Commentaries
We await the Blessed Hope
People are breaking down in this terrible year, observes Father Eric Banecker, who suggests our hope lies not in mass vaccinations but in the glorious coming of our savior, Jesus Christ.
Mary of Guadalupe, symbol of hope and renewal
At the end of the story Our Lady of Guadalupe, the poor are lifted up, the oppressed find freedom, despair is conquered by hope. That is why millions embrace devotion to her, writes Hosffman Ospino.
Living in an Advent that feels like Lent — and ought to
The commercial celebration of Christmas seems unsatisfying because it misses the point: this child born for us will die, but he has conquered suffering and death -- that is the source of our Advent joy, writes Greg Erlandson.
A matter of perception
Like Plato's "Allegory of the Cave" and today's misinformation push, digital media is illusory, both stimulating and exhausting us. Brett Robinson writes that faith helps us to see the truth.
Take a fresh look at John the Baptist
The Baptist’s “crying out in the desert” is less the ranting of a strange ascetic and more a call to repentance and an echoing of Isaiah, pointing to the tender strength of the Messiah, writes Father Thomas Dailey.
Show gratitude by returning the kindness you’ve received
Sarah Hanley advises that in the Advent season, we should be thankful, understanding, gracious and kind. The smallest act of compassion can make the biggest impact on someone else.
When Sister Amanda met Alexa
Father Paul Morrissey tells how his cousin, a religious sister for 50 years, discovered the joy of a home device that not only plays her favorite songs, but tells her goodnight.
A Christmas without traditions opens way for the new
Instead of griping about what is missing this Advent and Christmas, we can discover that our God of goodness is waiting to give us new graces and fresh ways to celebrate, writes Laura Kelly Fanucci.
The gift of light
Maureen Pratt suggests not only sharing gifts of candles for loved ones, but lighting a spiritual candle of prayer both locally and globally to share Christ and the essence of the Advent and Christmas season.
Why the nation’s first Black cardinal matters
Cardinal Wilton Gregory is a powerful reminder that the Catholic Church must go forward, not backward, if racial justice and peace are ever to be achieved, writes Philadelphia-area scholar Shannen Dee Williams.