Gratitude for a generous gift. That is my overwhelming response to the life, ministry, and towering intellect of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI. Gratitude for this foremost public theologian of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Gratitude for his tireless efforts to communicate the faith of the Church in a world that is forgetting its theological ...read more

Facing (controversial) issues In Part One, I raised the possibility that the Synod on Synodality is both a microcosm of the millennia-long process of Tradition and an active participant in that process. In Part Two, I explored what it might mean for lay people to take part in this encounter, to themselves be more active ...read more

Come, Wisdom of our God Most High, guiding creation with power and love: teach us to walk in the path of knowledge! How do we know what’s right? How do we know what’s real? Or true? Philosophers, theologians, scientists and everyone else under the sun have asked those questions since humans became capable of asking ...read more

Partnering with the Faithful In Part One, I raised the possibility that the Synod on Synodality is both a microcosm of the millennia-long process of Tradition, and an active participant in that process. I then paused to explore the Scriptural meaning of the word “Tradition,” specifically, the way the first Christians handed on and widely ...read more

  Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in his holy place? Someone who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up their soul to what is false. Isaiah 7:10-14 Psalm 24 Romans 1.1-7 Matthew 1:18-24 We often say that the road to hell is paved ...read more

Handing on the Faith As I was writing my reflection on the Working Document for the Continental Stage last month, I mulled over multiple ways to describe this synod process. In that post, I called it a “conversation.” TheWorking Document represented the participants of the Diocesan Phase, in conversation with the regional assemblies of the ...read more

  Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are of a fearful heart, “Be strong, do not fear! Here is your God. He will come and save you.” Isaiah 35:1-10 James 5:7-10 Matthew 11:2-11 “What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? What did you ...read more

  “The voice of one crying out in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.’” Isaiah 11:1-10 Romans 15:4-9 Matthew 3:1-12 “That’s just how we’ve always done things. It’s a good idea, but we’re so set in our ways!” “That’s just the way the world is. I wish it were ...read more

  Advent is a time to remember the limits of time. It’s a time to remember that all things, including good things, come to an end.   Matthew 24:37-44 When I was reading Maria’s post about fasting in Advent, I was struck by how similar and how different Advent is to Lent. Both are traditionally ...read more

It’s November 2022, which naturally means the FIFA World Cup is just around the corner. (It isn’t natural at all: it’s just that it’s in Qatar). Here at Salt + Light Media’s head office in Toronto, our eyes are on Canada’s return to the world’s biggest sports tournament, and not just because Italy failed to ...read more