BLOG: Fr. Raphael Ma, CR
If you travel here, you will feel it all, the brightest and the darkest. The lyrics of “Traveler’s Song” by Future of Forestry were not written with the Holy Land in mind, but few places in the world are saturated with such extremes of joy and pain. Jerusalem, in particular, is a sacred, resplendent city ...read more
A gathering of the College of Cardinals and a new interview book with Pope Benedict highlight this week in Rome. Catholic News Service’s Carol Glatz and John Thavis have more. To download Flash Player please click here ...read more
Should the Church be poor? Does your church have a crying room for babies and young families? A parish hall? Are your kids going to World Youth Day? Do you have regular coffee socials? If you answered yes to most of these questions, chances are you do not belong to a parish in Whitehorse or ...read more
The tone of S+L’s latest documentary is set by a lone organ. Playing the instrument is Joe Zambon, a folk singer-songwriter originally from the rural town of Iroquois, Ontario, but now residing in Toronto. A guitar joins the organ moments later, and then the hushed lyrics, “In the darkest night of my soul, God Himself ...read more
On Saturday November 27th the Vatican is uniting with Churches and religious communities around the world to pray for lives that are about to begin. Pope Benedict XVI will preside over the first Vespers of Advent at St. Peter’s Basilica. He will then hold a prayer vigil for nascent life. Salt + Light will bring ...read more
Though “Light of the World” was officially released on Tuesday, many Catholics are still waiting to get their hands on this new book-length interview with Pope Benedict. I informally surveyed Catholic bookstores in the Greater Toronto Area and found that only one retailer has received its first (sold out) shipment. Other retailers expect theirs to ...read more
One friar, one cook, one Queen Street West storefront, a dozen or so daily volunteers and 1, 000, 000 meals served: this is the math behind St. Francis’ Table in Toronto. It’s really as simple as that. The rest flows as naturally as stories from the heart of a Newfoundlander. And for our purposes, the ...read more
I like to have a plan of attack, a list of things to do. More than that, I like to check things off that list and sit with the contentment that I have accomplished what I set out to do. Unfortunately (for my need of control, anyway), my plans don’t always match up with God’s ...read more
A few pages into “Light of the World: The Pope, the Church, and the Signs of the Times”, Peter Seewald disappeared. The German journalist had secured one of the world’s most elusive interviews—a one-on-one with the Pope. Since the start of his pontificate, Benedict XVI had until now given only a couple of interviews, apart ...read more
Cardinal Raymond Burke is an American cardinal posted as the Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura at the Vatican. The Apostolic Signatura is the highest judicial authority in the Catholic Church. The new cardinal took some time to speak with Salt + Light’s Alicia Ambrosio about the release of Peter Seewald’s book “Light of the World” ...read more