Are you rejoicing yet? Brian Kemper, SJ, reflects on how Gaudete Sunday is a call to live with joyful expectation for the Lord’s coming. Based on the readings for the Third Sunday of Advent.
Beavers, Muskrats, and the Real Invitation of Lent
As Lent approaches, Brennan Dour, SJ, reflects on the curious historical case of Catholics in New France classifying beavers as fish during Lent, and the reminder it offers that Lent’s purpose is not a rigid intensifying of rules, but God’s invitation to grow closer to him whatever our circumstances.
St. Paul Miki and Companions: A Witness to God’s Transformative Love
Ben Jansen, SJ, reflects on the legacy of the 26 Martyrs of Japan, whose joyful witness to Christ in the face of persecution and death continues to inspire Christians worldwide.
Meeting Voters Where They Are: The Success of Jonathan Haidt
In a deeply polarized political climate, Jonathan Haidt has helped unite ideologically diverse states around phone-free school policies. Alex Hale, SJ argues that this success reflects an Ignatian way of proceeding—meeting people where they are through genuine dialogue.
How must the Church grieve those who die alone in the desert?
On All Souls’ Day, Michael Petro explores what it has meant for him to publicly grieve a person he never met.
Why would you get in a boat to pray?
They knew they’d need a Bible. They didn’t know they’d need a life jacket.
A Deacon’s Diary: “O Lord, I have never been eloquent” (Exodus 4:10)
Now ordained, am I looking for my voice, or God’s?
Leisure is meant to cultivate wonder, not make us more productive.
Our contemporary culture seems to suggest that free time should be spent in mindless entertainment or in rest for the purpose of being more productive later. However, leisure can put us deeper in touch with creation and our Creator when set aside for contemplative wonder.
Prison Ministry and Beginning Again
Beginnings are difficult, because they render us vulnerable. But we need not simply endure them with gritted teeth; if we enter into them with an open heart, we might find God inviting us into something new.
What if Jesus wrote a diary?: A review
Patrick Hyland, SJ reviews a new book from Bill Cain, SJ imagining the most personal writings of Jesus.