Jeanie Hannaman

By Thomas V. Mirus, Catholic Culture - Those in the social mainstream have always justified themselves by contrast with the kinds of sins their milieu deems most shameful. The arrogant, self-righteous, and repressed within respectable society either deny their own sins outright, or cover them over as less egregious than the sins of the socially unacceptable. Christ overturned this when he told the chief priests and the elders that tax collectors and prostitutes would go to heaven before them.

By Father Jeffrey Kirby, National Catholic Register - During the Lenten season, the Catholic Church echoes the call of the Lord Jesus for us to accompany him in the desert. The desert is an uncomfortable place. It strips us of our excesses. It humbles us and shows us who we are. It can be unsettling since it is a place of purgation and purification... The desert is also an opportunity for us to meet Jesus Christ and soberly evaluate where we are in our relationship with him. There is no hiding place in the emptiness of this spiritual wilderness. The things that hinder us from loving and serving the Lord are in full array before us. ...