Recently I joined with some friends to help prepare a parsonage for an assistant pastor and his wife who were coming to their new church.
As we approach Lent, we tend to think about what we’re going to do this year: give something up, take on some spiritual practice, etc.
“Why are dust and ashes proud? Even during life man’s body decays … a king today – tomorrow he is dead,” writes Sirach (Sirach 10:9).
Growing up, all I knew about Lent was that it meant giving up something. For me, that usually meant chocolate, or if I was feeling
Several years ago when I was at university, the chaplain suggested we consider taking something up, rather than giving something up, for Lent. No, he
In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter
During a past Lent, I shared a seemingly innocuous and informative post about the Jewish practice of Seder during Passover. The resulting confusion and charges
The local Charismatic group were celebrating forty years since their foundation and were preparing a special Mass for that purpose. The readings, the psalms, and
This Lent we have already read some harsh condemnation of the Pharisees in the gospel. One of the more recent ones was Matthew 23:1-12. This
We Catholics are familiar with Lent as a time of fasting and penance. We are told every year that during this time we ought to
You missed the start of Lent and now you are wondering if it’s too late to start. You might be thinking, “What’s the point?” Maybe
The witnesses of the Cross and Resurrection of Christ have handed on to the Church and to mankind a specific Gospel of suffering. The
My Lent so far has consisted of an unrelenting depression that has been getting worse for months. My mounting anxieties and a sense of hopelessness
The Season of Lent can be seen through many different lenses, all correct and important. This diversity makes lent a truly rich season for any Christian
“And God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (Genesis 1:3). The Lord said many things throughout Scripture. His words are powerful. We
In the Gospel according to Mark, Christ talks about the sower of seeds. As he sowed, some seeds fell on a path, other seeds fell
Living in this fallen world we all desire, deep in our hearts, to help, to heal, to restore what has been lost since leaving Eden.
Even in this time of Lent in the Church, the world rolls on without any serious attention to God. Even within the Church, we often
I find it powerful and transcendent that Lent is a moving journey toward the Cross and beyond. This “moving” however, comes in three distinct contexts.
When we receive ashes on the Day of Ashes, or Ash Wednesday, while the priest make the sign of the cross on our foreheads with
Lent should be a deep personal encounter with Jesus Christ. It took me a long time to understand that. I suppose that’s because I needed
When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (Revelation 8:1) There is a deep need within
