Mother Teresa of Calcutta, who died on September 5, 1997, was one of the greatest spiritual “overachievers” of our time. She accomplished so much, that we might think she rarely took a break from tending to the human misery that surrounded her. More »

“Men walking on level ground do not have to lend one another a hand, while those who are on a rugged, slippery road hold on to one anther in order to walk more safely.” —St. Francis de Sales, An Introduction to the Devout Life, 3.19 More »

A mother gazes into her baby’s eyes, and he responds with a smile and cooing sounds of happiness. A man asks a woman to marry him, and she throws her arms around him, kisses him, and says “yes,” her eyes filling with tears. More »

Exuberant young people. Cheering crowds. Cross-cultural sharing. World Youth Day in Kraków, Poland reminds me of an international soccer tournament I attended as a teenager in Sweden—the “Gothia Cup.” More »

Christianity is a paradox, isn’t it? On the one hand, Jesus saved us when he died and rose again. Our sins are washed away, and we don’t have to live under a cloud of fear, anxiety, or guilt any more. But on the other hand, even a quick look at our lives shows us that a lot of “saving” still remains for him to do. After all, none of us is perfect! More »

John 5:2-9 Now in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate there is a pool, called in Hebrew Beth-zatha, which has five porticoes. In these lay many invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. More »

From a homily by Pope Francis given in Havana, Cuba, September 20, 2015: More »

Shortly after midnight, I awoke from sleep to discover that my husband had not yet come to bed. This had happened before, but on that fateful night something prodded me to get up. More »