“No pain, no gain” was my basic-training drill sergeant’s favorite expression during arduous Army workouts. The cry brought results. At the time, my 19-year-old body responded with a surge of ...

Pain is the attention-getting gift that nobody wants. Its signals and sensations alert us to unwelcome events or situations. Pain “plunges like a sword through creation,” writes Evelyn Underhill, ...

Jesus’ mercy is in his complete understanding of our hurt, not only in his ability to solve it. In this Close Reading series, biblical scholars reflect on a passage in their area of expertise that has ...

Critics say American Christianity downplays Christ’s suffering. Two Reformed scholars answer the charge. If non-Western critics are right, American Christians have a skewed view of Jesus. Asian and ...

If you had told 14-year-old me that I’d be working for a Catholic magazine and writing a reflection for Lent, I would have said you were crazy. At that age, I felt like I had so much faith and nowhere ...

Q: This probably isn't your bailiwick, but maybe you and Fr. Tom Hartman talked about it. Did God feel pain (not literally) as he watched his Son being tortured and crucified? — Anonymous A: What a ...