By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service  VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Going to confession isn’t like heading off to be tortured or punished, nor is it like going to the dry cleaners to get out a stain, Pope Francis said in a morning Mass homily. “It’s an encounter with Jesus” who …

Dear Friends in Christ, From the time that we were very young, perhaps too young to fully understand the words, we have known that Lent is a penitential season. Throughout these 40 days of preparation for Easter, the church calls us to a sober re-examination of our lives and our …

By Greg Hartman The time we spend at Mass equals 2.375 full days, which doesn’t even register as a full one percent of the year. It’s easy to get caught up in our daily anxieties and sometimes it’s difficult to focus in that short period. We can drift through Mass …