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By MADDIE FABIAN

The Station of the Cross Catholic Media Network recently expanded its reach across western Massachusetts. The network now broadcasts on 730 AM in Springfield, reaching western Massachusetts and Hartford, with a potential of more than 2.2 million...

By ROBERT PECK

The formation of the United States of America was based on what is known as the rule of law to guard us from tyranny and to promote peace and safety for all its citizens. Our forefathers were faced with the challenge of finding laws that would be...

By DOMENIC POLI

Walk into a restaurant during a lunch or dinner rush and you’re likely to hear the hum of chitchat of diners talking about their lives and interests.But the people at 67 Dugway Road in Petersham eat in silence, with only the clinking of silverware or...

By THE REV. LIZA KNAPP

I missed church last Sunday.That’s unusual for a pastor. But I was sick on Sunday morning, and as I write this on Tuesday morning, I still am. It could be COVID or just a nasty cold; either way, I hope and expect to be better soon. But meanwhile, I’m...

By THE REV. CANDI ASHENDEN

Well, here we are beginning our Lenten journey. This is the holy time that begins on Ash Wednesday and continues until sundown on Maundy Thursday.In scripture, we are told that this is the time after Jesus’ baptism when Jesus went off into the...

By ALLEN COMSTOCK

This is certainly a time when something is ending and something is beginning. It’s easier to see what’s ending than what’s beginning. How you see what’s ending probably depends on where and when you began.My first memory was V-J Day (the day on which...

By GURUJIMA

Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,the wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!’Emma Lazarus poem - Statue of Liberty pedestal,...

By JULIAN MENDOZA

CONWAY — The United Congregational Church of Conway welcomed two parishes for its first-ever joint worship service on Sunday, celebrating the end of a four-year rebuilding process more united than ever.“Yes, we can care individually, but we can care...

By RABBI ANDREA COHEN KIENER

Yes, it’s cold and grey and snowy. It’s February! The cruelest month. But more and more, slowly, slowly, we are beginning to register that the sun is rising earlier and riding higher in the sky. Sunset is holding on a few minutes later each and every...

By JAN FLASKA

The joy of football – global, that is, not American – found its spiritual home in Qatar for one month this winter. Few celebratory storylines were as gripping as Morocco’s run to the semifinals. When that former French colony stood on the pitch facing...

By CHRIS LARABEE

CONWAY — When the United Congregational Church of Conway officially reopens its doors in February, its services will be led by a new pastor with an eye toward building community.The Rev. Marianne MacCullagh was appointed as the joint pastor for the...

By JANET KEYES

In 2022 our church had two special funerals for deceased members.First there was Tom. I did not know Tom very well, but my husband knew him as a high school classmate, and later as a customer and friend of ours. Tom was a lifelong bachelor in his...

By BRETT REITENBACH

From Dec. 23 to 27, parts of Buffalo, New York, received a stunning 50 inches of snow along with wind gusts of at least 70 mph. One didn’t have to travel too many miles away from there to see drastically smaller accumulations due to the localized...

By THE REV. FATHER ROBERT M. KOERBER

“On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary His mother; and they knelt down and paid Him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.” (Matthew 2:11) The final piece of the story of...

By JULIAN MENDOZA

GREENFIELD — For the first time in more than 60 years, the Catholic community in Greenfield is united under a single parish, following a recent unification ceremony.During Sunday’s Mass at Holy Trinity Church, residents packed the pews while the Rev....

By DOMENIC POLI

NORTHFIELD — At least 300 people donned their Sunday best as Bishop William Byrne, of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, visited Thomas Aquinas College on Monday for the rededication of the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chapel.The bishop...

By TALIA GODFREY

GREENFIELD — Stones flew from hands into the Green River’s cold water this Sunday as a small group gathered at the swimming and recreation area to perform Tashlich, a Jewish High Holiday tradition for casting away heaviness and sins.Tashlich, a Hebrew...