HAPPY FATHER’S DAY!
Sometimes we think that days like Father’s Day are a commercial gimmick to sell cards and make us spend money. This is partly true, but it can also be an opportunity for us to step back from all the goings…
Novalis Seeds of Faith
CATHOLIC MEDIA ASSOCIATION AWARDS
There are about three dozen significant Catholic publishing houses in North America, each with its particular niche within the overall evangelizing mission of the Church. While we don’t try to compete directly, there is no doubt some friendly rivalry. And…
IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY – PRACTICAL ADVICE
When it comes to our relationship with the Blessed Mother, it is valuable for our own prayer life to see how the liturgical celebration of the Immaculate Heart has been presented to us, and to see how the changes over…
IN PERSONA CHRISTI
In a patriarchal society, to be a father is, by definition, to hold power. Pater is Latin for “father” and “patriarchy,” literally meaning “rule of the fathers.” Ancient Israel was patriarchal in its organization, as is the Catholic Church. In…
SUMMER READING RECOMMENDATIONS FROM NOVALIS
Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Canadians turned to books for information, inspiration, or plain old escape. I know I did! Even with the public libraries closed for extended times, people found ways to get their hands on…
ENCOUNTERING THE BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
At the Last Supper, Christ mandated us to take bread and break it, to pour wine and share it in his memory. But this was no simple memorial, for he told us the bread was his body and the wine his…
TRINITY SUNDAY
Have you seen My Octopus Teacher? Last month it won an Academy Award for best documentary of 2020. Simple, heart-felt, straight-forward, it charts the year-long friendship that develops between the film-maker and a small octopus off the coast of South…
PENTECOST
One of the most commonly depicted images in Christian art is that of the disciples at Pentecost. Around the world, there have been countless versions of the men and women gathered in a locked room in Jerusalem, each with a…
ST. RITA OF CASCIA
Today we celebrate the feast of St. Rita of Cascia (1381-1457), the patron saint of abused wives. We need her help. Whether labelled the “perfect storm,” a “pandemic within a pandemic,” a “shadow pandemic,” “intimate partner violence,” or just “domestic…
ASCENSION OF THE LORD
The Church has a number of what I would call quasi-liturgical feast days. The World Day of Peace on January 1, takes advantage of the Solemnity of Mary and the beginning of the civil year to pray for peace. In…