Holy Week

Thanks to Steve Ray for sharing this great video! Join the Franciscan Friars for Easter in an exclusive – inside the Holy Sepulchre during the virus lockdown. Thanks to my friends Jeries Majlaton and Fr. Sinisa who provided me with exclusive photos and video footage inside the Holy... Read more

Young ethnic family of four praying while sitting on couch On Sunday, the whole Church proclaimed the joy of the Resurrection. Now is a good time to reflect on the importance of the Easter season with our children, because the Easter holiday isn’t just one day — it lasts 50 days, until... Read more

Here is the full text of Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi message, delivered April 12 at the Basilica of St. Peter. Dear brothers and sisters, Happy Easter! Today the Church’s proclamation echoes throughout the world: “Jesus Christ is risen!” – “He is truly risen.” Like a new... Read more

To the Christian, faith in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is an expression of certainty that the saying that seems to be only a beautiful dream is in fact true: “Love is strong as death” (Song 8:6). In the Old Testament this sentence comes in the middle of praises of the power... Read more

People are sometimes confused by the differences in the Gospels’ infancy narratives and their resurrection narratives. Sometimes it is claimed that they contradict each other. I’ve already written about how the infancy narratives fit together. You can read that here. Now I’d... Read more

Every time Christians recite the Apostles’ Creed, they affirm their belief in what will happen to them after death: “'I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.” The belief in the resurrection of one’s physical body at the end of time is central to Christian... Read more

Few would have foreseen, as we packed into pews on Ash Wednesday, the Lent we had in store: that our fast would become an involuntary one from the Living Bread, that our almsgiving would feature social distancing from those in need, and that our prayer would occur mostly in the domestic church... Read more

Why did he do it? I mean, really, why did Judas betray Christ? There are just so many theories. Some believe that Judas betrayed Christ because he, in a misguided way, wanted to help Jesus “clear the air” with the Jewish authorities and thus be able to get his message out even further.... Read more

Terrorism is nothing new.  It’s probably as old as the human race. In fact the cradle of civilization, now Iraq, was the home of the most infamous terrorists of antiquity, the Assyrians.  Their goal was to conquer their neighbors in a way that would minimize initial... Read more

Although the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion is the central service of Good Friday, Catholic practice has always kept all of Good Friday as a day of solemn, quiet mourning. The Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion customarily took place at 3pm, marking the traditional hour of Jesus’ death. In our... Read more