There is a reason why this week is called Holy Week. As a kid, these words directly translated to daily, long bouts of sitting in the pews of St. Ambrose Cathedral in a tiny ocean town in southwestern Nova Scotia. I recall looking forward to this time of the year as it was typically marked ...read more

Pope Benedict XVI celebrated Palm Sunday with thousands of faithful in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.  Palm Sunday is also the weekend that World Youth Day is celebrated at the diocesan level, and this year marked the 25th anniversary of the event established by Venerable John Paul II.  The anniversary was the focus on his ...read more

With the approach of Holy Week, Christians are seeking out ways to more fully enter into the solemn commemoration of Christ’s last days on earth before His death. Many Catholics, out of devotion to the person of Christ, have sought to imitate the sacred Seder Meal (Passover) that Christ celebrated with His disciples on the ...read more

The Christian Churches in the Holy Land are often characterized as intractably, scandalously divided. The impression is not without reason, as evidenced by the embarrassing 2008 skirmishes between Greek Orthodox and Armenian Orthodox monks in Jerusalem’s Holy Sepulchre—the church recognized as the site of Calvary and Jesus’ empty tomb. It would be wrong, however, to ...read more

I’m seeing more than a few Facebook statuses that indicate many of my friends and family members are still undecided on how they will enter into the spirit of the Lent. If you fall into this category, or even if you are looking to be inspired on how to bolster your existing Lenten regimen, tune ...read more

Our Catholic faith is rich with many signs and symbols. Of significance today is of course the ashes and cross that mark the beginning of the season of Lent.  As the sign of the cross is made on our forehead we are reminded that we are “dust and unto dust you shall return.”  Our humanity, ...read more