I know that from struggle will come new life, because I believe the resurrection is always the new beginning after any heavy cross. And it is with this cross that I come to the altar where Your arms are open wide.
Posts in Lent
Life Changes from Lent and Coronavirus: What TJP Readers Are Doing
Both the season of Lent and the current coronavirus crisis are desert experiences. Just as we adapt new practices during Lent, we are experiencing radical changes in our lives with the spread of COVID-19. Last month, we reached out to TJP readers about how they are praying, fasting, and giving alms this year. Many of you responded. Read the responses, along with the graces that readers are receiving. You’ll find that these words echo even stronger amid the uncertainty and anxiety of the current crisis.
Every Lent I Think of This Native American Parable: Do Not Forget Who You Are!
One of the great images of Lent is Jesus being driven into the desert where he goes toe-to-toe with Satan. As real as Jesus’ temptations are to pleasure, fame, and power, they are but expressions of a more fundamental and deceptively obvious one: the temptation to forget who and whose you are.
On Ash Wednesday I Am Reminded Why Church is a Safe Space for the Everyday Sinner, Like Me
There is something I find at Mass on Ash Wednesday that I don’t find elsewhere. Nowhere besides here do I step in line with old ladies in purple sweaters, fellow students, elderly widows, the nuns, the homeless, the workers on lunch hour, the priests, and the University president to face our shame, imperfections, and our transgressions, together.
A Not-So-Radical Proposal for Your Lenten Season: Do Nothing
Ash Wednesday is just one week away. Before you decide to give up candy or french fries or even Facebook, I encourage you to take some advice: do nothing.
Easter for the Heavy-Hearted
It’s been a heavy Holy Week. What does that mean for Easter?
Tiger Woods’ Comeback Is Not a Redemption Story
Let’s not confuse Tiger Woods’ win at the Masters for a redemption story. Let’s call it what it is: a comeback. As Holy Week teaches us, redemption is about healing and right relationships. This is a sports story. It’s a comeback.
The Sacred Carnality of Holy Week
Just as a poem transmits greater meaning in an audible reading than a theoretical analysis, Holy Week offers us a powerful and carnal memoir.
Do Lent, Not Push-Ups
Lent should be a time of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. Not 40 days of “Catholic Self-Help!” How are you preparing for Easter and the Resurrection?
One-Minute Homily: Passion Sunday
Christ experiences the depth of human suffering, and he accompanies us in our own suffering. Check out this week’s One-Minute Homily by Fr. Michael Rossmann, SJ, based on the readings for Palm Sunday, 2018.