By Elizabeth Foss
As my youngest child applies to colleges and conservatories, auditions are a part of the process. How to help her feel confident as she tries to convey who she is and what she is capable of to total strangers? Sometimes, I think all of life is an audition.
7/23/26
Reading Time
3
min
By Mary Beth Bonacci
Dr. Phil is ruining my life. His reels keep showing up on my Facebook feed. Upon which I waste far too much time. I have been particularly fascinated by the episodes featuring clearly incompatible engaged couples. And I yell “Just break up! Don’t get married! Run!!!”
7/23/26
Reading Time
4
min
By Lucia A. Silecchia
Summer in Washington means many things. A quieter pace. Notoriously humid weather. A flood of summer interns. And droves of tourists.
7/20/26
Reading Time
4
min
By Fr. Jack Peterson, YA
A few weeks ago, I had the great joy of gathering for an evening with nearly 800 high school students at our diocesan WorkCamp to hear confessions. It is always a highlight of the summer months.
7/18/26
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Richard Miserendino
Our Gospel this Sunday contains Matthew’s classic parable of the sower and the seeds scattered on different types of soil. Sandwiched in the middle, between the parable itself and the interpretation given by Our Lord, is a fascinating little dialogue that begins with the question given to Jesus: Why do you speak to them in parables?
7/11/26
Reading Time
3
min
By Andrea Picciotti-Bayer
The school year carries me. It’s not always graceful, but the structure is there: the early mornings, the carpool, the rhythm that tells me where I am in the day.
7/10/26
Reading Time
4
min
By Elizabeth Foss
Every summer, about this time, parents begin to worry. They compare notes — or their kids share what other kids are doing — and they wonder. Should the children be in another camp?
7/9/26
Reading Time
3
min
By Msgr. Charles M. Mangan
A month ago, Father Gabriel O’Donnell, O.P., one of my colleagues at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md., asked if I had seen the new “Message of Pope Leo XIV to Priests."
7/8/26
Reading Time
3
min
By Fr. Joseph M. Rampino
The Lord has sweet and consoling words for us this Sunday: “come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest.”
7/3/26
Reading Time
3
min
Pursuit of the kingdom