“I deeply desire to be an authentic witness to the Gospel and show others and guide others to understand that the church helps us be the authentic witness,” Deacon Himes said.
If a man like Peter, fallible and impulsive, could experience a resurrection of the heart, so too you and I can also experience a resurrection of the heart.
Living in East Baltimore, Steven Allbright had plenty of options where he could come into the Catholic Church. Something about Historic St. Francis Xavier, however, set it apart.
As the machine of warfare continues to churn out more dangerous weaponry, only the power and joy of Christ’s resurrection can fill hearts with comfort and peace, Pope Francis said before giving his Easter blessing.
This night we see the light of Christ reflected in the joy of those who are to be baptized, received into the Church, and confirmed; we see it as they join us at the Eucharistic Table for the first time, to receive with us the Body and Blood of Jesus, Crucified and Risen.
As individuals and as a church, it can be tempting to dwell on mistakes, failures and sins that block the fullness of life, but Easter is the proclamation that the Lord is victorious and his love will triumph, Pope Francis said.
On Good Friday it is hard to see the beauty through the darkness and the grief. On Good Friday it is finished. We have faith. We know that Easter will bring incredible joy. We know that not all is lost—that life wins out over death, that love overcomes all evil.
Good Friday is a day of great honesty, a moment in which presumption may not stand. This is that moment to entrust ourselves and the whole of our lives to the One who loved us to the very end.
Here are a few ways we can exercise our faith and have a little Easter fun.
Recalling Jesus’ death on the cross, Pope Francis led thousands on Good Friday in reflecting on the crosses of loneliness, fear and betrayal that crucify countless men, women and children in the world.
A funeral Mass was offered at the Our Lady of Lourdes Chapel in Lodi, N.J., for Felician Sister Mary Olivia Baranoski, who died Jan. 23 at age 86.
Jesus’ gesture of washing his disciples’ feet, an act once reserved to servants and slaves, is one that all Christians, especially bishops, must imitate, Pope Francis told hundreds of inmates and prison employees on Holy Thursday.
