As a child I never looked forward to Lenten penances, it always meant “giving up” something that I liked very much. Among my friends it was understood that giving up vegetables was not an acceptable pentential practice. So usually it meant things like chocolate bars...
As we approach the season of Lent in the Church, we approach again another opportunity to unite ourselves to our Lord Jesus in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. Lent is called the “springtime” of the Church. In the Spring, everything is flowering and...
Dear Brothers and Sisters,Lent is a time of renewal for the whole Church, for each communities and every believer. Above all it is a “time of grace” (2 Cor 6:2). God does not ask of us anything that he himself has not first given us. “We love because he first has...
By: Sister Marie-Aimee, O.C.D.When I was a freshman in college, long before I knew the Carmelites, I decided to give up music for Lent with the intention of making myself more available for prayer. It was the hardest Lent I ever experienced. It was the best too. I...
Death with dignity has become synonymous with euthanasia, suicide, taking one’s life in hand and ending it. Our society is falling for the lie that weakness lessens our worth, that suffering steals our dignity. Dignity is defined as “the state or quality...
Growing up, I was taught that we needed to “pray, pray, pray” in order to save our souls. But recently, a friend told me that we need to do good works instead. Which is more important: prayer or good works? I remember hearing it said many years ago in a Catholic...