Salt + Light Blog

“Today our hearts are bursting, such is the gift of love.”

Those are the words Jim and Carol Collier used to express their emotions at their son’s funeral. Sapper Brian Collier was killed last week in Afghanistan by an improvised explosive device. His funeral was held yesterday at Holy Martyrs of Japan parish in Bradford, Ontario, the Collier’s hometown.

Members of the 1 Combat Engineer Regiment based in Edmonton, Alberta carried Collier’s casket into the church, while members of the 2 Combat Engineer Regiment from CFB Petawawa stood guard outside. More than one soldier was visibly shaking from the effort of trying to contain his emotions whiling standing at attention.

In his homily, Fr. Boniface Perri, the pastor of Holy Martyrs of Japan Parish, said, “If the value of a man is how many people will remember him well, and how many people he touched and loved, and how many people loved him back, then look around…Brian was sucessful in every sense of the word.”

He told the gathered mourners that a funeral is not a ceremony where the surviving relatives and friends simply promise to remember the deceased and keep his or her memory alive. Instead, a funeral is a recognition that, for the faithful, death is not an end, but a change in life.

“Thus whenever our thoughts and prayers go to him, we will be with Brian. No, he is not gone but moved far away.”

“This moment is heartbreaking, but it would be sadder still if we remained in it,” Fr. Perri said.

“God beckons to us, too,” he added. “Beckons us to realize that He is not simply the refuge of those who have fallen. He is also the sure hope of those who are alive.”

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Alicia Ambrosio| Print This Post |

Pope John Paul II described them as the “strong right arm of the Church,” and many a priest would consider them backbone to parish activities.

More than just an “arm” or a “backbone” the Knights of Columbus are the largest organized “body,” so to speak, of lay Catholic men.  In fact, they’ve just cracked over 1.8 million members!

The Knights do a tremendous amount of work, all in the spirit of charity, unity, fraternity, and patriotism.  They participate in a wide range of activities: from taking care of parish gardens, to coat drives for kids, to distributing wheelchairs in earthquake devastated Haiti.

As Canadians, we should be proud to know how generous Canadian Knights are: at last year’s convention Supreme Knight Carl Anderson announced that of all the state jurisdictions, the Knights in Ontario donated the most amount of money to charity — $9.1 million.  Second place was Quebec with $8.5 million (Quebec had been in first for the last few years).  Per capita donations’ top spot went to Knights in British Columbia and Ontario was second place.

That of course, is the financial aspect, but the Knights are also incredibly generous in their time.  It was outlined in last year’s report that the Knights participated in over 68.7 million hours of volunteer service.  That was an increase of almost 88-thousand hours from the previous year.  Already this year, the Knights have announced that they have shattered that record.

Recognizing these impressive totals, and the fraternity that goes along with the Knights, they gather once a year, along with their families, to celebrate their faith and work.  This year’s gathering, the 128th Supreme Convention, comes from Washington, D.C., August 3rd to 5th.

Joining the over two thousand Knight delegates, priests and prelates, will be our own Fr. Thomas Rosica, Matthew Harrison, Sebastien Lacroix, Alicia Ambrosio and Rita Sawaya. Our extensive live coverage will bring you unmatched insight, analysis and testimonials and interviews from the convention floor.

Our coverage begins Tuesday, August 3rd at 9:00am ET.  We’ll be with you all day, bringing viewers the Opening Mass, the Business Session and the States Dinner.  In between these events we’ll broadcast Men of Faith, a historical documentary offering a fascinating look into how Knight activities intertwine with the political and social fabric of the 20th century; A People of Life, our documentary examining the work of the Knights in spreading a culture of life; and other features on the Knights work with the Special Olympics, their Ultrasound project, their work in Rome, and much more.  We’ll also broadcast Mass from Washington on Wednesday and Thursday mornings too.

Visit HERE for more broadcast details, and for more information on the Knights of Columbus visit their website HERE.

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Matthew Harrison| Print This Post |

Archeologists have been unearthing ancient art in the Eternal City. Catholic News Service’s Cindy Wooden and Carol Glatz have more on the important and impressive discoveries in this week’s Vatican Report.

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Matthew Harrison| Print This Post |

One could hardly have predicted that the replacement of the long-form census with a voluntary survey would have erupted into an ongoing debate. Most Canadians, I imagine, find census methodology a little pedantic, or welcome having one less piece of paperwork that they must fill out.

