I’m not a big swimmer, but I figured since I was at the Dead Sea I had to check it out.  Besides, I wouldn’t actually be swimming – but floating!  Curiously it wasn’t the floating that was the most exciting part for me – it was the mud!  Dead Sea mud is incredible!  After lathering ...read more

I don’t know if Ms. Whiskers the cat would have been recognized as a conquering force back in ancient times, but nonetheless the picture on the right shows a model of the ancient city Bet She’an.  Were you to be standing in front of the model and turn 180 degrees you would see the remains ...read more

It’s amazing what you come across on top of Mountains.  We met some Israeli soldiers at the top of Mount Tabor.  Our guide Arthur struck up a conversation with them and they offered us some coffee they were brewing on a single burner camp stove.  Though not a coffee drinker, I didn’t want to appear ...read more

Switchbacks.  Those who are familiar with driving through the mountains have probably heard the term before.  A switchback is basically a zig zag road pattern that climbs a steep incline.  We encountered well over a dozen of them as our tour van snaked up Mount Tabor.  I was glad it had been a while since ...read more

… and so is the Salt + Light studio… alive with music after we finished editing today’s Catholic Focus episode on “The Real Sounds of Music,” featuring the story of the von Trapp family. Who can help but have those iconic songs in their heads to hum or whistle or sing all day long after hearing ...read more

If you’ve ever called Salt + Light, chances are you’ve spoken to our receptionist Ana. If you’ve ever talked to Ana for a bit, in matters not directly related to S+L, you’ll probably find out about her Chilean background. I couldn’t help thinking of her on our boat ride around the Sea of Galilee, where ...read more

  I was transported back to World Youth Day 2005 at Sunday Mass.  We were at the Benedictine Monastery in Tabgha, whichhas particular care for German Pilgrims.  The site marks what is traditionally believed to be the location of the miracle of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes – the Church there taking its name ...read more

This week on The World I Know we look at Empathy. Now, I found that most young people do not know what ‘empathy’ is.  Actually, come to think about it, most people do not know what ‘empathy’ is.  In the first segment of this show, Vanessa Cafazzo introduces us to Empathy and how it is ...read more

  Rain has come up a lot thus far on our trip to the Holy Land.  It hasn’t actually rained, in fact the weather has been fantastic – sunny, in the low-to-mid twenties (Celsius), beautiful breeze.  It’s the lack of rain, during this the rainy season, that is a topic of conversation. We’re spending our ...read more

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.  And he came to her and said, “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with ...read more