It was 19 March 2013. Pope Francis had been elected just a few days before. He preached on Saint Joseph, the “protector” of Mary and Jesus[1], as a model of discretion, humility, silence, abiding presence and complete fidelity. The present Way of the Cross will make constant reference to the gift of our being “protected” ...read more

Pope Francis delivered the homily at Mass in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday – Palm Sunday – the beginning of Holy Week 2015. Please find, below, the official English translation of the Holy Father’s prepared text. At the heart of this celebration, which seems so festive, are the words we heard in the hymn of the ...read more

I set out to deacon-struct Holy Week and soon found that I was faced with a monumental task. I looked at each of the key moments of the Passion: the entry into Jerusalem, the Last Supper, Gethsemane, the trial, the way of the Cross and crucifixion… the burial… there is so much there. I have ...read more

The Lenten Season is, par excellence, the time of inspiration.  At this time, we take deep breaths; we fill the lungs of our soul with the Holy Spirit and thus, without our realizing it, our breath will have the scent of Christ. Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, First Lenten homily for 2015 reflecting on Evangelii Gaudium A good ...read more

This week we focus on the details of the upcoming Holy Week liturgies. Catholic News Service has details on how Pope Francis and the Diocese of Rome are helping Christians in two areas where Christians have been hit hard with persecution: Iraq and Nigeria. VATICAN CITY (CNS) — As Holy Week and Easter approached, Pope ...read more

On Friday, March 13, 2015, during the penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica, the Holy Father announced an extraordinary Jubilee dedicated to Divine Mercy. Below, please find Vatican Radio’s English translation of the Pope Francis’s homily, in which he made the announcement. This year as last, as we head into of the Fourth Sunday of Lent, ...read more

Welcome to S+L’s Weekly News Round-Up. As the Director of Marketing and Communications here at S+L, many interesting Catholic news stories and articles come across my desk on a daily basis. Some of them we’ll cover on our different television programs and others I’d like to share with you on this blog. This blog column ...read more

Perhaps now more than at any point in recent history, the world finds itself veering uncomfortably close to danger and uncertainty. We have a global financial system that is unsustainable and violence and military conflicts brewing in some of the world’s most volatile powder kegs. There are now new emerging problems like disease outbreaks and ...read more

I was, until I asked a friend of mine what she thought about lent and she said it was her favourite time in the liturgical calendar. I was taken aback when I saw how in love she was and how selfish I was being. Do you know what it takes to know and to experience ...read more

The whole week between the Feast of the Epiphany and the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord we heard readings from the First Letter of St. John and on the Saturday I heard something that I had never heard before: “If anyone sees his brother sinning, if the sin is not deadly, he should ...read more