Here's a joke: A priest is giving a homily based on Jesus's command to love your enemies.

"Now," he says, "I'll bet that many of us feel as if we have enemies in our lives," he says the congregation. "So raise your hands," he says, "if you have many...

The recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, a horrifying disaster that unfolded before our eyes on television and the Internet, not only wrenched the hearts of every compassionate person, but also raised for the believer an age-old question: Why do we suffer?

That immense question, or the "problem of...

How do we know that what we read in the Gospels is what Jesus really said?

Well, for believers, their tradition tells them so. Christians believe that the church is guided by the Holy Spirit, and so the writings that were chosen for inclusion into the "canon" of the...

What is the importance of Pope Benedict XVI's sweeping statements in the latest installment of his book series, Jesus of Nazareth, about the need not to hold the Jewish people responsible as a whole for the death of Jesus?

After all, the Second Vatican Council's...

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There are as many paths to God as there are individuals. This series looks at six of the most well-traveled paths for contemporary believers.

This final path to God crosses all the other ones at various points. People on the path of confusion run hot and cold...

Of Gods and Men is the greatest film I've ever seen on faith. It surpasses even some of my longtime favorite movies on the spiritual life, like Romero, Diary of a Country Priest, A Man for All Seasons and The Song of Bernadette. Perhaps only Franco Zeffirelli's multi-part series Jesus...

Irish Central reported today a dramatic scene in Dublin's St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral, part of the Vatican's visitation (that is, investigation) by Cardinal Sean O'Malley of Boston and Archbishop Timothy Dolan of New York of the troubled church in Ireland (Hat-tip to Dotcommonweal and Whispers):

In dramatic scenes,...

There is a Catholic church in New York City called St. Francis Xavier, after the 16th-century Jesuit missionary who preached the Gospel from East Africa to India to Japan and who finally died off the coast of China. Up until recently, the church was dark inside. Well, that's not true:...

There are as many paths to God as there are individuals. This series looks at six of the most well-traveled paths for contemporary believers.

A few years ago, I worked with an Off-Broadway acting company that was producing on a new play about the relationship between Jesus and Judas. After...

There are as many paths to God as there are individuals. This is the fourth post in a series that looks at six of the most well-traveled paths for contemporary believers. The previous post explored 'The Path of Independence'.

This path gets more crowded every year. People in...

There are as many paths to God as there are individuals. This series looks at six of the most well-traveled paths for contemporary believers. The first two parts considered 'The Path of Belief' and 'The Path of Independence'.

You might be surprised to hear of agnosticism...

There are as many paths to God as there are individuals. This series looks at six of the most well-traveled paths for contemporary believers. Part 1, 'The Path of Belief', can be found here.

Those on the path of independence have made a conscious decision to separate themselves...

Editor's Note: Is the end of the world coming? With new mass animal deaths being discovered regularly, many people have started to wonder if the apocalypse is indeed imminent. HuffPost Religion blogger and Culture Editor of America Magazine, Father James Martin, S.J., discusses some possible explanations for these...

How do I find God?

That question marks the starting point for all seekers. But, surprisingly, many books on spirituality often downplay or ignore them. Some writers assume you already believe in God, that you have already found God or that God is already part of your life. But it...

For a lark yesterday, on my 50th birthday, I Tweeted 12 things that I wish I had known at 25. Or more accurately, 12 things that, had I put them into action, would have made my life a lot easier. Some are bits of advice that wisdom figures have told...

Not long ago, two young children helped me see the Nativity of Jesus in a new way. Their presence in my life made the Christmas story an entirely new experience.

When I first started meditating on the Nativity passages as a Jesuit novice, more than 20 years ago, my...

Here's a line from The Catechism of the Catholic Church that is not, I would wager, particularly well known. It has to do with the overall treatment of gays and lesbians in modern society:

"They must be accepted with respect, compassion, and sensitivity. Every sign of unjust discrimination in their...

Here's a thought experiment that might shed light (rather than heat) on our neuralgic national conversation about a certain holiday. Ready?

Imagine if the following happened to the social conventions surrounding Independence Day. First of all, imagine that any reference to what occurred on July 4, 1776 -- the Declaration...

Typically, when thinking of the Annunciation, Mary is considered the astonished one. In the Gospel of Luke, she asks how is it possible that she can is the mother of God if she is a virgin. This is true in our own lives, when we feel that God is asking...