HAPPY FEAST OF THE ASCENSION OF THE LORD!
Our youngest child of the six that we have parented, graduates this year. Perhaps because I have attended a graduation in May or June most every year for twenty years, […]
PRAYING WITH THE PSALMS IN CHALLENGING TIMES
Many of us are hurting as we miss our parish communities during this time of isolation. It is good that we have technology to bring the liturgy to us, even […]
A MUST-READ FOR LAUDATO SI’ WEEK (MAY 14-24)!
May 24 marks the fifth year since arrival of Laudato sí, Pope Francis’ encyclical On Care for Our Common Home. This is Francis’ greatest gift to us so far. I truly believe this. […]
OUR LADY OF FATIMA
The apparition of the Virgin Mary in Fatima, Portugal in 1917 has been a source of inspiration, curiosity and intrigue for more than a century. The story of three children […]
HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY!
Happy Mother’s Day! The day when we take moms of all stripes out for brunch, bring them flowers, spend time together… Well, that probably won’t be happening this year. And […]
BOOKS FILLED WITH SOLACE FOR ANXIOUS TIMES
If you’re like me, you’ve had enough of covid-19! Enough of social distancing, staying at home, connecting only by our screens, worrying about how the future will unfold. At the […]
CONSECRATION OF CANADA TO THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY, MOTHER OF THE CHURCH, IN TIME OF PANDEMIC
Pope Francis consecrated the world to the Blessed Virgin Mary earlier this month, at Easter. Similarly, the Bishops of Latin America consecrated their peoples to Our Lady of Guadalupe on […]
ST. CATHERINE OF SIENA
If you plan on confronting a Pope (or two), especially if you are a woman – an uneducated one at that – you better have a pretty strong connection to […]
SLOW LIVING: IS GOD CALLING US TO A NEW WAY OF LIVING?
Have you noticed that bread making is on the rise lately? Apart from toilet paper, flour and yeast appear to be the items most likely out-of-stock in stores. Is this […]
EASTER SUNDAY
Resurrection? Are you serious? With this many people dying, no tomb lies empty these days. All are packed to capacity. The refrain of a hit song from my youth asked […]
GOOD FRIDAY
Good Friday is steeped in the theology of the fourth Gospel – the Gospel of John. If we don’t get it right, then what happens liturgically on this day can […]
EASTER AT HOME
Last week we asked how you are planning to bring the holiest weekend of the year alive without the benefit of your physical presence at Church. Here are some of […]
HOW WILL YOU CELEBRATE EASTER DURING COVID-19?
Tell us, in 250 words, your plan to bring the holiest weekend of the year alive without benefit of your physical presence at Church. In coming days, we will publish […]
INTERVIEW WITH MICHAEL SWAN, AUTHOR OF WRITTEN ON MY HEART
What is Written On My Heart about? It’s about the most common, ordinary way Catholics pray – rote, memorized prayers. This is a method of prayer often dismissed as unthinking, robotic and […]
AN UPDATE FROM OUR PUBLISHER
March was a trying month for everyone as we struggled with the grave repercussions of covid-19. It has touched each of us in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible even […]
5th SUNDAY OF LENT – REFLECTION
“Those who are in the ego cannot please God” I have always been uncomfortable with Paul’s reference to “the flesh” in contrast to “the Spirit,” as found in the Second […]
JONAH’S HYMN REUPHOLSTERED
Coughing in the craw of corona I cried to you, O Lord, and you, in defiance of all demands of social distancing took me snug into your arms! Pitched into […]
ANNUNCIATION OF THE LORD
One can get lost in researching Catholic doctrine on Mary and the feast of the Annunciation. We only need to look to interpretations of this moment in fine art and music […]
4th SUNDAY OF LENT – REFLECTION
If Christ came to take away the sin of the world, then why on Earth is our planet still so bruised and broken by evil? Only one of two responses […]
ST. JOSEPH, PATRON OF CANADA, PRAY FOR US AND FOR THE WHOLE WORLD
I have the good fortune to have two of the best-known saints as my name patrons, and they are both celebrated in March. My first name being Joseph and my […]
ST. PATRICK
No matter where we have come from, we can all be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day. I have Irish roots myself, and was born into a family filled with Patricks […]
3rd SUNDAY OF LENT – REFLECTION
Why was the Samaritan woman drawing water at the well at noon, the hottest part of the day? This is not the time that most people would be coming for […]
THERE MUST BE A PONY IN HERE SOMEWHERE! INTERVIEW WITH THE AUTHORS
What is the book There Must Be a Pony in Here Somewhere about?This book is a collection of reflections that we have written over the past thirty years based on […]
2ND SUNDAY OF LENT – REFLECTION
No matter which year of the three-year lectionary cycle we are in, the Gospel for the 2nd Sunday of Lent is always the same: the Transfiguration. What on earth is […]
WORLD DAY OF PRAYER – MARCH 6, 2020
Prayer is the action that grounds us in our faith. It is a personal and communal experience that brings us closer to God. It is so much a part of […]