The controversy has drawn attention to the function of the census, which — let’s admit it — we probably don’t think about after we drop it in the mailbox.

So it might surprise you to learn that one of the beneficiaries of the survey is the Catholic Church. Yesterday, the Canadian Bishops asked the Canadian government to reconsider their decision and keep the long-form census. The Church, wrote Bishop Pierre Morissette, President of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, uses the data to help meet pastoral and charitable needs across the country.

The full text of Bishop Morrissette’s letter, dated July 28th, reads below:

The Honourable Tony Clement, M.P, P.C.
Minister of Industry
Department of Industry
C.D. Howe Building
235 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0H5

Dear Minister,

On behalf of the Catholic Bishops of Canada, I ask that you reconsider your position on the census and continue to require the completion by some citizens of the “long form”. A great deal of this information, based on data gathered by Statistics Canada, is most helpful to all faith groups.

One of the reasons frequently cited for the elimination of this practice is that the questions are intrusive. However, it is important to remember that the form is anonymous. Furthermore, in order to build a more harmonious society, it is in our government’s best interest to inquire into these areas. It seems reasonable to ask these questions so as to better meet the needs of Canadians. No aspect of Canadians’ lifestyles should be neglected in the effort to strengthen our nation’s identity. This is a holistically healthy practice. It allows that services provided are much more effective when the target is known.

Read more…

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Kris Dmytrenko| Print This Post |

It takes a powerful force to interrupt the flow of a city like Toronto. If streets are closed for a parade, drivers find other routes and life continues as usual. Even a convergence of thousands will escape the notice of most citizens. Only two events, in my experience, have actually managed to overwhelm the routines of the city.

One was just a month ago. I was walking to St. Michael’s Cathedral for Saturday evening Mass when I noticed that the front gates were closed. Because of the G20 Summit, I was told, the liturgy was canceled. Annoyed, but already out of the house, I decided to walk around to witness the protests first hand.

A significant portion of crowds consisted of curious bystanders like me. Together, we shook our heads disdainfully as armed riot police marched by in formation, resembling post-apocalyptic foot soldiers, entirely alien to a city like ours.

But the honest among us would admit to feeling a little thrilled by the excitement. Like tourists in our own city, we snapped pictures of each damaged storefront. (Considering the hordes of amateur reporters armed with cell phone cameras, this must have been the most documented event in the city’s history.) Others pocketed small broken glass souvenirs. These touristy reactions were sadly appropriate: as John Bentley Mays lamented in the Catholic Register, the streets were no longer our own.

That was a rude awakening for some of us. A peaceful, devout friend of mine (who, incidentally, was a past guest on Perspectives: Weekly Edition) was also taking in the protests. We had been texting our impressions to each other until he was arrested by the police. The only stated reason, he says, was that he was wearing a bandanna around his neck. With no one aware of his whereabouts, and prevented from using a phone until the next day, he languished in the city’s makeshift jail for 28 hours.

Torontonians mourned their disfigured city. I remembered a better time.

Read more…

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Kris Dmytrenko| Print This Post |

In addition to setting the stage for Luke’s Gospel parable on possessions and hoarding, today’s first reading from Ecclesiastes [1:2; 2:21-23] drives home the fleeting nature of life and the inexorable passage of time with blunt realism: “Vanity of vanities…, vanity of vanities, all is vanity” [Ecc 1:2].  The word “vanity” usually refers to an excessive love of one’s appearance, but in the book of Ecclesiastes it has a different meaning.  The English word means “emptiness” or “nothing”, so a “vanity of vanities” means something like “a complete waste of time.”  The author of Ecclesiastes calls himself “Qoheleth,” which is translated “one who assembles” or “teacher”.  He is cynical about life, having lived a long time and seen the futility of much of his work.  His book ends with a simple truth: the only worthwhile thing about life is the knowledge of God.

A parable on possessions and hoarding

In today’s Gospel, Luke [12:13-21] has joined together sayings contrasting those whose focus and trust in life is on material possessions, symbolized by the rich fool of the parable [vv 16-21], with those who recognize their complete dependence on God [v 21], those whose radical detachment from material possessions symbolizes their heavenly treasure [vv 33-34].

