It’s sometimes difficult to see the abundance of God in times like this. This past Sunday’s Gospel made me think of that. You know, the abundance of God. The point of the story is not that Jesus can make bread and fish out nothing – the point of the story is that in the end, no one goes without. In fact, everyone eats their fill: “there is nothing I shall want.” But sometimes in life we have to go through periods of trimming, periods of pruning. Those are not comfortable times, even though we know that there is nothing we shall want. The departure of Matthew Harrison and Jenna Murphy has been a great loss to us. In fact, in the last year, we’ve experienced great loss at S+L as we’ve seen many of our Salt + Light personalities move on: Gillian Kantor is in her second maternity leave and enjoying motherhood; David Naglieri and Michele Nuzzo now work for the Supreme Office of the Knights of Columbus; Sebastien Lacroix works for the Centre-South French Catholic school board; Mary Rose Bacani is also enjoying her maternity leave, and now Jenna Murphy and Matthew Harrison have been called to other stages in their lives— Matthew to Alberta and Jenna to Ottawa. And while, a year ago, we could sense God’s abundance at S+L, today we feel the pruning. It may be quiet, but we are not sitting around. Preparations for our World Youth Day coverage are all-consuming. This year we will be able to bring you coverage of WYD like never before. With our new WYDTV platform at www.wydcentral.org you’ll be able to experience daily updates, commentary, reflections and exclusive interviews during the 6-day event. We will also bring you all the main events, as well as the Holy Father’s Mass with Seminarians and Religious. What’s more (and this is where we take it to the next level), you’ll be able to experience all-three Catechesis Sessions, many Youth Festival events, including concerts, panel discussions and keynote talks as well as three National Gatherings: the Canadian, Australian and American ones. This is thanks to the support we’ve received from the Knights of Columbus and our participation in their Love and Life Site, which will be the hub for English-speaking pilgrims in Madrid. Add to this, our daily updates and coverage of main events in French Truly, there is abundance! And it’s more than just our participation in WYD: World Youth Day itself is a show of God’s abundance. There are hundreds of Youth Festival Events: concerts, talks, exhibitions, films, art exhibits, conferences, prayer gatherings – there will be Adoration, Rosary, Divine Mercy; there will be social gatherings and praise and worship in the streets. From August 16-21 God’s abundance will take over the city of Madrid. And Salt and Light will be there – and through us, you can be there too. Our coverage begins on Monday August 15th. Most of the events will be streamed live at WYDTV – check the website for schedule details. But you’ll be able to see it all on S+L Television as well. That week, our programming will almost be exclusively from Madrid. You can see that schedule here. Please pray for us, that we will be able to keep our eyes on Christ, the true Light of the World, the God of Abundance, as we do our best to continue helping build his Kingdom. Pray for us that we are able to stay rooted in Christ and stand firm in the Faith. And please keep our dear colleagues in your prayers too. We may miss you, David, Michele, Gillian, Sebastien, Mary Rose, Jenna and Matthew, but we know that in the Body of Christ, you are not too far away. We thank you for allowing God to use you for his show of abundance. Note: Check out the S+L Blog on Friday, August 12th, as Pedro brings us the continuation of "God's abundance".