When I was in college, I dreaded semester finals. Sometimes, I had three finals on one day. When I graduated, I was glad because I thought my testing days were over. I was wrong. More »

Have you ever noticed how we live by seasons? Our calendars may break life up into weeks and months and years, but it’s the seasons that really count for us. And nothing seems to get more attention than sports seasons. More »

The angel Gabriel greeted Mary with these words: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.” Then, as if underlining the point, he told her, “You have found favor with God” (Luke 1:28-30). What is this “favor”? More »

Every parent knows this scenario: you go into your child’s bedroom and say, “Rise and shine! Time to get up for school.” More »

A few years ago, my whole family witnessed a terrible accident involving eight cars. Shattered glass was everywhere. We saw some people who were injured and others who were dead. We prayed for the people and for their families. More »

During these last two weeks before Advent, the first reading for almost every weekday Mass is taken from the Book of Revelation. This is a wonderful opportunity to deepen our appreciation of this last—and probably most puzzling—book of the Bible both through personal study and in our common worship at Mass. More »

It’s one thing to meditate on “love your enemies” when life is going smoothly. But how relevant is Christ’s command when you are consumed with anger, surrounded by aggressive attorneys, and wish you could throw someone in jail? Can you even hear his call to forgive? This is the question that confronted me in July 2009. More »

All Souls’ Day, or the Commemoration of All the Faithful Departed, which the Church celebrates on November 2, is an opportunity to commend our loved ones to God. More »