The lie of violence
Visiting a friend, I picked up a handsome book, a collection of Icelandic Sagas to pore through. They were wondrous, and not just because some of my ancestors were Vikings. The stories led from Denmark to Iceland and on, to the land they called Vinland, our Newfoundland. There Eric the Red and company arrived in 1001, the first Europeans in the New World. During their second spring there, birch-bark canoes landed near them: their first encounter with native inhabitants. They killed them. The next spring, the natives’ kin found the Vikings and, in their turn, killed as many as they could.
Wisdom must be learned the hard way
Fourth Sunday of Lent (Year C) March 10 (Joshua 5:9, 10-12; Psalm 34; 2 Corinthians 5:17-21; Luke 15:1-3, 11-32)
Disgrace does not give up easily. Those who have experienced disgrace often struggle for the rest of their lives to achieve some sort of restoration of honour and self-respect. These attempts are not always successful.
Pope Benedict changes rituals for new pope's inauguration
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI has ordered several changes to the Masses and liturgies that will mark the inauguration of the next pope's pontificate.
Canonist explains 'rigid, highly formal' rules for electing pope
VATICAN CITY - The voting by cardinals to elect the next pope takes place behind the locked doors of the Sistine Chapel, following a highly detailed procedure that underwent major revisions by Blessed John Paul II and a small, but very significant change, by Pope Benedict XVI.
God coaxes us on our spiritual path
Third Sunday of Lent (Year C) March 3 (Exodus 3:1-8, 13-15; Psalm 103; 1 Corinthians 10:1-6, 10-12; Luke 13:1-9)
God has always been invoked by many names and has carried many labels. But when God had the opportunity to reveal a name, label or doctrine it was a different story.
Tips to help Catholics return to sacrament of Confession
WASHINGTON - After “Bless me, Father, for I have sinned” there are millions of Catholics who don’t exactly know what to say next.
A Lenten media fast — or not
TORONTO - Which is the fast God prefers for a 21st-century Lent? In a media-saturated age, it makes sense to desaturate our souls with a media fast, suggests Salt+Light Radio media correspondent Mark Matthews.
On Ash Wednesday, Pope preaches on humility, Christian unity
VATICAN CITY - Celebrating what was expected to be the last public liturgy of his pontificate two weeks before his resignation, Pope Benedict XVI preached on the virtues of humility and Christian unity and heard his highest-ranking aide pay tribute to his service to the Church.
Ash Wednesday, the Lenten journey begins
TORONTO - Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the first day of the Lenten season for Christians throughout the Greater Toronto Area and around the world. In Catholic churches in the archdiocese of Toronto, the faithful will gather today to participate in the distribution of ashes — a tradition that has united Christians together in their faith for more than a millennium.