Among Donald Martin’s most valued possessions are a Cross pen and a few three-by-five index cards. The pen has seen better days, and the cards are dog-eared, but their owner wouldn’t trade them for anything. Mementoes of Father Walter Ciszek, they testify to a friendship that began in the early 1960s, when Martin was a third-grader at St. John of the Cross Parish School, in Western Springs, Illinois. More »

Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end" (John 13:1). God loves his creature, man; he even loves him in his fall and does not leave him to himself. He loves him to the end. He is impelled with his love to the very end, to the extreme: he came down from his divine glory. More »

Place a crucifix, cross, or palm branch before you to help you focus on the Lord’s passion and death. Ask the Holy Spirit to help you listen and respond to the sacra pagina as you reflect on the texts for the beginning of this Holy Week. More »

When Fr. Mark first became a priest, he was so in love with Jesus that he would often spend hours before the Lord in prayer every day. More »

Even when life seems hopeless, the faithful believer knows that God has not abandoned him. The psalmist pours out the distress in his heart, but still expresses confidence that God will show his mercy. More »

Call upon the renewing Spirit of God as you prepare to read the inspired Scriptures. Open yourself to whatever new insight or encouragement God wishes to offer you. More »

At a conference several years ago, I was responsible for a display of children’s books. All throughout the afternoon, parents approached and bought books for their children. More »

This has all the elements of a love song—the unbearable longing, the near despair when the beloved appears to be far away, and the loving memory of the beloved’s attributes. But the beloved is God. The psalmist uses what were even then romantic conventions as the only language strong enough to express the depth of his love for the Lord. More »