A Lenten media fast — or not

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.

Pope Benedict XVI waves after celebrating Ash Wednesday Mass in St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican Feb. 13. The service was expected to be the last large liturgical event of Pope Benedict's papacy. The pope announced Feb. 11 that he will resign at the end of the mont

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.

Willem and Florence Schurman will celebrate Valentine’s Day as a married couple of 71 years and counting.

A lasting lesson in love

A mother’s advice helps keep couple together for seven decades

Ash Wednesday, the Lenten journey begins

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.

The faithful know God is in charge

The faith-filled understand that life has purpose, meaning

Second Sunday of Lent (Year C) Feb. 24 (Genesis 15:5-12, 17-18; Psalm 27; Philippians 3:17-4:1; Luke 9:28-36)

Ryan Worms, at a refugee camp in Niger, intend to fast for the 40 days of Lent in solidarity with the poor and hungry in the Global South.

Fast in solidarity with world’s hungry

‘Live simply so that others may simply live’

Don't worry about being imperfect when called to vocation, Pope says 

Don't worry about being imperfect when called to vocation, Pope says 

VATICAN CITY - Men and women called to a religious vocation should not worry about being imperfect but should trust in God to transform their lives, said Pope Benedict XVI.

The Lord won’t let you down

First Sunday of Lent (Year C) Feb. 17 (Deuteronomy 26:4-10; Psalm 91; Romans 10:8-13; Luke 4:1-13)

In his annual message for Lent, Pope Benedict XVI said that "Faith is genuine only if crowned by charity."

Faith is genuine only if coupled with charity for others, Pope says

VATICAN CITY - Faith and charity can never be separated nor opposed to each other, just as faith by itself isn't genuine without charity, Pope Benedict XVI said.

Father Thomas Fusco, pastor at St. Edward the Confessor Parish in Syosset, N.Y., listens to a penitent's confession during a Catholic men's conference at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School in Hicksville, N.Y., in 2012. Each Lent parishes and dioceses acro ss the U.S. invite inactive Catholics to return to church and to take advantage of sacrament of reconciliation.

Priests offer tips for Catholics long absent from the confessional

WASHINGTON - After "Bless me, Father, for I have sinned" -- even if they get that far -- there are millions of Catholics who don't exactly know what to say next.

Father Wojciech Giertych, Pope Benedict XVI's personal theologian, is pictured in the chapel at his residence in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican Dec. 12. Father Giertych said that although women cannot be ordained priests, they do not play a secondar y role in the church.

Why not women priests? The papal theologian explains

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- In October, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dismissed Roy Bourgeois from the priesthood because of his participation in the invalid ordination of a woman.

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