Catholic Faith Formation Resources

The Lenten season begins tomorrow on Ash Wednesday. We previously posted the article, "Lenten and Easter Resources 2026," that provides links to various articles, videos, music, practices, and other resurces to help you prepare for and participate in this year's Lenten and Easter Seasons. Beginning with Ash Wednesday and continuing throughout the Lenten Season and culminating on Easter Sunday, we will offer short reflections on the Gospel reading for each day. These articles were prepared, in part, with the assistance of information provided by CoPilot in response to specific inquiries. A link to the Daily Gospel reading, reflection questions, and a short prayer are also included. We hope and pray you find these reflections helpful for your spiritual journey. May our hearts and minds be opened this Lenten Season to experience the transforming presence of our unconditionally loving and merciful God, who is closer to us than we are to ourselves.

Lent is a season for introspection and acknowledging reality. For many, it calls us to confront the addictions in our lives. The term "addiction" has been defined in various ways by authorities who treat particular addictions and impulse control disorders, such as with substances (e.g. alcohol, drugs, prescription medicines, smoking, etc.) or behavioral (e.g. pornography, gambling, sex, social media, intenret, video games, food, work, shopping, exercising, tatoos, plastic surgery, and so on). For example consider the following definition of "addiction" offered by the American Psychological Association: A state of psychological and/or physical dependence on the use of drugs or other substances, such as alcohol, or on activities or behaviors. The term is often used as an equivalent term for substance use disorder or substance dependence and can be applied to non-substance-related behavioral addictions, such as sex, exercise, and gambling. A chemical substance wi...

RESOURCES FOR PREPARING FOR AND PARTICIPATING IN THE SEASONS OF LENT AND EASTER SUNDAY FEBRUARY 18 THROUGH APRIL 5, 2026 "Then the disciples of John approached [Jesus] and said, ‘Why do we and the Pharisees fast [much], but your disciples do not fast?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Can the wedding guests mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? The days will come when the bridegroom is taken away from them, and then they will fast’” (Mt 9:14-15). What are you doing to prepare for and to participate in Lent? The Season of Lent is the forty-day period before Easter, excluding Sundays, which begins this year on Ash Wednesday, February 18, 2026 and ends at sunset on Holy Thursday, April 2, when the Easter Triduum begins, culminating on Easter Sunday, April 5, 2026 when we celebrate the Resurrection of the Lord. As the U.S. Bishops explain, Lent is a period of preparation to celebrate the Lord's Resurrection at Easter. During Lent, we seek the Lord i...

“ You have formed us for Yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they find rest in You ” — St. Augustine of Hippo, Confessions, " 1,1.5 1 Every one of us is searching for happiness, which is generally understood as the fulfillment of one's desires. Accepting this definition means that happiness is an individual, subjective experience. Therefore, we are each responsible to determine our most important desires, such as what we yearn for, what desires drive us, and what we seek to satisfy us. We may chase happiness in different ways, but the longing implanted in our hearts is, whether we know it or not, ultimately the same: we want a life that feels meaningful, fulfilling, peaceful, joyful, and whole. Fr. Robert Spitzer, SJ, offers a simple and deeply insightful framework called the "Four Levels of Happiness"— a way of understanding what truly satisfies the human heart and is enduring, and what provides only temporary happiness that still leave...

"Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light for my path." — Psalm 119:115 "God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all." — 1 John 1:5 "Jesus spoke to them again, saying, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.'” — John 8:12 As Christmas approaches, the world around us fills with human-created lights. Streets glow, homes shimmer, and candles flicker in darkened churches. Yet all these lights are only signs pointing to a far greater reality: the light of Christ. Christ's light does not merely decorate our lives; it penetrates and illuminates them. It reveals who God truly is. Christ's light also reveals who we are called to be—children of God. It opens our hearts and minds to the love, truth, goodness, and beauty of God, even as it exposes the shadow...

We live within a material reality, enveloped by a spiritual reality, that is both visible and invisible. We experience the material world through our senses, as constructed through our minds, but enter into the depths of the spritual reality of God through eyes of faith. To assist us in doing this, Catholic tradition calls us to live with a sacramental worldview of life. A sacramental worldview believes that God’s invisible grace is made visible through the physical world. This means that every part of our day can be a place of encounter with God. God isn't just present in holy places or at special times. Rather, God reveals the Godself throughout creation—through people, through present moments, and through the stuff of everyday life. A sacramental worldview is rooted in God's act of creation, and especially through the Incarnation, when God humbly entered into humanity in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, who the Church confesses is fully human and fully divine. In Jesus...