Pope Benedict delivered his Urbi et Orbi — to the City (of Rome) and to the World — today at noon, Rome time.  The traditional message and blessing is given Christmas and Easter.  The theme of the message is The Word became flesh, and throughout his greeting the Holy Father stressed that God is with ...read more

The coming of the Lord can have no objective other than to teach us to see and love events, the world, and everything that surrounds us with the very eyes of God. The Word-become-a-child helps us to understand God’s way of acting, so that we will be capable of allowing ourselves to be transformed increasingly ...read more

Pope Benedict has celebrated Christmas Eve Mass at the Vatican.  You can see an encore presentation on Salt + Light at 11pm ET /8pm PT.  See the unofficial translation of the Holy Father’s homily below: Dear Brothers and Sisters! “You are my son, this day I have begotten you” – with this passage from Psalm ...read more

The Nativity, it’s the most famous childbirth of all time, immortalized in hundreds of different artistic representations. One of those representations are Nativity plays.  I remember my junior kindergarten class’ Nativity play like it was yesterday. I was cast as Mary and was barely visible underneath my pale blue garments. I was absolutely over the ...read more

There’s a 93-year old, 100-foot-tall Norway Spruce in St. Peter’s Square these days. It’s the Vatican’s Christmas tree for this year. The spruce, along with 50 other trees, have been donated by the Diocese of Bolzano-Bressanone. Speaking to a delegation from the diocese, the Pope says the tree is a significant symbol of the light ...read more

Salt + Light Television presents a series of blogs reflecting on Advent and Christmas by Auxiliary Bishop of Toronto, Bishop William McGrattan, and Salt + Light CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, CSB.  The series will look at Mary, Joseph, the Word Made Flesh, and the Magi, and will be spread over the next two weeks.  We ...read more

Rita Sawaya's - Advent 2010 on Maui - Hawai'i. ...read more

I remember as a kid watching Christmas music videos on December 25th.  Among those videos was one tune that I couldn’t believe was considered a Christmas song.  To me the singing was bizarre: a kind of slurred, harsh barking; contrasted by a more melodious female voice.  The content of the song, hardly struck me as ...read more

I remember when my wife was pregnant the first time: the excitement of this new life growing inside of her,  the first time we heard the heartbeat. We spoke to the baby, we sang to him, played music… Unfortunately for many women (and men) this is not the case. Some women feel scared to be pregnant. ...read more

Christian communities that follow the Julian calendar observe Christmas on January 7th, 13 days after the Gregorian-calendar Christmas. So, to our Christian brothers and sisters who celebrate today – including Ukrainians, Russians, Serbians, Macedonians, Bulgarians, Romanians, Belarusians and others – we wish you a very Merry Christmas! I had a chance to chat with Fr. ...read more