I have been blessed not to have had any major experiences with illness, death or suffering, although, as all of us, I have had my share of pain. I’d like to conclude with four insights that I have learned about suffering. First, I remember an experience I had several years ago at the L’Arche Daybreak ...read more

Yesterday we looked at the work of deacons, in the context of the voice of illness. Yesterday was the Feast of the Holy Innocents. These were the baby boys that were massacred by King Herod when the Magi did not return to him to tell him the whereabouts of the newborn Messiah (Matthew 2:13-18). It made ...read more

In the first part, we defined the voice of illness as the voice inside all of us that cries out ‘where is God?’ In Part two we began looking at the work of pastoral ministers and the tension between being and doing. When I look at scripture, Jesus never shied away from healing anyone (at ...read more

Yesterday we looked at suffering as the ‘voice of illness.’ This is the voice inside all of us that cries out, ‘where is God?’ When faced with suffering, it is my tendency (and I believe part of our human nature) to comfort and to take away the pain. This is my first struggle as I meditate on ...read more

New Christmas song by Fr. Robert Galea and Ryan Black Emmanuel This special day When you turned our world around Today What was hidden is now found A day When You became one of us On Christmas day You left Your throne for us CHORUS: Emmanuel A King was born today Emmanuel God is with ...read more

I’ve made a point for the last 20 or so years to acquire a new Christmas album every year. It sort of happened by accident first; I bought some albums that I had grown up with (Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” among them) and then I continued adding to my collection. It means that today, I ...read more

December 12th is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, one of the most important feasts for the Church in Latin-America. This feast day was always a big one in my life, as my parish in Panama was named Our Lady of Guadalupe. I wrote about this four years ago. Perhaps this story is new ...read more

In the fourth installment of this four-part teaching series, Fr. Bill Burke, Director of the National Liturgy Office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, helps us to understand the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal. ...read more

Are you a mother trying to cope in today’s hectic world? This week on S+L Radio we speak with Dorothy Pilarski about her new book “Motherhood Matters“. And if you’re wondering about the purpose of your life, we’ll also speak to Ken Yasinski, founder of Face2Face Ministries. He tells us about his book “The Fullness ...read more

In the third installment of this four-part teaching series, Fr. Bill Burke, Director of the National Liturgy Office of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, helps us to understand the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal. ...read more