Lent

Easter Sunday — Hope for Eternal Life By Bishop Earl K. Fernandes, Diocese of Columbus | Today’s Readings At “Baby Bishops School”, Pope Francis exhorted us to visit prisons to keep in contact with the harsh realities of life. Taking his words to heart, I offered Mass for those on death row in Ohio. One…

Holy Saturday — Intentional Waiting By Sr. Erin Zubal, OSU | Today’s Readings Lent is about waiting, but not passive waiting. It’s active, intentional, hopeful waiting.   Waiting can be joyful and hopeful, as well as dreadful and frightening.  My community, the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland, knows all too well the experience of active, intentional waiting. Hope, grace…

Good Friday — Who will you be? By Emmjolee Mendoza Waters | Today’s Readings I remember enjoying Holy Week as a kid. While the readings were long, I actually looked forward to them, especially waiting for the bolded lines in the missal so I could jump in with everyone else. I got to speak with…

Holy Thursday — The Washing of the Feet By Fr. Andrew Jones | Today’s Readings On the night of the Last Supper Jesus did something his disciples did not expect: he adopted the role of servant to wash their feet. This startling act reveals the essence of the New Covenant: God offers intimate communion to…

Palm Sunday — “Crucify Him!” By Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble | Today’s Readings All four Gospels recount a haunting moment in Jesus’ passion: the crowd’s cry, “Crucify him!” The same voices that once shouted “Hosanna” now demand his death. It’s not just a historical detail; it reveals the indecisive cowardice of the human heart. And…

Easter Sunday — Hope Never Fails By Bishop Emeritus Felipe Estévez, Diocese of St. Augustine Christ is Risen, Alleluia! As we celebrate the Lord’s triumph over death, I can’t help but think of the men in my own state of Florida whose lives have recently been taken by capital punishment. I pray that Edward James,…

Holy Saturday — Waiting in Darkness By Sr. Barbara Battista, SP We call this day “Holy Saturday.” We spend this day, between death and resurrection, in quiet remembrance, as a somber vigil at Jesus’ tomb. This is not simply a re-enactment. Holy Saturday invites us to ponder the “tomb time” between Jesus’ death and resurrection….

Good Friday — The Women at the Foot of the Cross By Krisanne Vaillancourt Murphy “Standing by the cross of Jesus were his mother and his mother’s sister. Mary, the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdala.” (John 19:25) Today’s Good Friday gospel reading is heavy. We remember the Passion story: Judas, Jesus’ disciple, betrays him….

Holy Thursday — Becoming Eucharist By Don McCrabb, D.Min. The Eucharist is a restorative practice. It gathers strangers together and forms us into a community. It holds the tender truth of our failings and unleashes the power of our faith in the innate dignity of every human being. The Eucharist restores our humanity and sends…

Palm Sunday — Reflecting on Imago Dei By Lori Stanley Palm Sunday signals Jesus’s path to the cross and juxtaposes the honors he received upon entering Jerusalem with the suffering and violent torture that would follow. As bodies of onlookers hugged the road, Jesus made the journey to enter the city. Riding on a donkey…

March 31, 2024 | Most Rev. Michael Duca | Today’s Readings “Then the other disciple also went in, the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.” (John 20:8-9) , I have always been…

March 30, 2024 | Christian Bentley | Today’s Readings “He has been raised; he is not here. Behold, the place where they laid him.” (Mark16:6) , Two women, Mary and Mary, are moved to perform one more act of loving kindness toward Jesus — despite the probability of the body decomposing and despite their concern…