Dear friends in Jesus Christ, For Christians, Holy Week is the most sacred time of year. It’s a time to reflect on what the “good news” of Jesus Christ really means. C.S. Lewis once wrote that “Christianity is a thing of unspeakable joy. But it begins not in joy, but in wretchedness, and it does […]

Together with the clergy and people of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, I want to extend to the local Jewish community our prayerful best wishes during this year’s observance of Passover. Passover is, of course, the great feast that marks the liberation of the Chosen People from slavery. In remembering this miracle, the celebrations relating to […]

Holy Week is the most sacred time of the Christian year. And on every Holy Thursday, priests of the archdiocese gather at the annual Chrism Mass to renew their fraternal bonds and the meaning of their vocation. The readings of the Chrism Mass have a special beauty and power, and they deserve the attention of […]

This week’s column is brief. But the subject matter warrants all our attention. Again this June, our nation’s bishops have asked Catholics across the country to observe a “Fortnight for Freedom.” The theme this year is “Freedom to Serve.” It highlights the many Catholic social and charitable ministries that serve the poor, the homeless and […]

What Francis of Assisi and every other great saint discovered in their time is that we become who we really are — we experience life most vividly — when we allow Jesus Christ to transform and work through us. Each of us as disciples receives a call to share in God’s power to give life. […]

Here’s a simple fact: The dignity of the human person is what all Catholic teaching seeks to advance. But what sets the Christian faith apart from every other revolutionary movement for justice is the rejection of violence and the affirmation of the power of love. Real love — love that involves a complete surrender of […]

Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, falls on March 5 this year. Lived well, Lent can convert the heart and transform a person’s life. That’s the whole point of the season – to ready us for the miracle of Easter. But self-examination, repentance and reconciliation are rarely painless; they can sound a lot easier in […]

Catholic or not, many of us remember Blessed Pope John XXIII with special affection — a man who committed himself to world peace and international justice. With his canonization just two months away, it’s a good moment to consider his legacy. In talking about peace, John always began with the rights of the individual human […]

Today, we celebrate Valentine’s Day. Saint Valentine is the patron of happy marriages, engaged couples and young people. Please join me in praying for married couples as well as all those preparing to enter into the sacred bonds of marriage. The married couple is the building block of the family-the cornerstone of society. Today is […]

Over the years I’ve heard from many good people who want a closer relationship with God. But they’re stymied by what they perceive as God’s silence. What they often mean, without knowing it, is that they’d like God to do something dramatic in their lives; something with a hint of Mt. Sinai that proves his […]