BLOG: Reflections,Year of Mercy
A Salt and Light team is on the ground in Israel for a Lenten pilgrimage where they’re also filming TV reflections.  On March 2nd they visited the Mount of Olives, half of which is decorated with natural olive tree gardens and the other half with Jewish tombs. Standing on the Mount of Olives there is ...read more
Coming on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land was already an experience to remember, but to be able to do it with my wife was truly a life changing experience. In this land, I felt I could touch the bible every step of the way. But maybe the moment that made everything more clear was the fact that my wife and ...read more
During our S+L Pilgrimage, one of our visiting sites was Peter’s Primacy. This is the place where after Jesus’ resurrection, He met with His disciples and asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” and told him “Feed my sheep.” (John 21:9) When I looked at the rock where the conversation took place, it seemed to me that scene was ...read more
Among the many beautiful and significant places of Jerusalem is undoubtedly the Via Dolorosa, or Way of the Cross, the way that Jesus walked, carrying his cross, and headed for Golgotha, the place of his crucifixion. This route starts from the Fortress Antonia, a building that once stood at the north side of the Temple of Jerusalem, considered ...read more
Every step of our pilgrimage in the Holy Land has left us in awe not only because of the historical and spiritual dimensions of the holy places we visit and which commemorate the life of Jesus but also because of the beauty of the landscape that surrounds us. On March 1, 2016, after having navigated the ...read more
On Saturday, February 27, 2016, we drove to Nazareth from our residence on the Mount of Beatitudes to visit the site of Mary’s home and where Jesus lived as a child. But first we stopped off at Nazareth Village, a complete replica of what the small Nazarene village would have been looked like over two thousand years ago. We ...read more
Cana is a Galilean town five miles northeast of Nazareth. Its population of around 8,500 includes both Muslims and Christians. “The wedding at Cana” is a bible reading to tell us about the first miracle of Jesus, the water into wine. There are many symbolic meanings in this reading. Let us focus on some of them ...read more
The Sea of Galilee is located in the east side of the Galilee, in the north of Israel. There are many stories related to Jesus along the Sea of Galilee. For instance, he called his first disciples by the sea, preaching the parable of the sower, the walking on the water, the calming of a ...read more
  Today we begin that long walk towards Holy Week, which culminates in celebrating the greatest event in human history: the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Something that never fails to inspire awe in me however, is just how diverse our expressions of faith are. Encountering different Catholic rituals around the world, sometimes I’m intrigued, other ...read more
With the Christmas season officially over, this week the Vatican got back to business. Pope Francis had a full slate of meetings this week with a wide variety of guests: the priests from the Argentine College, the nuncios to Zimbabwe, Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the papal delegate to Palestine and Jerusalem and a ...read more