The Dispatch
Pork Roll, Lent, and Catholic identity
Lent is the perfect time, or as Isaiah 49.8 puts it, the “acceptable time,” to begin a journey of Christian difference. […]
Lent
Essay
Three questions to answer on Ash Wednesday
Since all human sin has its origins in that “original” sin of our first parents, let’s go back to that very beginning. […]
Features
“Exceeding glad shall he be of thy salvation”: On Handel and preparing for Lent in the East
This year my imagery of Lent has been shaken up quite unexpectedly from a source one would never associate with such things. […]
The Dispatch
Walking the “Extreme Way of the Cross” in Poland
While many of us choose to abstain from coffee, sweets, or Facebook for Lent, we can often hear priests tell us in their homilies that rather than giving up something, it is better to do […]
The Dispatch
St. Teresa of Avila and beginning again during Holy Week
There is a story about my patron and favorite saint, the great female doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila, which centered on her encouraging her fellow Carmelites after they received the Sacrament of […]
The Dispatch
The power of the Cross
Blessed John Henry Newman (1801-1890) – a theologian who came to prominence in the Victorian Age – can help us check the Church’s spiritual pulse in the post-modern twenty-first century, thanks to his prescient sense […]
The Dispatch
Palm Sunday and the Holy Eucharist
Readings: • Mt. 21:1-11 • Is 50:4-7 • Ps 22:8-9, 17-18, 19-20, 23-24 • Phil 2:6-11 • Mt 26:14-27:66 “For the infant Church, ‘Palm Sunday’ was not a thing of the past,” wrote Benedict XVI […]
Essay
Lent: A journey, an encounter, and a time of purification
Readings: • Ex 17:3-7 • Psa 95:1-2, 6-7, 8-9 • Rom 5:1-2, 5-8 • Jn 4:5-42 Lent is not merely a season, but a journey, an encounter, and a time of purification. Benedict XVI, in […]
The Dispatch
The Cross is the doorway to communion with God
Readings: • Gen 12:1-4a • Ps 33:4-5, 18-19, 20, 22 • 2 Tim 1:8b-10 • Mt 17:1-9 “Life is short; death is certain,” wrote Blessed John Henry Newman, “and the world to come is everlasting.” […]
The Dispatch
The perfect prayer for Lent
The best sort of Apostolic Exhortations are the shortest. Such as this one from St. Paul: “We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all. See that […]