How do you view Lent? Is it an opportunity to become a better version of yourself spiritually? Or is it an obligation you surrender to for forty days?

My brother lost his fiancée six months before they were to wed when she passed away from meningitis. A few months later he met a girl who would become his wife.

My first exposure to the word “pilgrim,” probably like many of you, was sitting in my elementary classroom desk during a history lesson.

Over the holidays, I heard a homily with this phrase. It was such a crystal-clear message that my husband and kids commented on it, too, after Mass.