily on Sept. 14, “are the first place in which we are formed as persons and, at the same time, the ‘bricks’ for the building up of society.” In preparation for the launch of the Synod of Bishops on the Fa

I was seated at the back of the room as 60 or so inmates gathered for the weekly Tuesday night meeting of Criminals and Gangmembers Anonymous. Most of the members are serving life sentences, many with the distant possibility of parole, although a few are LWOPs, which stands for lifers without that p

My dad was right: life blazes on and holds us in thrall with its bounty and blessings.

Let me set the scene It rsquo s a weekend morning and for once I actually have no commitments I open the front door to let in the fresh morning air and I am ready to ride five miles on the exercise bike in my office spare room I am trying to beat my best time But my dog is in the back yard ba

When you grow up Catholic you learn early on that Sunday Mass is non-negotiable Unless you are dying or certifiably contagious you go to Mass I was in school before I had a friend who was not Catholic and whose denominational road to salvation did not mandate Sunday attendance My first thought

The spiritual season of Lent sometimes brings out the creativity in people In fulfilling our Lenten obligations of prayer fasting and almsgiving we try to come up with something new something more meaningful something that will change our lives I recently heard in passing of a different kind o

I recently overheard an exchange between my sister and her four-year-old daughter one that apparently takes place frequently ldquo Who rsquo s better than you rdquo my sister asked in her best football coach voice ldquo Nobody rdquo shouted my little niece And I prayed that she will believe

In another example of a so-called first world problem Christmas has apparently become a source of stress ldquo Are you already OVERWHELMED by the holidays rdquo asks my credit union rsquo s website while marketing a low-interest loan that would probably only add to my stress level in the New Ye

"If life is about loss, it is also about its opposite: discovery." A reflection from Valerie Schultz