FOR PANDEMIC-WEARY KIDS, TEENS AND PARENTS: DROP EVERYTHING AND READ!
Kids and teens have a lot of time on their hands these days. In various parts of Canada, school’s out and remote learning is in. Sports and many outdoor activities […]
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY
When you are born into a faith you think that everyone thinks like you do. You see the world from your own skin and your own perspective. As a child growing […]
BAPTISM OF THE SAVIOUR/BIRTH OF AN ACTIVIST
By the time Martha looked upstream the dove was just a mote in the sky and the words “my beloved” were trickling off beyond perception like a rose petal on […]
HOME BY ANOTHER WAY
Each year at Epiphany, I listen to James Taylor’s song Home by Another Way. In this song, he reminds us that the call to the Magi to change their plans […]
A FRESH START
If there was ever a year I was ready to turn the page on, it was 2020. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. COVID-19 knocked us off our […]
WE CAN BE MORE…
A fresco of the Holy Family adorns the right side altar of the Church of the Assumption in Erinsville, Ontario – the church of my childhood. Mary and Joseph stand […]
CHRISTMAS IN THE HUMAN FAMILY OF ALL GOD’S CHILDREN
What’s your favourite part about Christmas? Is it having a fresh, beautifully-decorated Christmas tree in your home? Is it trying to figure out that perfect present for a loved one? […]
LIVING WITH CHRIST CHRISTMAS EVE
Join the Living with Christ family from around the world to celebrate Christmas Eve with this cornucopia of prayers, hymns, Scripture, reflections and beautiful art. It is our gift to […]
VISIO DIVINA: NORTHERN NATIVITY REDUX
Hi, my name is Les Miller, author of a new Novalis book called, Northern Light: A Canadian Prayer Book, which is a book of prayers and reflections with accompanying photographs. […]
A MIRACLE AMIDST THE MESS
The season of Advent brings us a dual focus. We anticipate encountering Christ in his second coming and in the celebration of his birth at Christmas. We meet God through history, […]
ADVENT WAITING…
I never really knew what waiting meant until my baby was two weeks overdue. I baked. I read. I walked. I stocked up on diapers and sleepers. Also, my kitchen […]
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Miss America! ¡Qué guapa! I love what you’ve done with beauty. You took its pure, lily-white supremacist notion and introduced it to some salutary sunshine. Your body is as shapely […]
POPE FRANCIS ANNOUNCES THE YEAR OF ST. JOSEPH
I’m rather partial to St. Joseph, considering that I bear his name and was baptized on his feast day of March 19. And so I felt a special thrill when […]
ADVENT BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
Advent is a time of preparation and there is no shortage of advice on how to be ready for Christmas. But with these suggestions for Advent reading, I want to […]
ADVENT 2020
waiting. waiting. while heaven downloads onto devices a million years old. this could take all month… thank God it’s Advent: season of Hope nested inside Pandemic: season of Brick Walls […]
Q&A WITH AUTHORS OF AT YOUR SIDE: PRAYERS FOR MESSY, DELIGHTFUL, COMPLICATED, OUTRAGEOUS, EVERYDAY LIFE
What is this book about? Raymond Friel: It’s about being a human being, I suppose, a creature, trying to understand the Creator, trying to speak to the source of our […]
CHRIST THE KING
I don’t often express a disagreement with those who prepare liturgical texts, but on this feast I do. Saying that Christ is the King of the Universe, at least to […]
MUSINGS ON THE THEME OF THIS WORLD DAY OF THE POOR: “STRETCH OUT YOUR HAND TO THE POOR”
I remember long ago an anecdotal story of the conference of bishops of Brazil who ended their meetings about policies and procedures with the question: “Well gentlemen, how have we […]
BOOK REVIEW: JUST WATER: THEOLOGY, ETHICS, AND FRESH WATER CRISES
Consider fresh water. We use it for cooking, cleaning, bathing, agriculture and for just about all our economic activities. Yet, of all the water on Earth, only 2.5% of that […]
REMEMBRANCE DAY
My parents were children during the Second World War, and their memories of that time were lasting ones. They recalled doing paper and scrap drives with their pals, wearing underwear […]
ALL SOULS
All Souls Day is going to mean more to me this year than ever. I recently lost my brother to cancer. My thoughts are filled with memories, conversations and images of my […]
SAINTHOOD IS FOR EVERYONE!
