Sometimes, we Catholics get our heads stuck on a particular challenge in the church and don’t realize how it may be affecting other faith traditions. So it is with “The Great Dechurching” (Jim Davis and Michael Graham, Zondervan Press, 2023), a thoughtful and accurate depiction of the largest and fastest religious shift in U.S. history.

While as a deacon and a writer I tend to pray about the challenges that the Catholic Church faces (scandals, politics, programs, recovery from COVID, etc.), I completely missed the broader trends affecting virtually all Christian churches in America.

May is the month of Mary, and in most parishes it is the month when many of our young Catholics receive Communion for the very first time. The celebrations are joyful, but sometimes gift-giving can be problematic. Money is a common (and always welcome) gift for the first communicant, but it can also feel distant to some givers.

He is risen, indeed! We hope that all our readers had a meaningful Lenten and Easter observance. The liturgical calendar provides an opportunity to experience Lent and Easter with continued spiritual growth in our lives that we treasure.

February and March are the months when we participate in the discipline of Lent. Fasting, praying, giving alms, confession, adoration — all good activities anytime — find even more purpose when we observe them in Lent. Though we are deep into Lent at this writing, there may be some ways that we can invest even more in our observances, and sometimes a good book can direct our thoughts.

Last month, we had the opportunity to interview Jesuit Father Joseph Fessio, who was a Ph.D. student of then-Professor Joseph Ratzinger in Germany over 50 years ago.

Father Fessio and Pope Benedict XVI had a successful and fruitful partnership in many ways. Of the 66 books that Pope Benedict wrote throughout his life, most of the English versions were published by Father Fessio’s creation, Ignatius Press. If we were to survey all the writings of this prodigious professor/scholar-pastor/theologian, where would we start?