If you’re an American you are likely infected, at least partly, with the disease of Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, a phrase coined by sociologist Christian Smith.  MTD is the belief, perhaps hidden under traditional Christian mores, that God’s job is to make you feel better about yourself and generally take your problems away.  Worry not!  Ch...

Recent history has seen the sad displacement of traditional Lenten fasting, which has been noted on this site.  Yet on this day, Good Friday, Catholics are bound to fast in accordance with the law under pains of mortal sin.  Even in an age of laxity, Good Friday stands in contradiction to our comforts and calls us to penance and remembrance. C...

This is what it’s all been for – those forty days of prayer and penance. We’ve been watching with Christ in the desert these weeks to be able to enter into His Passion with Him. Holy Week offers us a set chronology from Palm Sunday to Easter, enabling us to walk step by step with Jesus through His Passion. The actions of Holy Week do not j...

“Part company with the earth and ascend to the realms of heaven!”  -St. John Chrysostom During the supreme days of the Sacred Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter), the saving work of Jesus Christ is re-presented to us in the mystery of the liturgy of the Church.  These days mark the pinnacle of the battle between good and ev...