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS FOR LENTEN READING
Lent can be such a rich experience if we make time for it. Something I like to do each year is choose a book or two that will accompany me […]
1st SUNDAY OF LENT – REFLECTION
“Forty days,” the experts say, “it takes to break a bad habit. Give or take a week or so.” “Forty days,” they say, “it takes to form a good one.” […]
ASH WEDNESDAY
It seems macabre to have a special day devoted to reminding people they are going to die. Yet on the surface that appears to be the reason behind Ash Wednesday. […]
INTERVIEW WITH GREG KENNEDY, SJ, AUTHOR OF REUPHOLSTERED PSALMS
What is the Reupholstered Psalms about? This book contains reworked versions of the first 50 psalms in the Hebrew Bible. I call them “reupholstered” because the technique used in writing […]
ST. VALENTINE
The tradition of saints in our Catholic Church is filled with legends, myths and inspiration. In reading about St. Valentine, I was reminded of how influential the Church has been […]
OUR LADY OF LOURDES
As a Catholic girl of Irish descent who grew up in rural Ontario, I didn’t grow up with Disney princesses. I grew up with apparitions of the Blessed Virgin. When […]
20-MINUTE RETREAT: BOOK REVIEW
The 20-Minute Retreat: 18 Sessions with the Saints to Nourish Your Faith, by David Perrin Wouldn’t it be great to go on a week-long retreat one of these days? Imagine […]
A LIFE MISCHIEVOUSLY CONSECRATED
Jim went out smiling. Cancer, for all its devastation, couldn’t deprive his eyes of their sly sparkle, nor his face of its tenacious warmth. Jim Webb, SJ died a religious […]
HAPPY FEAST DAY OF ST. JOHN BOSCO!
As an editor, I depend on many resources in my work: dictionaries, style guides, the internet, and even a saint or two! When challenges arise, I am happy to be […]
AUTHORS INTERVIEW: ONE HOME AT A TIME
What is One Home at a Time about? We wrote this book, to invite families to see themselves in a deeper way. It is often said, sometimes glibly, but none the […]
REPRESENTATIONS OF GOD’S GOODNESS
On this feast day of St. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274), I want to share something from this giant philosopher/theologian’s writings which I find remarkable. It should give us reason to pause […]
PAUL’S (ECOLOGICAL) CONVERSION
What colour was the horse off which Saul was knocked on the road to Damascus? The Bible doesn’t say. In very fact, the Bible doesn’t mention a horse at all. […]
ST. FRANCIS DE SALES
Each year on January 24, the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Francis de Sales, a Doctor of the Church, patron of journalists, writers and the deaf. In an […]
WEEK OF PRAYER FOR CHRISTIAN UNITY: JAN 18-25
In some ways, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity seems kind of old-fashioned, something we thought more about in the 60’s. But the more I think and read about […]
ANOTHER TIMELY BOOK!
Do you agree or disagree with each the following? Science proves that there is no God. Scripture challenges scientific theories and laws. The world was created in 6 (24-hour) days […]
BAPTISM OF THE LORD
The feast of the Baptism of Our Lord marks the end of the Christmas season. It often feels like a transitional time, maybe a bit sad and boring for little […]
THE MAGI TEACH US THAT PEOPLE CAN COME TO CHRIST BY A VERY LONG ROUTE
When I was little, I loved the three Advent rituals we did at our house: the Advent calendar with its little cardboard doors that opened one day at a time […]
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
The reforms of the liturgical calendar after Vatican II were an attempt to prune things back and keep Christ at the center of things. When it comes to January 1, […]
HOLY FAMILY OF JESUS, MARY AND JOSEPH
When I think “holy,” I often think “perfect.” So the Holy Family can be a bit intimidating. How can our families ever measure up? Part of the issue is that […]
This Christmas…
The Christmas scene inside a church is joyful and glittering. It is a warm environment with welcoming smiles and lots of hugs (and, of course, the heat is on!). Although […]
INTERVIEW WITH GLEN ARGAN, AUTHOR OF CREATE IN ME A CLEAN HEART
What has been your goal in writing Create in Me a Clean Heart? I found the standard examinations of conscience based on the Ten Commandments did not help me to […]
NEVER A TIMELIER BOOK!
A review of How Not to Read the Bible: An Authentic Catholic Approach to Scripture Today “The Bible should come with a warning label on the cover. ‘Warning: Misreading this […]
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE
Many years ago, my co-worker – a priest from Czechoslovakia – and I were leading a group of candidates for initiation. It was Advent and we decided to explore some […]
IMMACULATE CONCEPTION OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY
The Immaculate Conception is a relatively new feast (established universally in 1854), and so there isn’t a long tradition of devotions and customs for this day. Evidently in 1854 people […]
SEASON OF ADVENT
The world has forgotten Advent. We go from Thanksgiving and Halloween directly to the “Holiday Season,” with Christmas Day as its culmination. It is all tinsel and chimes and Hallmark […]
