BLOG: Fr. Raphael Ma, CR
Congratulations to Archbishop Thomas Collins of Toronto, Ottawa’s Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, Archbishop Brendan O’Brien of Kingston, Edmonton’s Archbishop Richard Smith and Archbishop Gérard Pettipas of Grouard-McLennan, Alberta, who received the pallium from Pope Benedict XVI today at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Let us remember our newly recognized Archbishops — and all Bishops, and clergy ...read more
Pope Benedict XVI has officially announced a Pauline jubilee year to commemorate the 2000th anniversary of St. Paul’s birth. The Pauline Year will be from June 29, 2008, to June 29, 2009. The announcement was made at Thursday’s first Vespers on the eve of the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, which was held at ...read more
How often do you receive a mass-email, whether it be a forward or a newsletter, and discover therein something stirring? Yeah, probably never. But today I was taken aback by a reflection on Ordinary Time by Dr. Karen Hamilton, General Secretary of the Canadian Council of Churches and, if you’ve met her you’ll know, a ...read more
Canada is one of the more prosperous countries of the world, and yet everyday we come across people who can’t earn enough money to live on and who crowd into homeless shelters. For the first time in 2001 Canada took a census of homeless people living in shelters – the total: a little over 14,000. ...read more
At a packed Notre-Dame Cathedral Basilica, Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., was installed as the Archbishop of Ottawa today. The installation Mass comes just days before he, along with four other Canadian Archbishops, receives the Pallium from Pope Benedict XVI on the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (see broadcast details on that at the bottom ...read more
It comes as no surprise that at the end of this week, Pope Benedict XVI will announce a year dedicated to St. Paul. The official reason given by the Holy See for the year of St. Paul is that Saul of Tarsus was born probably between A.D. 6 and 10, and this would be the ...read more
Bullying occurs every seven seconds in our schools….scary thought, especially since we know that these acts extend far beyond demanding someone’s lunch money. Why is this phenomenon on the rise? And how is it that kids and teens are capable of this form of destructive behaviour? Tune in to Catholic Focus this Saturday at 7 ...read more
I sometimes wonder if our work at S+L TV would be better served if our programming were to air on another network, a secular network. Don’t get me wrong. I passionately believe in the work we do and completely believe in the value of a 100%-Catholic Network broadcasting Catholic content 24/7. Still, it is Catholics ...read more
I clearly remember at the conclusion of Cologne’s World Youth Day saying: “Bring on Sydney!” (which in hindsight is somewhat amusing, because I recall after Toronto in 2002 I said “Bring on Cologne!”) Two years have quickly passed since the excitement of Sydney first washed over me, and now we are just some 390 days ...read more
Here are the lyrics for Receive the Power, the theme song for World Youth in Sydney, Australia to be held July 14th-20th 2008. Below the lyrics is an interesting theological reflection on the song by WYD08 Coordinator Bishop Anthony Fisher, O.P. Remember if you’d like more information on Sydney’s World Youth Day, visit the official ...read more