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08.08.08
Posted in Production at 10:07 am by Matthew Harrison
As the world turns its attention to Beijing for the Olympics, Pope Benedict XVI made a timely visit to the town of Oies.
The town is not only a short distance from Bressanone, where the Pontiff is vacationing, but it is the birthplace of Saint Josef Freinademetz.
The saint was a Divine Word missionary who traveled to Hong Kong in 1879 and worked among the Chinese people, dying there of typhus nearly thirty years later.
Noting the growing world presence of China, Pope Benedict said: “It is important that this great country should open itself to the Gospel.” He then cited the example of Saint Josef Freinademetz, “[He] shows us that faith is not an alienation for any culture or any people, because all cultures are waiting for Christ, and are not destroyed by the Lord, but rather come to their maturity.”
The Holy Father noted Saint Josef’s love for the Chinese people saying he not only wanted to live and die as Chinese, but “wanted to remain Chinese even in heaven”. Adding “he truly identified himself with this people, and with the certainty that this people would open itself to faith in Jesus Christ”.
Visiting the saint’s childhood home, the Holy Father wrote in the the visitor book: “May the Lord, through the intercession of Saint Josef Freinademetz, give many spiritual vocations and increasingly open China to faith in Jesus Christ”.
A noble prayer and something to keep in mind over the next few weeks.
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08.07.08
Posted in Production at 7:20 pm by Matthew Harrison
The Knights of Columbus 126th Supreme Convention has come to a close.
The final event, the Memorial Mass, was held Thursday morning. The main celebrant and homilist was the Knights’ Supreme Chaplain Bishop William Lori, of the Diocese of Bridgeport, Connecticut.
Bishop Lori spoke on the theme of the conference — “Building a Civilization of Love through Charity, Unity, & Fraternity” – and tied it in with the deceased members of the Knights community – deceased members he considered ‘co-workers’ in the Knights’ mission:
These unseen members we remember today at this celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. They include our founder, the Venerable Father Michael J. McGivney, and all the saints and blessed of our Order.
Many were martyrs, witnesses to the faith, in Mexico; another, a Catholic intellectual of extraordinary virtue; and all of them exemplars for leading a life of genuine love.
Our team of co-workers extends indeed to all the saints whom we invoked in the Litany of the Saints as Mass began. It further extends to our brother Knights and family members who have gone before us in faith during these past 126 years.
They, even more than, we under the direct gaze of Christ, Christ the Good Shepherd, Christ our Hope, …who leads them and us to the fullness of life and love. Moreover, these co-workers are not a mere memory but rather, these deceased brothers and sisters are present to us through the love of Christ, ‘stronger than sin and more powerful than death.’ The Lord, therefore, gives us a cloud of witnesses, myriads of unseen co-cooperators in truth and love with whom we are to construct a civilization of love.
The Lord also gives us the magnificent gift of his love, “love to the very end” as the shape, the means, and the substance for the civilization he wants us to construct. This takes the form of the created work, natural law, faith and reason, the family, and above all, the breathtaking love of God revealed in Christ who laid down his life for life for us as a gift to His Father and to ourselves. Let us not try to build a better world without the help of these important co-workers and without the essential building materials the Lord supplies.
You can find the full text of Bishop Lori’s homily HERE.
The Knights also released their 2008 Resolutions — the result of business sessions held over the last few days. The adopted resolutions deal with the defense of marriage, religious liberty, the Universal Declaration on Human Rights, decency on the Internet and the media, Catholic education, and building a culture of life. Noteworthy in their resolutions on building the culture of life is their call to Catholic politicians to defend life — quoting Pope Benedict XVI who has said “there can be no room for purely private religion.” (Supreme Knight Carl Anderson’s report provides some excellent thoughts on building the culture of life, including comments in which he encourages Catholic voters to “stop accommodating pro-abortion politicians” and to “say ‘no’ to every candidate of every political party who supports abortion.”)
To read the resolutions, visit the Convention webpage HERE, the resolutions are listed on the right side of the page.
Next year’s convention will be held in Phoenix, Arizona and will feature an additional special event. At the conclusion of that convention, the Knights will host an international Marian Congress, devoted to Our Lady of Guadalupe!