Messages from Heaven can come in conversations with strangers. Not too long ago, I had such an encounter with a woman on a bus. She was on her way to arrange […]
Q&A WITH MARIETTE MARTINEAU, AUTHOR OF SOWING SEEDS: INQUIRY, FAITH AND EARLY LEARNERS
What is Sowing Seeds all about? Sowing Seeds: Inquiry, Faith and Early Learners is a book about students learning about their faith. It is about respecting the ability of children, […]
PRAYING FOR OUR DEPARTED LOVED ONES DURING THE MONTH OF NOVEMBER
Death for a Christian is a bittersweet event. On the one hand, we are supposed to rejoice since the person that died has entered eternal life with God, the aim […]
ST. JOHN PAUL II
It became so natural, but when Saint John Paul II was elected as Pope in Rome in 1978, it was almost beyond comprehension. He was the first non-Italian in centuries […]
RELIGION INJECTS $67.5 BILLION INTO CANADIAN ECONOMY
It’s long been a truism that organized religion is beneficial to society through its volunteers, its schools, social programs and fostering of a population willing to sacrifice for the greater […]
WORLD FOOD DAY
I’m one of the lucky ones. I’ve never had to worry about having enough food. Yet in the city where I live, food security is an issue for many people. […]
THANKSGIVING
This year it’s a salamander gratitude— something found under rosy, painted stones upended on the damp bed of a dead river. It’s alive but mute, a form of life discovered […]
NEW ENCYCLICAL IS A CRI DE COEUR FROM POPE FRANCIS
I can already imagine the criticisms of Fratelli Tutti, the new encyclical by Pope Francis on fraternity and social friendship released yesterday, October 4. They’ll accuse him of interfering in […]
HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS
When I think upon my faith as a child, I know that it was a safety net that saw me through traumatic and happy times. Faith in God is an […]
A SAINT FOR ORDINARY PEOPLE AND POOR SPELLERS
Somewhere among my memorabilia files is a little reminder note written by a 7-year old me. It reads: “Tell mom to take me to see the poope.” (That’s not a […]
SAINTS MICHAEL, GABRIEL AND RAPHAEL, PRAY FOR US!
As I child, I found great comfort in knowing that there were guardian angels out there, guiding us and protecting us from harm. The prayer “Angel of God, my guardian […]
BREBEUF AND COMPANIONS
You ember-eating, living thuribles coughing a smoke heavy and holy into the face of a wilderness that turns away with twisted smile, you aren’t nearly as alone as the cold […]
MOMENTS OF GRACE AND GRATITUDE DURING A PANDEMIC
I once heard a talk given by Bishop Paul Andre Durocher on the topic of grace. He filled his presentation with concrete images to break this open. He told the story […]
GREAT GRANDMA’S LESSONS ON GOD
Today we celebrate Grandparent’s Day. If I had to choose the person who had the greatest impact on my devotional life, it would have to be my great-grandmother, Mary Taylor. […]
NATIVITY OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
The celebration of the Birth of Mary seems to be eminently logical, as it is nine months after December 8, the commemoration of the day Mary was conceived by Saints […]
WHAT TO REFLECT ON THIS LABOUR DAY?
Labour Day is always bittersweet: as the last hurrah of summer, it is a little sad, but as the beginning of the hustle and bustle of autumn, it reminds us […]
A DIFFERENT WAY TO APPROACH THE WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR THE CARE OF CREATION
To make today’s World Day of Prayer for Care of Creation truly inspiring, I’d like to suggest that we pray Pope Francis’ wonderful prayer below. But before we do that, […]
SAINTS MONICA AND AUGUSTINE: EARTH AND SON
In the history of famous Christian conversions, that of St. Augustine stands second only to St. Paul’s in stature. In both cases, Christianity would have looked very different today had […]
INTERVIEW WITH LES MILLER, AUTHOR OF NORTHERN LIGHT: A CANADIAN PRAYER BOOK
What is Northern Light all about? Northern Light contains prayers, reflections and photographs that sketch a spiritual geography of Canada. They are responses to a series of questions: Where is […]
BOOK REVIEW: AMAZING FRIENDSHIPS BETWEEN ANIMALS AND SAINTS
Amazing Friendships Between Animals and Saints tells a story of wonderful relationships between animals and saints. Beautifully illustrated, each story teaches us that we are united with holy creatures who […]
A COURAGEOUS MODEL FOR OUR TIME
To make a courageous choice that leads to personal loss is difficult. Most of us choose self-protection over self sacrifice. To make such a choice when that loss is one’s […]
“LOVE THAT CANNOT SUFFER IS NOT WORTHY OF THAT NAME” -ST. CLARE OF ASSISI
Suffering is something that we seem to want to avoid at all costs. These words of a saint who has been honoured through the ages, remind us that love comes […]
AN ORANGE TREE FOR ST. DOMINIC
On the feast of a saint like Dominic, the founder of all things Dominican, it can be difficult to see a model for our lives – legendary saints like this […]
BOOK REVIEW: AT YOUR SIDE: PRAYERS FOR MESSY, DELIGHTFUL, COMPLICATED, OUTRAGEOUS, EVERYDAY LIFE
It can be easy to pray for certain things – for medical test results to be negative, for a troubled family member, for the world to recover from the coronavirus… […]
LOYOLA
Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was a man led by the Spirit into many places he never thought he would have gone. In the song “Loyola,” I try to capture a […]
NAVIGATING THE NEW NORMAL ON SUNDAY
If you’re like me, you are so over the pandemic. We’re tired of physical distancing, tired of wearing masks, tired of the anxiety and worry about our loved ones. And […]
THE IRON RING AND ST. MARTHA’S CHILDREN
If you wear the lauded Iron Ring of the engineer on your little finger, you have St. Martha to thank… or rather St. Martha via the poet Rudyard Kipling. In […]
BOOK REVIEW: HOLY SEEING: A VISUAL INVITATION TO PRAYER
I recall when I first met Brother Ignatius Feaver O.F.M cap almost 2 years ago. It was in his office where, even now at age 80, he accompanies others as […]
MARY MAGDALENE: A MODEL OF FAITH AND COURAGE
As a woman, I have always been inspired and fascinated by Mary Magdalene. When we consider Mary Magdalene as a model of faith and courage, the assumptions and interpretations of her […]
