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Fasts have a tendency to be oriented toward things like giving up food or television. But there are many other creative ways we can welcome Jesus' healing touch. Here are suggestions you may want to consider.

Good Friday is an important observance for Christians everywhere. It is typically the last Friday before Easter. Friday was traditionally set aside as early as the first century for the purpose of prayer and fasting. In the fourth century, the Church began observing Good Friday as a special day to commemorate Jesus Christ's crucifixion.

Let us try at this hour to understand more deeply something of these events, for in them the mystery of our redemption takes place.

In a visit to one of Italy’s toughest prisons Sunday, Pope Benedict XVI has reportedly brought tears to the eyes of hardened criminals as he told them that overcrowding was a “double sentence” and that their offence could not erase their dignity, whatever it is.

... Today, is a day of silence, of affliction, of sadness, of thinking and waiting. Today, we dot not find the Holy Eucharist to be reserved in the Sacrarium. There is only the remembrance and the sign of his “love to the end”, the Holy Cross we devotedly adore.

...“In our meditations, we have sought to convey our impressions of what Jesus lived in those moments, seeking to actualize them in the light of our own experience. It was not of course easy because we stand before such a great mystery. Yet we firmly believe that the secret and the solution to family problems lie in the Crucified Jesus. Christ on the Cross gave meaning to the pain we must face”.

Pope Benedict on Thursday morning presided at the Chrism Mass in St Peter’s Basilica, addressing his homily especially to priests on the day the Church commemorates Christ’s institution of the priesthood. Some 1600 priests from the Rome diocese were present in the Basilica to hear the Pope’s words and to renew their vows during this Holy Thursday liturgy.

Following the meditations of Mr. & Mrs. Danilo Zanzucchi of the Focolare movement and the founders of the New Families movement, through the fourteen Stations of the Cross, Pope Benedict XVI’s reflections at the via crucis on Good Friday evening at the Colosseum in Rome...

Let us live this Easter with plenty of joy. Christ has risen: so let us celebrate it full of joy and love. Death, sin and sadness, have today been defeated by Jesus Christ... and He has opened the doors to a new life, the real life, the life we owe to the grace of the Holy Spirit.

“I am sure that our prayer will help peace, because peace is a gift of God, and only God can give us what we cannot obtain by our own efforts, or the efforts of politicians,” ...

Pope Benedict XVI ends the Via Crucis at the Coliseum. At present, the economic crisis is making the situation worse for families. "At times of trouble, when our families have to face pain and adversity, let us look to Christ's cross. There we can find the courage and strength to press on".

The Buddhist doctrine of kamma [karma] ("deeds", "actions"), and the closely related doctrine of rebirth, are perhaps the best known, and often the least understood, of Buddhist doctrines. The matter is complicated by the fact that the other Indian religious traditions of Hinduism and Jainism have their own theories of Karma and Reincarnation.

A Synaxis of the Primates of Eastern Orthodox Churches in the Middle East met in Cyprus on 27 March to discuss the situation of Christians in the region and to agree on common approaches to solidarity, strengthening and support of Christian communities struggling to maintain their presence in their historic homes.

Here is a translation of the homily that the preacher of the Pontifical Household, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa, gave during the celebration of the Passion of the Lord today in St. Peter's Basilica.

Peter then set out with the other disciple to go to the tomb. They ran together but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first. He bent down and saw the linen cloths lying flat, but he did not enter... Then the other disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in; he saw and believed. Scripture clearly said that he must rise from the dead, but they had not yet understood that...

Today, the joy of resurrection has made brave messengers out of those women that went to Christ's tomb. The angel's announcement of the Master's resurrection filled their hearts with "great joy". And, immediately after, they "ran out", to tell the news to the Apostles.

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Mass this Easter Sunday in St Peter's Square, after which he offered the urbi et orbi benediction - the blessing of the city and the world - which it is tradition for the Pope to give at Easter and at Christmas. The Holy Father delivered remarks to the faithful gathered in the square, focusing on the radical and permanent novelty of Christ's resurrection.

Jesus is risen and dies no more. He has opened the door to a new life, one that no longer knows illness and death. He has taken mankind up into God himself. “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God”, as Saint Paul says in the First Letter to the Corinthians (15:50).

Par votre mort, Seigneur, par votre souffrance infinie, Nous comprenonss les morts qui ont parsemé notre vie. Nous comprenons qu’on peut mourir un peut un peu tous les jours sans être las,

Pope Benedict XVI, in his first Regina Caeli at Castel Gandolfo, invites us to use vacation time to reread the stories of the Resurrection of Jesus narrated in the Gospels. The testimony of women, important in the passion and resurrection, but also in all ages of the Church. The importance of Mary, who through the resurrection of Jesus, becomes the Mother of the Church.

Today, in the figure of Mary of Magdala we may contemplate two levels of acceptance of our Savior: the first one, imperfect; complete, the second one. According to the first one, Mary appears as the most sincere of Jesus' disciples.

In this second part of our report on Maria Voce’s trip to America (April 2011), we go to Chicago, where two important events took place.

... Let us rejoice in knowing that today and forever the risen Jesus stands among us. He walks with us on the journey. But we must let him open our eyes of faith for us to realize He is present in our lives...

The story of the disciples of Emmaus is useful as a guide to us in the long journey through a path of doubts, afflictions and sometimes even bitter disillusionments; the Divine traveler continues to be our companion who introduces us, by explaining the Scriptures, to the comprehension of God's mysteries.

Hundreds of Catholics were forced to gather and celebrate Easter without a priest outside their chapel in a parish bordering Thailand on Sunday following its recent closure by the government.

The fate of the country’s elderly remains an issue of widespread discussion, as many have called for a legal framework to protect the rights of the aged and following a high court order seeking clarification on the issue.

Today, the risen Christ meets again his disciples with his desire of peace: "Peace to you" (Lk 24:36). This is how He makes disappear the fears and forebodings the Apostles had accumulated during their days of passion and loneliness.

... if he was a fisherman before following Jesus, afterwards, he gets back to his old job; and there still are those who are surprised to see that it is not necessary to leave one's honest work to follow Christ.

Today, the Gospel offers us the opportunity to meditate upon some aspects which each one of us has experience of: we are certain of our love for Jesus, and we consider him the best of our friends; nevertheless, who, among us, could be sure of having never betrayed him?...

Jesus greeted them again: "Peace be with you". Yet this, the Pope explained, was not just a greeting, "it was a gift, the gift the Risen One made to His friends. At the same time it was a commission: the peace which Christ had bought with His blood was for them, but it was also for everyone else, and the disciples would have to carry it throughout the world".