The subject of coveting or hoarding arises because of a request of Jesus by someone in the crowd to intervene in a matter of inheritance. Jesus refuses and turns the conversation into a teaching against materialism. He illustrates this with a story about a prosperous farmer who decides to hoard his excess crops. The rich man decides to build extra barns or grain silos. Jesus seems to be suggesting that the farmer should have shared his extra grain with the poor.

The craving to hoard not only puts goods in the place of God but in an act of total disregard for the needs of others.  The parable is not about the farmer’s mistreatment of workers or any criminal actions on his part.  The farmer is, in the end, careful and conservative.  So if he is not unjust, what is he?  The parable says he is a fool.  He lives completely for himself.  He only talks to himself, plans for himself and congratulates himself.  His sudden death proves him to have lived as a fool.  “For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?” [9:25]

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Father Thomas Rosica| Print This Post |

In the course of compiling the daily Catholic newswires on Friday, I stumbled upon a most welcome treasure on the CNN religion blog of all places. The treasure? A new friend in the world of Catholic music.

Audrey Assad.

With her first album scheduled for release this week (it’s already available on iTunes, though), Audrey is a refreshing voice in the world of Catholic music. A recent convert to the faith, her lyrics are honest and vulnerable and perhaps best of all, they are unabashedly Catholic, in the true sense. Her lyrics speak of pain and redemption; along with the beauty and the wisdom of real love — Love and Responsibility style.

Audrey told speakingoffaith.org:

I did and do take solace in the Church, as a sparrow makes a nest in an old, solid oak; the Church’s very age and wisdom speak quietly for themselves, silently drawing in wanderers like me. Jesus loves wanderers and prodigals; and the Church must welcome them with open arms–in my case, she did, and warmly at that. I find it beautiful about Catholicism that worship, in her way, is not so much an experience as it is an act of the will; yes, the senses are engaged by the sweet, thick smell of incense at the altar, the soft flickering of candles, the otherworldly melodies of chant; but ultimately, as a Catholic, I go to Mass to worship–to give Jesus the honor and glory He is worthy of; I go to Mass because I love Him.

The House You’re Building was produced by Marshall Altman (producer for Marc Broussard, Natasha Bedingfield, Bethany Dillon, and Brooke Fraser) and it features collaborations with Sarah Hart and Canadian-Catholic performer Matt Maher among others. Audrey’s sound is reminiscent of Brooke Fraser meets Sara Groves and decidedly, Sara Bareilles. In her interview with CNN, Audrey says that she wishes more women would put their artistic talents to work in the world of Catholic music:

Women express their thoughts, particularly about faith and relationships, differently than men,” she said, adding that she has conservative views about the roles of men and women in the church and home. “I love men; I want them to be empowered to be leaders … but I also think that it’s a shame that there aren’t more women doing artistic, creative things in the music industry.

To learn more about Audrey and her music, visit her on myspace. There you can take a listen to her first single “For Love of You”:

For love of you
I’m a sky on fire
And because of you I come alive
It is your Sacred Heart within me beating,
Your voice within me singing out;
For love of You.

You are the highway I travel,
Because I watch you carve streets of gold from all the sin and gravel;
I gave you brokenness
You gave me innocence
And now this road leads to glory.

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Jenna Murphy| Print This Post |

“Video Killed the Radio Star” was a popular song in the ’80s, but that message definitely doesn’t pertain to the social-media savvy radio personalities of the new millennium.

Catholic radio hosts have been working overtime to promote the Catholic faith to young adults. Young adults have their fingers on the pulse and are constantly looking for the fastest method of getting their daily dose of information, be it news, celebrity gossip or in this case keeping close ties to their Catholic faith. The radio is a medium that often gets overlooked, but has found momentum with new forms of social media such as podcasts and digital radio. Lino Rulli, aka The Catholic Guy is one of the success stories of Catholic programming on Digital Radio.

He recently returned from a pilgrimage he organized for his listeners to Italy. He was apprehensive at first when planning the trip because he didn’t think he’d be able to fill all of the spots. To his surprise and delight he sold out all 40 spots the first day he mentioned it on the air. He specially catered an unconventional pilgrimage itinerary to give the participants the chance to have both an enriching religious experience and enjoy the best of what Italy has to offer.

