It was Drew Christiansen, S.J., even more than Thoreau or Aquinas, whom I was surprised to encounter amid the German landscapes on the Upper East Side.

And the Easter Mass that moved her

It is a profound thing, when society has labeled you a criminal and a felon, to think that at the center of the world’s most populous faith tradition is a man whom those in power at the time condemned as a criminal.

I'm hoping that a softer approach to these 40 days will help prepare me for the more difficult ones I know are coming.

The thought of losing Pope Francis one day is a hard one for me to grapple with; I know my reasons why. What surprised me was how many of my non-Catholic friends, even those whose feelings toward the church are decisively negative, also expressed their care and concern.

Lesson one: I had to buy more stamps.