This Easter I became a Catholic.

What was a long and sometimes circuitous journey culminated, in a way, at the Easter Vigil as I was confirmed, received into the Church and shared in the eucharistic celebration.

Third Sunday of Easter (Year B) April 19 (Acts 3:13-15, 17-19; Psalm 4; 1 John 2:1-5; Luke 24:35-48)

Eternity has more kinds of rooms than this world does.

This is a thought inside the head of Marilynne Robinson’s fictional character, Lila, in Robinson’s recent novel. Lila has reason to think that way, that is, to think outside the box of conventional religious piety because her story is not one that fits piety of any kind.

VATICAN CITY - Christians live the joy of the Resurrection when they share a smile with someone, weep with those who mourn and defend the rights of those persecuted for their faith, Pope Francis said.

JERUSALEM - Christians in the Middle East are called to help the light of peace emerge from the violence and anguish of war in much of the region, drawing inspiration from the resurrected Jesus, Latin Patriarch Fouad Twal said in his Easter homily.

VATICAN CITY - To enter Christ's empty tomb like the disciples and see that he has risen, Christians today also must "bend down," Pope Francis said in his Easter message.

VATICAN CITY - Widespread indifference to the violent persecution of Christians and other communities suggests the world is full of Pontius Pilates who eagerly wash their hands of all responsibility, the papal preacher said.

During Holy Week, Catholics are called to reflect on the Last Supper, when the apostles came together like a family to break bread with Jesus for the final time. It was from that simple meal, with bread at its centre, that Christ gave mankind the Eucharist.

VATICAN CITY - In a moving ceremony that recalled how Jesus loved the world so deeply that He lowered Himself to serve and died for everyone's sins, Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 prison inmates, plus a small toddler who lives with his incarcerated mother.

VATICAN CITY - Priestly ministry is hard, sometimes lonely or dangerous work serving the neediest with an open, vulnerable heart, Pope Francis told the world's priests.