Every year the Church blesses us with a season to prepare ourselves for the coming of the Lord at Christmas. Much exterior preparation takes place during the four weeks of Advent: we decorate our homes, purchase gifts for loved ones, bake cookies and host parties. All of these things should …

Cada año la Iglesia nos bendice con una temporada para prepararnos para la venida del Señor en Navidad. Gran parte de la preparación exterior se lleva a cabo durante las cuatro semanas de Adviento: decoramos nuestros hogares, compramos regalos para nuestros seres queridos, horneamos galletas y organizamos fiestas. Todas estas …

When I was a little girl, my sister and I sang the children’s Bible school song lyrics: “I’ve got the joy, joy, joy, joy down in my heart.” We sang it with complete abandon, at full volume, with our heads thrown back. We meant it and felt it. As the …

By Sr Constance Veit, lsp Thanksgiving will soon be upon us with its cornucopia of beloved traditions – from pilgrim scenes to turkey, pumpkin pie, parades and football. Today, however, the warm, nostalgic sentiments once associated with this holiday have been overshadowed by our 21st century indictment of the first …

On Jan. 1, 1802, President Thomas Jefferson wrote a letter to representatives of the Danbury, Connecticut Baptist Association, expressing his agreement with them about a certain understanding of religious liberty. Among other things, Jefferson said that he considered the religion clauses of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution had …

In Lucinda Williams’ song, “Joy,” the narrator tells an unknown person (presumably a former lover), “I don’t want you anymore/‘Cause you took my joy.” Complaining, “You got no right to take my joy/I want it back,” the narrator announces his quest to recover his joy by searching in specific geographic …

Over the past year, my husband, Mark, and I saved and planned a big vacation for our 15th wedding anniversary. It involved a lot of work, including driving 14 hours one- way to drop our children off in Louisiana with family, taking multiple flights to various connecting airports, securing our …

More than simply an emotion we experience from time to time, joy is a virtue each of us is called to receive from God and cultivate in our lives for the good of others. Christian joy is rooted in an awareness of God’s unconditional love. When we experience God’s love …

Más que una sencilla emoción que experimentamos de vez en cuando, la alegría es una virtud que cada uno de nosotros está llamado a recibir de Dios y a cultivar en nuestra vida para el bien de los demás. La alegría cristiana se basa en la conciencia del amor incondicional …

Does the Church believe in the possibility of coming back to life after a so-called near-death experience? Can these reported experiences be considered a glimpse of the afterlife? The Church does not have an official teaching on near-death experiences. The phenomena and their cause are in the realm of speculation; …