This period, known as Emmanuel or "God with us," shifts the focus from anticipation to presence. Five candles burn on the Advent wreath this morning. Four around the edges, their flames steady after ...

"And what I say to you I say to all: Watch" (Mark 13:37). This verse is from the Gospel of Mark, one of the three synoptic Gospels. The Gospel of Mark is attributed to St. Mark the Evangelist and is ...

Today, Dec. 3, is the First Sunday of Advent. This is the latest day on which the First Sunday of Advent can fall. This means there will be a very busy weekend near the end of December for clergy of ...

A woman lights a candle on the first Sunday of Advent at Our Mother of Sorrows Church in Tucson, Ariz., Dec. 3, 2023, the start of the Advent season. (OSV News photo/Bob Roller) “People will die of ...

Wow! Did you ever feel like that was happening? Maybe you didn't think you would die, but did you ever feel paralyzed, unable to reply or think of a way to deal with something? Then there's the ...

Ask almost anyone, anywhere, and they’ll tell you that 2025 has been a hard year. We’ve witnessed global wars, school shootings and an alarming rise in political violence. We’ve endured a ...

I came to myself in a dark wood, For the straight way was lost (“Inferno,” 1.1). It is perhaps the primordial moment of the spiritual life, a sudden sense that we have lost the way and now must find ...