Volunteers are an integral part of a parish community. They help run most ministries, and their work can result in a lively and thriving Catholic church. Volunteering is a great way to meet like-minded people and contribute to the well-being of your parish. In my previous article, I interviewed several young adults about their experience ...read more

As Catholics, we are called to be examples of God’s love to others. Pope Francis stated, "It is not enough to say we are Christians. We must live the faith, not only with our words, but with our actions." Fewer Canadians are engaging in group religious activities, yet some Catholics are going against the trend. Meet four young adults who are serving the Church in Canada. ...read more

For the last two weeks (part 1 and part 2) I’ve been trying to imagine what our world would be like had Jesus never been born. It’s easy to say that The Church would not exist or that we would have no Pope. There would be no priests, deacons, religious sisters or brothers, nor there ...read more

Last week I was imagining a world without Christmas. That would mean no Christmas music and no Christmas movies. But a world without Jesus would mean much more to our popular culture. One of my favourite Broadway musicals is Les Miz. I never read the novel, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo and wasn’t crazy about ...read more

I remember once, a Cuban friend who grew up in Cuba with no Christmas, telling me that she had never seen or heard of a Christmas tree before she left Cuba. But had Christ never been born, the implications would be much worse than not having Christmas trees. Just think of the music we’d be ...read more

Earlier this week I found myself listening to R.E.M.’s It’s the End of the World (although I much prefer the cover by Great Big Sea). It’s a good song and, while I’m not exactly sure what it’s about, I always think about it around this time of the year when all the Mass readings have ...read more

If you’re in the Church, it’s becoming harder and harder to ignore our missionary call. This something Pope Francis has continually talked about since his first year of papacy: go out to the peripheries; get out of the sacristies; go and make disciples of all nations. In a way, the ground was prepared by Pope ...read more

October 11, 2022 marks 60 years since the start of the Second Vatican Council. So what was Vatican II and why does it matter today? Vatican II was the biggest Church event in the 20th century, bringing together all the bishops of the Catholic Church – 2,625 of them! – with the pope and many ...read more

A little over a week ago, I arrived back from my pilgrimage to Israel and Egypt. I was tanned from the Egyptian sun, sleep-deprived and jet-lagged, but happy to be home.  The first week of the pilgrimage, my fellow pilgrims and I visited many sites and places including Capernaum, the House of Peter, Magdala, Tabgha, ...read more

Cardinal Cantalamessa has been the official preacher to St. John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI, and Pope Francis. Hear his take on Pope Francis and God’s plan for our planet. Watch now:  TheLetterFilm.org/Watch   Intervention of His Eminence Cardinal Michael Czerny, S.J. In 2015, Pope Francis released his great encyclical letter Laudato si’. It has had ...read more