Spirituality
Confirmation strengthens our identity as children of God
Baptism and confirmation are closely linked, but not interchangeable. While both impart grace, confirmation strengthens the believer as an active participant of the church's apostolic mission.
A deluge of divine grace
Water, as both life giver and destroyer, appears often in the Scriptures and a little too much in our lives lately, reflects Gina Christian. The Lord is very much in the midst of the floods of our lives.
In God’s plan of salvation, we each have a unique role and a common response
Christ calls all of us to discipleship in a number of ways, writes Msgr. Joseph Prior. While we each play a different part in God's plan, we all begin by humbly listening to the Lord, then answering with open hearts.
Readings of the Holy Mass – Second Sunday of Ordinary Time
Read or listen to the readings before Mass with these resources from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, using the New American Bible, Revised Edition.
In prayer ‘you play hard,’ so ‘challenge the Lord,’ pope says
Courage is needed to stick one's neck out in pursuing and confronting God with one's prayerful appeals, Pope Francis said at daily Mass. "If prayer isn't courageous, it isn't Christian."
Dispensation from Lenten abstinence is easy, isn’t it?
Whether a priest or bishop may allow parishioners to eat meat on say, St. Patrick's Day, during Lent is a more complicated issue than one might think, writes Father Ken Doyle in his weekly Q&A.
On the sacraments: Baptism
A new catechetical series of stories on the Catholic sacraments by our partner Catholic News Service begins with the first sacrament of initiation into the Christian community, baptism.
Why baptism is no mere formality
Baptized Christians celebrate the rewards of life in Christ's living body. But they also must ensure that the faith community actually is "a gathering of friends" and "companions" for others who experience dark times.
Celebrating baptismal days each year affirms life of faith
Baptism is our church birthday, when we were born into the light of Christ. Celebrating it enables us "to pass on to future generations the meaning of life," as Pope Francis says.
Let the children come to me
Jesus said, "Let the children come to me," but he calls us all, whatever our age at baptism, to live a life of faith. Baptism of one's "household" in the Scriptures supports the traditional practice of infant baptism.