Faith & Spirituality

Is Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation? and other Lenten Questions, Answered

(Photo by Rocio Madera) Everyone’s favorite season of sacrifice is just around the corner! The penitential period of the Church year seems to sneak up on us year after year, and brings with it lots of questions. While wonder is  a gift of the Holy Spirit, there’s no need to sit in uncertainty any longer! Is Ash Wednesday a Holy Day of Obligation? According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) 1991 general decree, there are six Holy Days of Obligation in the United...

YOU'RE INVITED: Join us for Ash Wednesday!

(Photo by André Escaleira, Jr.) No, those strange folks with dirt on their head aren’t actually all that strange! Ash Wednesday is just around the corner, and with it, the beginning of Lent, a time of spiritual preparation, reflection and introspection. During this holy time, Christians around the world will consider ways to live more simply, to act more generously and to get to know God better. The ashes rubbed on the foreheads of millions each year remind us of our weakness — from dust we...

Why Lent? A Guide to Its Core Practices

Ecce Homo (Behold the Man) by Caravaggio, c. 1605. (Photo: Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons) It’s easy to take things that we’re used to doing for granted. Lent’s just one of those Catholic customs that come around every year as the liturgical year moves through its cycles. But if we actually think about why we practice it, it may help us to get more out of it. I’d like to explore the “why” behind it to help us be more intentional in how we enter into Lenten practices this year.   Why Do...

When Self-Gift Becomes Impossible: Why Self-Hatred is a Poison to Marriage

A confessor's perspective on love, dignity and the gift of self. (Photo: Lightstock) By Father Daniel Ciucci Pastor, Most Precious Blood Parish, Denver There are few better opportunities for a societal pulse check than the confessional. The Fifth Commandment, in particular, manifold in its application, covers everything from drunkenness, reckless driving, gossip and physical violence, to the withholding of forgiveness, the clutching onto bitterness and the like. Recently, however, I have...

'He Will Lord It Over You': Understanding the Fall of Adam and Eve’s Impact on Marriage

What Genesis really teaches about sin, power and marriage (Photo: Lightstock) “Your desire shall be for your husband, and he will lord it over you.” Genesis 3:16   I think of all the beautiful aspects of the Genesis account of paradise, the one I perhaps envy most is the perfect relationship between man and woman. (I know, walking with God in the cool of the afternoon seems like a pretty good gig, too.) We have talked about how God created them specifically for each other , and how Adam’s...

The Art of Surrender in 'I Do'

(Photo provided) There are few words that a person will say in their lifetime that carry as much eternal weight as the two simple words couples say at the altar on their wedding day: "I do." In uttering these two words, a man and his wife are doing much more than merely promising to lay down their lives for one another — though, to be sure, they are doing that too. "I do" is a mutual assent that a man and his wife will give themselves completely and totally to one another in a sacred covenant...

Marriage in an Apostolic Age

(Photo: Adobe Stock) We are living in what many have described as an “apostolic age,” like the first centuries of the Church, when Christians proclaimed the Gospel in a world that did not share their assumptions about God, truth or the purpose of human life. In that time, Christians lived, loved and worshipped differently than the world. And in doing so, they drew others to the beauty of Christ. In our own time, the cultural foundations that once supported Christian life have weakened, and...

Making Disciples: Be a Disciple First.

Part Two: Why evangelization begins with personal conversion and encounter with Jesus Christ. (Photo: Lightstock) By Tanner Kalina My dad loved baseball, but he had no experience actually playing the game. Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but it didn’t bode well for my Major League aspirations as a kid. The proper mechanics for hitting a ball had to be imparted to me by other men. Same thing with throwing and fielding. I had to find other sources to help me advance past a basic,...

Meet 10 patron saints of Catholic education, students and teachers

Newman joined a list of several other Catholic saints considered patrons of other aspects of education. Get to know them here. A portrait of a young St. John Henry Newman hangs in Cathedral High School, part of the Ordinariate of the Chair of St. Peter, in Houston. (Photo: Amira Abuzeid/CNA) By Francesca Pollio-Fenton/EWTN News Pope Leo XIV named St. John Henry Newman a patron saint of Catholic education in a document published on Oct. 28 for the 60th anniversary of Gravissimum Educationis ,...

A Taste of Heaven: Encountering Pier Giorgio Frassati at His Canonization

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons / Public Domain) By Father Sean Conroy When the Church canonizes a saint, it isn’t merely adding another name to the litany; it’s affirming that holiness can blossom in our own time. I had the immense gift of attending the canonization of Pier Giorgio Frassati this Jubilee Year, and I can only describe the experience as a taste of Heaven. He was canonized a saint on the centenary of his death, yet to me, he is a friend whom I often talk to and seek his intercession....

What are plenary indulgences and how can I get TWO this New Year’s?

(Photo: Lightstock) Looking for a way to go into the new year with some extra grace? Did you know the Church offers TWO chances for plenary indulgences as we ring in the New Year? New Year’s Eve The first opportunity comes on New Year’s Eve, Dec. 31, as we reflect on all God has done in 2025 and prepare for a new year — a Jubilee Year! For those who publicly recite the Te Deum , a plenary indulgence is granted under the normal conditions detailed below. The Te Deum  is a traditional prayer of...

When does Christmas really end?

(Photo: Lightstock) Christmas Eve and Christmas Day have come and gone, but the celebrations continue! “After the annual celebration of the Paschal Mystery, the Church has no more ancient custom than celebrating the memorial of the Nativity of the Lord and of his first manifestations, and this takes place in Christmas time,” read the Universal Norms on the Liturgical Year and the General Roman Calendar (32). The ancient commemoration of the birth of our Lord and Savior resounds through the...