For more on information on this year’s convention, visit the Knights’ website at kofc.org.
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Photo courtesy of Knights of Columbus
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08.06.08
Posted in Production at 5:34 pm by Matthew Harrison
Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte, the Archbishop of Montreal, was the homilist for Wednesday’s Mass at the Knights of Columbus 126th Supreme Convention in Quebec City. The focus of his homily was appropriate — the liturgical feast of the Transfiguration which the Church celebrates today, and the idea of building the civilization of love, which is the theme of this year’s convention.
The Cardinal reflected on how overwhelmed the Apostles must have felt after witnessing the Transfiguraiton:
It must have been tough to keep this secret, but it would have taught these disciples an important lesson: while extraordinary experiences are good, the living “ordinary” presence of Christ is just as important. It is not grace OR nature. It is not Jesus OR the world. Yes, we must learn to live in an ordinary world, but as a beginning, not an end. The reassuring presence of Jesus in our midst, particularly in the Eucharist, is rarely accompanied by visions and talking clouds. But is it all the same Jesus. Our lives – even the practice of our faith - can seem mundane at times. We may even live in times of personal or communal darkness. But this does not mean that Jesus is not there. He is.
To read the entire text of the homily, and the other homilies and addresses at the Convention, click HERE.
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Photo courtesy of the Knights of Columbus
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Posted in Production at 11:46 am by Matthew Harrison
Supreme Knight Carl Anderson presented his annual report at the Knights of Columbus convention on Tuesday. Click HERE to read through the report — which is well organized and easily read on the Knights’ website. (it’s available in PDF format HERE)
In addition to the interesting history of the Knights in Quebec, I found the Faithful Citizenship - Faithful Fatherhood section to be particularly striking. Mr. Anderson made some important comments about abortion, Morgantaler, Catholic voters, and the civilization of love. The introduction of the Fathers For Good program is exciting too. It provides an encouraging resource for fathers, and for men as well. It’s something that is desperately needed, as we live in a climate that often portrays fathers as fools and does little to encourage responsible fatherhood.
There is also a very interesting section highlighting the contributions of the Knights. Aside from all the impressive financial numbers the statistic that stood out for me was the nearly 69 million hours of volunteer service. 69 million hours! The commitment to their communities is incredible, and it is certainly a commitment that has taken the Gospel and put it into action!
You may also wish to visit the official Knights of Columbus website which has plenty of information and pictures from the 126th Supreme Convention. Click HERE for that.
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Photo courtesy of Knights of Columbus
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Posted in Production at 9:46 am by Alicia Ambrosio
Tuesday was the second official day of the Knights of Columbus Supreme Convention here in Quebec City and the most jam-packed day.
It started early for us Salt + Light’ers. My alarm went off at 6am and somehow I managed to get myself in gear. The day kicked off with the opening Mass. Watching the Knights process in their full uniforms, I realized I have never seen so many feathers in one place!!! After doing my live hits from the media broadcast centre at the Palais du Congress I scurried down to the press room to watch the Mass live on the monitors. Just before the Mass ended I made the mistake of popping out of the media room to use the ladies room. I should have noticed the barricades going up as I scurried past the security people and organizers who were shooing people away. On my way back to the media centre my path was blocked by the procession of con-celebrants exiting the Mass. I found out the hard way how long it takes for 75 Bishops, nine Cardinals and over a hundred fully decorated Knights to process out! Eventually I saw a break in the line, ducked down a bit, and ran for dear life trying not to get trampled by men with swords and flashing my media badge at all the security people while they shouted “excuse me madame! excuse me madam!”
I then had the pleasure of following our fearless leader Fr. Tom across the city to the Chateau Frontenac where Mrs. Anderson, wife of Carl Anderson, Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus was hosting a luncheon for the wives of the Grand Knights. Fr. Tom, myself and David Naglieri were special guests at the luncheon. David and I were invited to speak about our S+L experiences as young professionals working in Catholic media. At the last moment David was summoned back to the broadcast centre and Fr. Tom and I represented S+L on our own. It was a treat to be in a room full of women as I’m the only woman from S+L on this trip to Quebec City — it means I don’t have to open doors, pick up tabs, do any heavy lifting….I could get used to this!
