The simple details of his apartment, his use of mass transit, his visits to wash the feet of AIDS patients, his passion for the poor, cooking his own food, all tell us that this man is about lifestyle Christianity more than perpetual doctrinal food fights.

At night I stared into the bathroom mirror, haunted by my own reflection. Was there an answer hidden in my eyes? What did my body know that my mind did not? Fear was taking hold in my bones, but by the week's end, I could feel its antidote springing up, silky and fragrant: faith.

By Anthony Ruff National Catholic Reporter The first Sunday of Advent, Dec. 2, marks one year since the new translation of the Roman Missal was i...

Give us, O God, leaders whose hearts are large enough to match the breadth of our own souls, and give us souls strong enough to follow leaders of vision and wisdom.

Creator God, we ask you to calm the wind and the waves of the approaching hurricane, and spare those in its path from harm. Help those who are in its way to reach safety.

Help me to be peaceful when people tell me that I don't belong in the church, that I'm a heretic for trying to make things better, or that I'm not a good Catholic.

Prayer can be a tricky thing, even for those who do it religiously, so to speak. Pope John Paul II once said: "How to pray? This is a simple matter. I would say: Pray any way you like so long as you pray."