Castel Gandolfo was busy yesterday as Pope Benedict XVI marked the solemnity of the Assumption. First there was the celebration of Mass at the Church of St. Thomas, located just across from the summer Papal residence.  Later in the day, the Holy Father welcomed the faithful to Castel Gandolfo for his Angelus address. Of course, ...read more

Cardinal Marc Ouellet has asked the faithful to pray that the Lord may give him “wisdom and discernment” as he heads to Rome. That’s where, as of August 24th, he’ll take up his new role as the prefect of the Congregation for Bishops. He asked for the prayers yesterday at the St. Anne de Beaupre ...read more

It’s a feast of the Assumption not soon to be forgotten. A cruel prank was pulled on over 30,000 pilgrims gathered yesterday in Lourdes, located in southwest France. Police received an anonymous phone call about a bomb threat to the Shrine. The call came in as thousands of worshippers, priests and nuns were congregating for ...read more

As I shared in my previous post, I spent my vacation in Algonquin Provincial Park and at Madonna House in Combermere, Ontario. In between those adventures, I took a road trip to Newfoundland with my best friend. For one week, we marveled at the Maritime culture, wildlife and dramatic landscape of Gros Morne National Park. ...read more

The disheveled man lurched along the trail, as if stumbling off the set of a George Romero movie. He wore just one hiking boot; the other ankle was swollen and purple. Half-naked—the wrong half—his bare legs were covered in deep cuts and two crimson, football-sized lesions. His wide eyes did not avert their gaze as ...read more

You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a ...read more

Stressing out is a natural reaction a person has towards a difficult situation. I’ll be the first to admit that I’m no class act when it comes to sweating the small stuff. When life gives me lemons I don’t always think to add the sugar right away. After the fact I’ll reflect on God, pray ...read more

Today he is 165 years old.  If he were still alive, that is. Even before he died in 1937, people all over the world regarded him as a saint.  About two months from now, on October 17th, Brother André Bessette CSC will be the first Canadian-born male to be officially named a saint by the ...read more

A little boy once came across a sparrow laying on his back with his feet sticking up to the sky.  The boy looked at him and asked “Sparrow, why are you lying on his back on your back with your feet pointing up to the sky?”  The sparrow replied, because if the sky falls, I ...read more

In Washington D.C. our Salt + Light team came across a young man from Kansas who comes from a long line of Knights of Columbus in his family. He’s eagerly awaiting his 17th birthday so he too can join the Catholic fraternal organization. I spoke with him about why he wants to be a Knight: ...read more