At 10 am this morning in the Vatican Basilica, Pope Francis presided at the celebration of the Mass on the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God in the Octave of Christmas and in commemoration of the 50th World Day of Peace on the theme: “Nonviolence: A Style of Politics for Peace.” Below you will find ...read more

On a Friday night in July 2002, during the World Youth Day celebration in Toronto, I was standing just down the street from the Royal Ontario Museum. As a member of the World Youth Secretariat under the Ministry of Housing and Municipal Affairs, I was assigned to stand by a viewing area for local dignitaries ...read more

The Christmas story told through the eyes, words and imagination of children. – Special thanks to Anna Boyagoda, Coordinator of the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd – Archdiocese of Toronto; St. Benedict Parish, Toronto, for permission to film at their Mary Help of Christians Children’s Atrium, Fr. Mario Villaraza SDB, Pastor of St Benedict and ...read more

Some years ago, in an episode of Perspectives about the truth about Santa Claus we had a wonderful discussion on Perspectives Weekly about teaching our kids that Christmas is about Christ. We’ve never had so many comments on one program! I remember that one of the comments came from Warren Dungen, who suggested that we ...read more

“The grace of God has appeared for the salvation of all men” (Tit 2:11). The words of the Apostle Paul reveal the mystery of this holy night: the grace of God has appeared, his gift is free; in the Child given unto us the love of God is made visible. It is a night of ...read more

In our household, Christmas is on call twelve months a year. That’s not to say that we celebrate it in the summer as well as in winter, but the possibility of its inclusion is always there, even if it is just one small part of our Advent and Christmas traditions. Yes, there is always a ...read more

Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops President Bishop Douglas Crosby, OMI, Bishop of Hamilton, released the annual Christmas Message on behalf of the Conference. Watch the full message below. ...read more

Christmas time is a colorful time for many of us, the music is everywhere and the lights cover many homes’ windows, roofs, trees and anywhere. We all want to communicate that our spirit has changed and we are ready to have a good time on the darkest month of the year. I believe that in the Christmas time, we allow our inner ...read more

Since moving to Canada, I’ve met quite a variety of people from all over the world, most of them Catholic. We go through the usual motions – ‘What’s your name? What do you do? Are you from Toronto? You’re from Texas? Oh your parents are Mexican?’ – etc. etc. And shortly after the ‘Mexican parents’ ...read more

This Advent, Deacon Pedro teams up with Rabbi Aaron Flanzraich to see how Judaism can help us prepare for the coming of the Messiah. Last week, we looked at the significance of words. In the second week, Deacon Pedro and Rabbi Aaron explore the significance of and difference between signs and symbols in Judaism. ...read more