On the evening of that day, the first day of the week, the doors being shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, "Peace be with you." When he had said this, he showed them his hands and his side. More »

Holiness is not a matter of any one particular method of spirituality. It is a disposition of the heart that makes us small and humble within the arms of God, aware of our weakness, but almost rashly confident in his Fatherly goodness. ~Thérèse of Lisieux More »

What does the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord mean for us? It does not mean that the Lord has departed to some place far from people and from the world. Christ’s ascension is not a journey into space toward the most remote stars; for basically, the planets, like the earth, are also made of physical elements. More »

All around you, wherever you live, there are quiet heroes. I’m sure you could come up with your own personal list: A mother struggling to maximize the potential of a child with autism, a husband tenderly caring for a dependent and querulous wife with Alzheimer’s disease. Or perhaps you know people whose love for Christ moves them to do something out of the ordinary—say, a gifted scientist who leaves a lucrative corporate job to teach in an inner-city school. More »

On May 11, 1873, the steamer Kilauea deposited thirty-three-year-old Father Joseph Damien de Veuster on the landing at Molokai. Bishop Maigret told the disease-ridden crowd gathered there that he had brought them "one who will be a father to you, and who loves you so much that . . . he does not hesitate to become one of you; to live and die with you." More »

This is a psalm of thanksgiving that expresses in poetry the spontaneous outpouring of joy we feel when God has answered our prayers. More »

An elderly Chinese farmer trudged slowly along the mountainous path of Chun Ta Ping, the warmth of his breath making white puffs in the frigid air. The beauty of the peaceful blanket of snow, however, could not stem the rumbles of hunger in his stomach. This winter of 1960 marked two years of a terrible famine; many in Hunan were starving. More »

The unassuming "just man" who once took the child Jesus and his mother into his care and protection now watches over the whole Body of Christ in his characteristically vigilant but background manner. As Pope Pius IX declared on December 8, 1870, St. Joseph is "Patron of the Universal Church." And though even fewer Catholics are aware of it, St. Joseph is also intimately connected with the Second Vatican Council. More »