Rulli called it ‘the best and the worst pilgrimage in the world’ because the concept of fun doesn’t usually lend itself to the notion of a pilgrimage being a sacred spiritual journey. The pilgrims’ typical day included trekking for over 15 hours in the hot Italian sun, visiting a notable religious site such as the Duomo and Santa Maria del Fiore, sampling local Italian wines, eating late night lasagna and doing some Bon Jovi Karaoke. They visited many popular holy sites in Rome, Assisi and Florence. They even went to Castel Gandolfo for Pope Benedict’s Sunday Angelus.

The group of pilgrims ranged from college students to grandparents. Most were Catholic, though some not practicing, while others belonged to other Christian denominations. He said what struck people, was that they could have fun while experiencing their faith in God. He said they never realized that the two things can be experienced together.

Rulli says that he believes the element of fun can enrich the religious experience. He said that by combining faith and fun the pilgrims were able to gain a new perspective on how they can celebrate their Catholic faith.

We were doing something for our faith, we were doing something penitential and yet at the same time … we were still ourselves,” – Lino Rulli

Read more on the pilgrimage from CNS HERE.

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Alessia Domanico| Print This Post |

In middle of July, the national assembly of the Church of England voted to approve the creation of women bishops by 2014. Catholic News Service’s Carol Glatz and John Thavis explain in this week’s Vatican Report that this may present an obstacle in ecumenical dialogue.

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Matthew Harrison| Print This Post |

Oh Canadian summer, you are God’s mercy made manifest! Even in the midst of heat waves, I think many would agree that this beautiful season sure beats winter’s wind-chill (winter has a beauty all its own, of course). Life’s usually-hectic pace fades into a comparatively peaceful lull; BBQing, rekindling friendships and family ties and enjoying sunny afternoons (and later nights out) are all summer norms even for working city folk, I’m learning.

Projects are sometimes put on hold, golfing claims generous parts of schedules and the leisure-reading list gets a few more checkmarks. Each year, we look forward to “coming away to rest awhile” by taking some time for rejuvenation and re-focusing.

But, even when we are resting, the Holy Spirit is speaking to us. He doesn’t go on holiday and His inspirations aren’t stifled by our vacation schedules. In fact, He doesn’t even leave voicemail. Sometimes, we might not want to hear what is being spoken to us because it feels like work. But, in missing the boat, we are always missing out on joy.

In his Sunday Angelus address last week from his vacation spot at Castel Gondolfo, Pope Benedict XVI said that vacation presents a time for us to “rest from our daily labours, so that we may give time to the one thing that is truly necessary in our lives — listening to the word of God in attentive stillness.”

The key word here is attentive.

This past week, I had the opportunity to listen to a talk given by Fr. Charles Nahm, an Opus Dei priest based in Toronto. Father spoke about the need to be vigilant in one’s spiritual life particularly during the summer. During his talk, I was struck by something simple: that time is a great gift and it must be maximized. When we are blessed enough to have time off from our regular work schedules, we are given the opportunity to contemplate the profound, yet simple truths of our lives.

Fr. Charles spoke about how with the gift of freedom (in this case, free time) comes the gift of responsibility (yes, responsibility is a gift!). We can choose to read spiritual books, or to consult with holy people on matters concerning the spiritual life (spiritual directors) and even to spend time building community. In short, God gives us the chance to make choices that will lead us into deeper communion with Him. And deeper communion with Him means life in abundance… sounds good, doesn’t it?

In the same way, then, that we learn to write from experiencing beautiful writing and we learn to appreciate art from studying the great masters; we become holy from drawing near to examples of holiness. Summer provides the perfect opportunity to meet new members of our spiritual family; to read the lives of the saints and learn about how they allowed the Holy Spirit to make a masterpiece out of their lives and, by extension, the lives of others. Saint Francis of Assisi is quoted as saying: “sanctify yourselves and you will sanctify society”.

Vacation, then, is truly a time to re-create; a time to tap into the Creator Spirit who encourages us along our path to holiness. For what’s left of the summer, let’s pray for this attentiveness to the Holy Spirit as He continually inspires us with new ways to reach out to one another in love.

Holy Spirit, where should I channel my energies? Is there an apostolate I feel drawn towards? Are there lonely people around me who would benefit from a visit? In my busyness, which areas of my life have suffered? How can I restore balance? How have I been blind to opportunities to love?

Come Creator Spirit, come from thy bright heavenly throne,

Come take possession of our souls and make them all Thine own;

Thou who art called the Paraclete, best gift of God above,

The Living Spring, the Living Fire, Sweet Unction and True Love. Read more…

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Jenna Murphy| Print This Post |