feature

Think of the Prodigal Son parable as a story about the Our Father Prayer. We say the Our Father so often that we can forget just how powerful it is. The parable of the Prodigal Son can remind us. The Lord’s Prayer reminds us that we live in a wonderful place: Our Father is in heaven and has made us citizens of his kingdom, where his name is hallowed and his will is done, and we hope for his reign to be fully established here on earth

Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney this week credited the apparently miraculous survival of an Arizona toddler to the intercession of Cardinal George Pell. According to the newspaper The Australian, Fisher said at a book event on March 26 that he had learned that an 18-month-old boy had been discharged from a hospital in Phoenix after going 52 minutes without breathing following a fall into a pool.

We’re basically in the Lenten home stretch. This weekend is Mothering Sunday — which originates in the U.K. and is distinct from and predates the knockoff Hallmark version in May by several centuries. For those who aren’t familiar, the tradition of the day is to make a pilgrimage to your “mother church,” the church of your baptism, in preparation for Easter. You should call your mother on the day too, of course. That’s just good manners.

She’s not to everyone’s taste. Tuesday was the 100th birthday of the writer Flannery O’Connor. She’s got her own volume in the Library of America series, the writer’s equivalent of the Hall of Fame, but you’re more likely to read her in a classroom than a book club. Her stories appeared not only in the more literary magazines...

Mel Gibson’s sequel to “The Passion of the Christ” — “The Resurrection of the Christ” — is set to begin production in Italy this August, according to Manuela Cacciamani, CEO of Rome’s Cinecittà Studios.

Many Catholics credit prayers of intercession to Blessed Solanus Casey for curing and helping people who suffer from illnesses. Mary Bartold of DeWitt, Michigan, is now among the many who do so after her two tumors vanished with no medical intervention but after continuous prayers to Casey, whose ministry was built upon healing and compassion.

The concept comes from the Old Testament, marking the completion of seven cycles of sabbath years, a time of rest given to the land every seven years. In the fiftieth year, not just the land but all of society would experience liberation and rest, marking a renewal of the freedom God gave his people in bringing them out of the slavery of Egypt. John Bergsma explains the importance of the biblical Jubilee in his book...

The selection of former president of Ireland Mary McAleese as the commencement speaker for the Saint Mary's College class of 2025 was announced to students via email March 6. Since then, both Belles for Life and The Loretto Trust have made statements calling for McAleese's offer to be rescinded, with the former calling her invitation “a grave scandal to the Catholic faith.”

An estimated one-fifth of adults around the world have left the faith group in which they were raised — with Christianity and Buddhism experiencing especially large losses from this “religious switching,” a new study reveals. The figures — compiled by the Pew Research Center following surveys of nearly 80,000 people in 36 countries...