Au revoir from Quebec!!
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Posted in Production at 2:06 am by Matthew Harrison
[This blog comes from Jesuit scholastic Michael L. Knox. It was originally written as part of his studies.]
There is a love among medieval theologians such as St. Thomas Aquinas, Duns Scotus, or Hugh of St. Victor for what, to serve our purpose here, we might call ‘unity’, or ‘simplicity’, or ‘wholeness’. Qualities these men respectively identify in their writings about God, and a quality beautifully present in the Gospel reading of the day. For amidst the aesthetically pleasing images found within this Gospel narrative such as light, shining brightness, and mountain heights, we are presented a moment in the life and works of Jesus Christ that is a ‘unity’. First, the narrative ‘unites’ for us the messianic prophecies in the Hebrew tradition, with the living faith of early Christianity. Second, it helps to ‘unite’ the different aspects of our Lord’s life into a deeper understanding of who He is. And finally, the word invites a change to our own internal dispositions, on a profound and affective level, that we might understand the new sort of interconnectedness, or ‘unity’, that comes through Jesus Christ, between our God and our world.
Read the rest of this entry »
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08.05.08
Posted in Production at 4:09 pm by Matthew Harrison
Canada’s Salt and Light Catholic Television Network has been chosen as recipient of the 2008 Gabriel Award for “Television Station of the Year” by the Catholic Academy for Communications Arts Professionals. The news was made public on July 30, 2008 by the Catholic Academy’s Headquarters in Dayton, Ohio.
The Gabriel Awards were established in 1965 by the Catholic Broadcasters Association “to recognize oustanding artistic achievement in a television or radio program or series which entertains and enriches with a true vision of humanity and a true vision or life.”
The Salt and Light Catholic Television Network was founded only five years ago at the conclusion of World Youth Day 2002 in Canada. Upon learning of the award, Salt and Light CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, C.S.B. said: “It is a great honor for us to be awarded the prestigious Gabriel Award, not for a specific program but rather for our entire network! Much has been accomplished over the past five years, and our Salt and Light team of young adults is the greatest asset of this wonderful project of the New Evangelization. The Gabriel Award is a tribute to their dedication, commitment and key roles in Catholic Media in North America.”
The Gabriel Awards will be presented at a ceremony on October 25, 2008 at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California.
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Posted in Production at 4:04 pm by Matthew Harrison
Vatican expert John Allen recently mentioned Alicia Ambrosio’s Catholic Focus on Catholic Media in one of his articles, HERE. You can watch the episode online for yourself HERE.
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Posted in Production at 12:14 pm by Matthew Harrison
It’s been a busy spring and summer for us at Salt + Light Television.
April featured the Holy Father’s trip to the United States, May brought us the Catholic Media Convention. In June we celebrated the wonderful Eucharistic Congress, and just a couple of weeks ago the world traveled to Sydney for an incredible WYD. Now August brings us back to Quebec City for the Knights of Columbus 126th Supreme Convention!
Be sure to stay tuned to Salt + Light from Tuesday to Thursday as we bring you continuous coverage of this Convention — the Masses, special presentations, sights and sounds. (Click HERE for our broadcast schedule. ) Zoom will be broadcast from Quebec City on Tuesday and Wednesday with a full wrap of the day’s events too.
The Knights do phenomenal work, and hopefully the next three days will provide viewers with a better understanding of what a gift they are to the Church and to our communities!
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08.04.08
Posted in Production at 9:00 am by Alicia Ambrosio
The Catholic Near East Welfare Association (CNEWA) is an agency of the Holy See, set up in 1926 by Pope Pius XII to give humanitarian and pastoral support to the Church in the Middle East, North East Africa, and Eastern Europe. The Canadian arm of CNEWA has launched an emergency appeal to raise funds to help families in Ukraine who were affected by the flooding that happened there earlier this year. For more details about the flood damange watch the Friday August 1st edition of Zoom (while it’s available on our website). To find out more about CNEWA’s emergency appeal and how to donate, visit www.cnewacanada.ca
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