BLOG: Saints and Blesseds,Twitter,World Youth Day
It feels like just yesterday that we celebrated the canonization of Brother André of Montreal, the first Canadian-born male Saint. The lead-up to this historic event last year, as well as the Commemoration Mass in Olympic Stadium, remains fresh in our minds at S+L. To celebrate the first anniversary, S+L will air highlights from last ...read more
All thanks to a Polish nun whose death we remember today, the Universal Church celebrates Divine Mercy Sunday on the 2nd Sunday of Easter. The Divine Mercy devotion is similar in many ways to the devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. The purpose of this particular devotion is to help those of us who struggle ...read more
He was born Giovanni Francesco di Bernadone. He’s Italian. And today, we celebrate his feast day throughout the Universal Church. He is none other than St. Francis of Assisi. Many know St. Francis of Assisi to be a Catholic friar. However, his life is made up of more than just his priestly ministry. St. Francis ...read more
We return home on a spiritual high, confident and joyful. We’ve experienced the universal church; we know we are not alone. As we settle back into our routine, there is the temptation to live in the reverie of the moment but not do anything about it. Our response to the experience determines how receptive our ...read more
After the WYD “high,” how do you continue to nourish the seeds of faith that were planted? That’s the question Pedro asks this week on Perspectives: The Weekly Edition. Joining him for the discussion is Neiman D’Souza, a seminarian for the Archdiocese of Toronto, and Jonathan Nix, coordinator of Youth Ministry at St. Bonaventure parish ...read more
About a month has passed since World Youth Day ended and I’ve had the chance to talk to pilgrims from various places. The one thing that inevitably comes up is the Cuatro Vientos vigil. The two most asked questions: (1) Did you make it in? and (2) Did you get drenched? So when I received ...read more
This coming Sunday, the Archdiocese of São Paulo and the National Conference of Bishops of Brazil (CNBB) will host the first preparatory event leading to World Day Youth Day 2013. The event will mark the arrival to Brazil of the WYD Cross and the Icon of Our Lady. It will be attended by the Archbishop ...read more
Do you have to attend World Youth Day in order to have a ‘World Youth Day experience’? That’s the question Pedro Guevara-Mann is asking on Perspectives Weekly. Joining him for this discussion are Father Chris Valka, CSB and S+L Associate Producers Andrew Santos and Cheridan Eygelaar. Having recently returned from Madrid — the site of ...read more
I returned home from World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain almost two weeks ago — honestly, one of the most incredible trips of my life. There are no words to express how I feel. I still find myself wrapped with plenty of emotion and with a ton of WYD withdrawal. That’s to be expected with any sort of trip, ...read more
Last Tuesday, we kicked-off our WYD experience with the gathering for Canadian pilgrims – a first in WYD history and a wonderful way to begin our week. Yesterday, the feast of St. Rose of Lima, I had the chance to end my WYD experience with another national gathering – this one for Panamanian pilgrims that ...read more