I can think of many instances when the Easter season has liturgically fit with my life: times when there was new life as I anticipated the birth of a new baby, or a family member’s health had improved, or a relationship was reconciled. Other times, the season has felt out of line with my life: after a death of a loved one, or when I realized that the habit I had hoped to change during […]
A few weeks ago, partway through the Easter Octave, my stepfather unexpectedly passed away. The news of his passing initially felt like an impossible interruption of joy, contrary to everything that I had been experiencing at Easter. My stepdad married my mom when I was only five, and so essentially raised my younger brother and me. I am no expert on how to mourn a parent. I have never done it before, nor have I […]
Sometimes in our lives Easter comes when we are still very much in the desert of Lent. Maybe we have lost a loved one, are living through a personal struggle, or are caring for someone who is ill. Whatever the case, we can find ourselves in the desert much longer than 40 days. In such times, Easter Day becomes but a date on the calendar, and we find ourselves still kneeling at the foot of […]
Easter has arrived! We made the long way through Lent; some of us journeyed through the liturgical marathon that is Holy Week, with its multiple services leading up to the Great Easter Vigil. Now we dwell in the weeks prior to Pentecost. Yes, we keep looking forward to the next event in the Christian year. Jesus has risen from the dead; in the coming weeks, as we hear in the Gospel stories, he will appear […]
The Society of Jesus is worldwide. The below video highlights the work of the Jesuits in Eastern Africa in education, spiritual, and social justice ministries. If you’re receiving this via e-mail, click through to watch the video Jesuits in Eastern Africa.
The moniker “doubting Thomas” has always bothered me. Thomas did, after all, have great faith, enough faith to give up everything he knew—family, friends, homeland, and career—to follow Jesus. Yet we remember him for one fleeting moment of very understandable hesitation. In fact, I wonder how different his reaction to hearing the news that Jesus was alive might have been from my own? When I place myself in prayer next to Thomas in the Gospel […]
Our lives do not always align with the liturgical seasons. Easter season is upon us, but life might have us in Lent. Perhaps we are living a Good Friday moment or we are still in the tomb, waiting in hope for our Easter moment to arrive. What can we do when our lives are not congruent with the Easter season we are celebrating? Having lived “off-season” many times before, here are four things I find […]
We have spent weeks doing Lent. Is it possible that we can spend even one week doing Easter? Can we remember that there is such a thing as the season of Easter, the Great Fifty Days that lead us all the way to Pentecost? I’m going to try to focus on E-A-S-T-E-R, in various ways for as much of this season as I can effectively. Christians are supposed to be an Easter people—yet we tend […]
Happy Easter! Today, we provide an Ignatian prayer for you, inspired by the Arts & Faith: Easter video. The video and prayer for Easter Sunday are based on John 20:1–9. The art is an early 13th-century stained-glass depiction of the Resurrection in Canterbury Cathedral’s Corona Chapel. Preparation Prepare for a period of meditation by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply for a moment or two. Allow any present concerns to move across your […]
As we move from Lent to Easter, we’ll provide Ignatian prayers for the Triduum, inspired by videos from Arts & Faith: Lent. The video and prayer for Holy Saturday are based on Luke 24:1–12. The art is a 14th-century folio: The Women at the Tomb; The Descent into Limbo. Preparation Prepare for a period of meditation by sitting comfortably, closing your eyes, and breathing deeply for a moment or two. Allow any present concerns to […]
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