There are moments when the ground beneath us shakes, and we get a shocking glimpse of our failing in love.

VATICAN CITY - For the first time in 300 years, the marble steps of the Holy Stairs will be free from the thick wooden panels installed in 1723 to protect the stairs and left uncovered for the public.

JERUSALEM – Protesting several recent actions they described as a "systematic campaign ... against the churches and the Christian community in the Holy Land," the heads of Christian churches announced Feb. 25 they were closing of the doors of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for an undisclosed period of time.

Resurrection of the Lord, April 16 (Year A) Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18

The first Christian creeds were simple, direct and unadorned. The apostles proclaimed who Jesus was, what He did, what happened to Him, and His role in the universal judgment of humankind.

Good Friday was bad long before it was good, at least from outward appearances.

It’s funny where you can learn a lesson and catch a glimpse of the divine. Recently, in a grocery store, I witnessed this incident:

A young girl, probably around 16 years of age, along with two other girls her own age, came into the store. She picked up a grocery basket and began to walk down the aisle, not knowing that a second basket was stuck onto the one she was carrying. At a point the inevitable happened, the basket stuck to hers released

JERUSALEM – For the first time in 200 years, experts have begun a restoration of the Edicule of the Tomb in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, where, according to Christian tradition, Jesus was laid to rest after His crucifixion.

The stone which rolled away from the tomb of Jesus continues to roll away from every sort of grave. Goodness cannot be held, captured or put to death. It evades its pursuers, escapes capture, slips away, hides out, even leaves the churches sometimes, but forever rises, again and again, all over the world. Such is the meaning of the Resurrection.

TORONTO - The Toronto Passion Play is an Easter tradition that has attracted thousands of Christians each year to the Church on the Queensway. This year, the full-scale musical production celebrates its 25th anniversary with a curtain call performance of its latest version.

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)

JERUSALEM - Several pilgrim groups gathered in a sunny courtyard in Jerusalem’s Old City. They were preparing to follow a tradition reaching back at least to the fifth century: walking along the Via Dolorosa, through the cobbled streets of Jerusalem’s Old City.

The biblical accounts of Jesus’ passion and death focus very much on His trial, describing it in length and in detail.

“Bless you for playing Jesus, peace be upon him.”

MANILA, Philippines - Authorities announced that at least 24 "penitents" are expected to be nailed on the cross on Good Friday, an annual ritual meant to atone for sins and give thanks to God for blessings.