Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, Lex orandi, lex credendi, lex vivendi, is a Latin phrase meaning (roughly) “the law of prayer is the law of faith, is the law of living.” The way we pray teaches us what we believe about God, which in turn teaches us how we are to live every day. This order of things puts us in the right frame of mind: by encountering the living God, we learn who He is and our relationship with Him shows us how our lives must be transformed by this grace-filled encounter. This season has been a constant…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As Passiontide begins, our focus turns more intensely to those events we have been preparing to celebrate throughout this season. These final days of Lent are an invitation to further turn our minds and hearts to the Lord. Nearly five weeks ago we heard those words that have guided us throughout Lent: “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” To turn away from sin means to turn toward the Lord. This movement toward God involves the whole of our being, body and soul. Prayer, fasting, and almsgiving are the disciplines that help us to reorient…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, In the last few weeks, we have reflected on what it means to repent and believe in the Gospel. To repent means to turn from sin and toward God. Turning to God means that we are ad orientem, oriented to a relationship with the Lord that involves the whole person, body and soul. Prayer enables us to make the interior turn, lifting up our hearts and minds to God. Fasting is the bodily discipline that reminds us our posture ad orientem is both an inner movement toward the Lord and a physical act. Prayer…read more

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, The season of Lent began with the charge to “Repent and believe in the Gospel.” In the last two weeks, we have reflected on the way in which repentance means a turning away from sin and toward God. This reorientation of our hearts and lives can be described as a movement ad orientem, to the east, to Christ who is the rising sun. Ad orientem then, is for Catholics a turn to the Lord. Because we are a union of body and soul, Catholic prayer is always an incarnate spiritual reality. We pray with…read more