In Jesus’ Journey to the Cross: A Love unto Death, you will follow Jesus from his entrance into Jerusalem, through his last meal with his apostles, his struggle in Gethsemane, his arrest and trial, to his crucifixion and, finally, his resurrection from the dead. More »

In the opening words of his first encyclical, God Is Love, Pope Benedict XVI quotes words from the First Letter of John, which he says are a kind of summary of the Christian life: "We have come to know and to believe in the love God has for us" (4:16). Coming to believe in God’s love, says the pope, describes the fundamental decision of our life. More »

Let us thank God for the opportunity he has given us today to come here to pray together. We have come here especially to pray for peace, joy and love. We are reminded that Jesus came to bring the good news to the poor. He told us what that good news is when he said: "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you." He came not to give the peace of the world which is only that we don’t bother each other. He came to give the peace of heart which comes from loving—from doing good to others. More »

When the Son of God entered the world, he didn’t simply appear one day in a blaze of glory, bringing immediate salvation. In God’s perfect plan, his Son was "born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons" (Galatians 4:4-5). More »

During the Second Vatican Council, the bishops voted on whether to have a separate document about Mary or to put a chapter about her at the end of the most important document of Vatican II, which was called Lumen gentium or the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. By one of the narrowest margins of the entire council, the bishops voted to include Mary as part of—at the end of—the document on the Church. More »

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 »

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 »

I once came across a book describing the senses of deep-sea creatures that never see daylight. Some of them have rows of lights like portholes along their flanks to enable them to see both prey and predators; others create a chemical reaction in their bodies to produce bioluminescent light. It was clear that every animal is endowed with the senses it needs for survival and the instinctive skills to use them competently. More »