By. Rev. Dr. Karen Hamilton (Canadian Council of Churches) Given that the focus country of the 2014 Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was, for only the third time in the Week’s one hundred year history, Canada, it was no surprise that I should be invited to preach in a number of places. It was ...read more

Below is the full text of the catechesis by Maria Voce, leader of the Focolare Movement, as delivered on Day 2 of the 2012 International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland. Communion in one Baptism Ten years ago I visited Ireland for the first time. I came to be with a dear friend, Lieta Betoño, who ...read more

The following is the full text of the catechesis talk given by Brother Alois, Prior of the Taizé Community, at the Internation Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland in 2012 Passion for the Unity of the Body of Christ Presented by Brother Alois, Prior of the Taizé Community The Christ of Communion The first day of this ...read more

Red Mass Homily, Holy Rosary Cathedral Vancouver, January 16, 2014 Archbishop J.M. Miller, CSB Dear brother priests, dear members of the St. Thomas More Guild: lawyers and their co-workers, members of the judiciary, and law students; dear brothers and sisters in Christ: Introduction Today’s sober readings speak of “sharing Christ’s sufferings” (1 Pet 4:13), while ...read more

For the past ten years my Christmas begins and ends with the noise and frenzy of an airport, the fuss associated with air travel, and the grogginess of jet lag. It is filled with the excitement of counting down to the days “till I fly home” and then the bittersweet countdown to the day I ...read more

I think the reason we love the Christmas season is because it evokes so many memories from our childhood, whether it’s playing board games, decorating the Christmas tree, singing carols, or just the excitement of a visit from Santa that sparks feelings of generosity and thankfulness in everyone.  But doesn’t it seem like there was ...read more

Who doesn’t know the familiar song by John Lennon? Toronto is hit by an ice storm, over 600.000 households without power, large branches cover the streets and live cables are hanging loose, but in our hearts we’re confident that power will be restored soon enough, and Christmas is still some days away; no reason to ...read more

This post was written by Richard Valenti, one of our editors at Salt +Light. He has been with S+L since the beginning. He and his wife, former S+L producer Mary Rose Bacani, welcomed their second child over the holidays. It was a dark and stormy night. The night of Toronto’s worst ice storm. Inside the ...read more

I don’t know about you, but I stopped making resolutions for the New Year, years ago. It’s not that I wasn’t keeping my resolutions (well… sometimes) but that it all seemed so arbitrary. We should always be trying to improve, no? So why only do it at the end of the year? It’s sort of ...read more

On December 31, 2013, Pope Francis prayed year-end Vespers in St. Peter’s Basilica. Vespers began at 5 PM  with Pope Francis presiding over the prayers that constitute the Church’s official, public praise of God in the evening of the last day of the year, to be followed by the singing of the great hymn of ...read more