Spirituality
How did the Jews and Romans react to Jesus’ resurrection?
In answering a reader's question, Father Ken Doyle points to the strongest proof of the resurrection: not an empty tomb, but the living witness of Christ's first followers.
Designing a house of prayer: The art of the church architect
The sacred and the structural must work together to encourage participation in the liturgy, as demonstrated by the open style of St. John's Abbey and University Church in Collegeville, Minnesota.
Lectio divina: Discovering art as an aid to worship
In "lectio divina," or spiritual reading, sacred images can serve as "visual texts" through which we can discern the divine in our hearts.
Pastor and painter: Finding faith in the stillness among the ruins
When an American pastor is posted to a parish in the former Soviet Union, his painting hobby becomes a vital tool in learning how to understand and minister to his new flock.
Sacred art: Gazing at God through images and architecture
Stained glass, sculpture, even a simple holy card can draw people more deeply into God's presence. Our package of stories offers reflections and teaching on the power of images to enhance prayer and worship.
In the journey to Emmaus, a parallel for the Mass
In his commentary on this Sunday's Mass, Msgr. Joseph Prior shows how the disciples’ walk with Jesus after the resurrection mirrors our liturgy today, and the similar response to which it calls us.
Readings of the holy Mass — Third Sunday of Easter
Read or listen to the readings before Mass with the resources below from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, using the New American Bible, Revised Edition.
Don’t get snarky, get back in tune with Liturgy of the Hours
Gina Christian uses a device to keep her guitar in tune. She writes of how a powerful daily prayer, also in digital format, can do the same for our spiritual life before we get too sharp or flat.
To reverence God, take a knee — but which one?
Father Ken Doyle explains the custom of genuflecting in church only with the right knee, while the left was for VIPs. He thinks God might care more about our hearts than our knees.
Even in darkest places, God always shows the way, pope says
"Ours is not an absent God, sequestered in a faraway heaven. Instead he is a God 'impassioned' with mankind," so tenderly in love that he is unable to stay away, the pope said in his weekly audience.