Starting over is not so hard. But starting over, all over again, is. The first time you begin again, you do so with some confidence that having learned from your mistakes, you will get it right the ...

Sam Sawyer, S.J., editor-in-chief of America Media, returns to “Preach” to discuss his Advent homily series, designed to be more cohesive than the usual week-to-week, stand-alone Sunday homilies that ...

Sunday, Dec. 5, is the Second Sunday of Advent. Mass readings: Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126:1-2, 2-3, 4-5, 6; Phil 1:4-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6. But, as a practical matter, what does it mean to repent? John ...

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal, or GIRM, gives the following 216 words about the homily in its instructions ...

"The word of God came to John ... in the desert." That is what Luke said to introduce the prophet who would prepare the way of the Lord. According to Luke, John's ministry was the pivotal point in ...

The readings from the Second Sunday of Advent present us with two of the major Advent characters: the prophet Isaiah, the source of several messianic prophecies, and John the Baptist, the one God ...

The Sunday gospel lectionary reading for the Second Sunday before Advent in Year C) is Luke 21.5–19, this gospel's version of ...

The sequence of lighting the candles on an Advent wreath is to light the first purple candle on the first Sunday of Advent, which is Dec. 1 this year. Then move clockwise and light a second purple ...

As Advent got underway, Pope Francis included in his morning Mass homilies specific graces Catholics should pray for as they prepare for Christmas. In the chapel of his residence Tuesday, Pope Francis ...