Advent and Lent are both seasons of penance and preparation. Yet they are meant to be celebrated in unique ways. How? And what specifically might we do so that Advent isn’t merely a time-marking season leading up to Christmas?
During the Last Supper, Jesus gives His Apostles the mission to “go and bear fruit” (John 15:16). That mission is still relevant to us today. How do we take the graces we receive from the Eucharist and share them with others?
“Do you know,” said Anne confidentially, “I’ve made up my mind to enjoy this drive. It’s been my experience that you can nearly always enjoy things if you make up your mind firmly that you will.”
In this scene, eleven-year-old Anne is facing the prospect of being sent back to an orphan asylum because…
Sloth can be a difficult sin to identify. The other capital sins are “active” sins: we consciously choose to do something evil. Sloth is a sin of omission: we fail to do something good. It is easy to dismiss because we’re not actively doing any harm—or so we think.
Do you ever struggle to live joy in daily life? I do. Too often, I’m inclined to confuse it with the conscious feeling of happiness. That’s not joy, though; joy is a virtue, a state of mind, not a feeling. You can possess it even amidst the greatest sufferings. You can even radiate it without realizing it. But how?