PRAYING FOR HOLY SOULS
Even as a young child, I thought it wonderful to believe that the people who had died before me were still with us, and we with them. I grew up offering all my tribulations for suffering souls in purgatory. I…
Novalis Seeds of Faith
ALL SAINTS
Saints are the ultimate role models of holiness and goodness. Our Church invites us to emulate the saints and to follow their example of virtue and prayerfulness. Catholic parents once had the practice of selecting a saint’s name for their…
WORLD FOOD DAY
Life is surface material skin deep a shallow wave of earth stuck rolling in across vast shores of clay and sand and rock that, dry and of themselves, simply cannot glisten green. ** Two to eight inches of language laid…
ST. TERESA OF JESUS
I like to think of Teresa of Jesus as a diamond, many faceted and beautiful. It is said that when she was a young girl, both she and her brother, ran away to become martyrs in the conflict with the…
2 THANKSGIVING PRAYERS
I offer you on this day of bounty not one, but two thanksgiving prayers. I do this to acknowledge that we do not all approach this feast under the same set of circumstances. Some gather at the table encircled by…
THE ROSARY, PRAYING AND LIVING A MYSTERY
Using prayer beads in meditative prayer is part of many religions in the world. In Buddhism and Hinduism there are 108 beads for the 108 Sacred Mantras. In Islam there are 100 beads for reciting the 100 great names of…
BLESSED FEAST DAY OF ST. FRANCIS OF ASSISI, THE EARLIEST OF ENVIRONMENTALISTS
I am proud of myself that I ate one tomato from my garden this year. One tomato! I placed my statue of St. Francis in the garden and my tomato plant flourished. Still, I was only able to harvest a…
ST. THERESE OF LISIEUX
The liturgical tradition does not have a ceremony for every scenario of loss but it does offer a rich ritual repertoire from which we can draw inspiration and hope. On this Seeds of Faith blog, I am exploring how the…
NATIONAL DAY FOR TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION: MOVING BEYOND THE ORANGE SHIRT
Earlier this week, I saw a tweet from an Indigenous person lamenting that many Canadians would be wearing an orange shirt on September 30, and then for the next 364 days, it would be business as usual, with nothing changing…
ST. VINCENT DE PAUL
If you have ever lamented the state of divisiveness in the Church today, it may help to delve into a history book and time travel back to the days of St. Vincent de Paul. When he studied in the Faculty…