Imagine being born in 1182, at a time when you could happily spend your whole life in the same community. But while you are a child, a shipwreck takes away the money your father had intended to be your dowry, and so, while you are at the age of 12 your parents decide, at least for the moment, to send you away to a convent for an education. There’s no way to phone home, and instead of being with your family and friends, you have to follow the strict schedule of some nuns. As a child, you don’t want to become a nun, and instead you care a lot about what you look like and about impressing potential suitors. After all, until that shipwreck took your dowry, you were hoping to get married relatively soon.
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While living abroad, I relished every opportunity to find a cheap flight to somewhere new and exotic. It was a simple but reliable source of joy for me. Month after month, I would input my available dates into Google Flights and wait to see what affordable adventure awaited me. The crowning achievement of my penny-saving plans was the time I secured a 30 euro roundtrip flight to Rabat, Morocco, for a weekend break.
Summer arrives each year with a familiar sense of anticipation. For many, it is a season of rest, a chance to step away from the usual routines and breathe a little more deeply. Families plan vacations, children celebrate the break from school, and communities fill their calendars with festivals, barbecues, and outdoor gatherings. Others use the long days to catch up on projects, reconnect with loved ones, or simply enjoy the warmth that invites us outdoors. However we experience it, summer is a season people look forward to, a time that feels like a gift.
After singing the biblical praises of Mary, the second half of the Hail Mary prayer draws on the Church’s teaching about her singular role in salvation history. Given the simple piety expressed in the prayer and the rosary itself, we easily forget that the title “Mother of God” is the fruit of a tremendous battle for theological orthodoxy fought more than 1,500 years ago.
As we journey through the Easter season, the Church leads us from the Ascension of the Lord to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and finally to the solemn celebration of the Most Holy Trinity. These feasts are not isolated moments on the calendar. They form a single movement of God’s love, a movement that invites us to stay close to the Lord and to live as the Apostles lived. This is also why, during the Easter season, the Church places such emphasis on the Acts of the Apostles. Acts is not just a historical book; it is the living picture of what happens when ordinary people take Jesus seriously, allow the Holy Spirit to breathe life into them, and live in the unity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Acts is Easter in action.
Do you ever feel like you are going through the motions without passion as you carry out your responsibilities? At times, we all can — even monks.
Jesus is the pivot point of the Hail Mary prayer. In the original Latin text, the prayer consists of two parts, each containing 15 syllables. The first part contains the biblical witness of the Annunciation and Visitation; the second features the doctrinal affirmation of Mary as the Mother of God who prays for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death.
As the Diocese of Dallas prepares to welcome its newest members more fully into the life of the Church, Bishop Edward J. Burns is inviting neophytes to gather once again — not as seekers but as newly planted Catholics — at the annual Neophyte Mass, a celebration designed to deepen the faith that takes root at the Rite of Election and is strengthened through prayer, the sacraments, and perseverance in a challenging world.
This past Easter, the Church witnessed something beautiful — a remarkable resurgence of people entering the Church through the sacraments. Across the world, and here in our own diocese, we saw men and women, young and old, stepping forward to embrace the faith. It is a sign of hope, a reminder that the Holy Spirit is still at work, stirring hearts, and renewing the Church. This rebirth is a gift, but it is also a responsibility. If we desire to see this renewal continue, we must remain faithful to the Word that gives it life.
Every morning, monks and nuns — and many lay people — arise early for morning prayer. The Latin name for this prayer, “laudes,” means “praises.” Often the psalms that make up morning prayer are indeed full of expressions of praise. One has inspired in me a reflection on the liturgy. Here are the initial verses of Psalm 63.