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 little of the spirit of this Spirit-filled man. Ignatius was…
Novalis Seeds of Faith
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 we’re still struggling with going back to Mass on Sunday.…
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 1922, a group of senior engineers decided to develop an…
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 spiritual director. Unassuming and so welcoming, he captured my soul…
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 place in the gospels makes her a saint for our…
BOOK REVIEW: WRITTEN ON MY HEART: CLASSIC PRAYERS IN THE MODERN WORLD
Who is God? For most of my life I have used the tradition of the Church and its liturgy as the best approximation for understanding who God is. My former students will recall: the liturgy teaches us that God dispenses…
LESSONS LEARNED DURING A PANDEMIC IN UNDER 500 WORDS (ALMOST)
When I was asked to write about lessons I learned from the pandemic, my first response was: “In under 5000 words, correct?” My limit was 500, so here’s the short version. Lesson 1 – We are Deeply Connected I have…
IN CELEBRATION OF CANADA DAY
Despite the strange circumstances we find ourselves in during this time of pandemic, we have much to celebrate this Canada Day. Over the past few years, I have had the joy of traversing our country preparing a new book, to…
ARE YOU LIKE PETER OR ARE YOU LIKE PAUL?
Everywhere you go in Rome, when you find Saint Peter or Paul, you always find the other guy hanging around. In front of Saint Peter’s on the Vatican – there was Paul, in the basilica of Saint Paul outside the…
WHY ARE WE HERE?
Mary Jo Leddy’s book Why Are We Here? A Meditation of Canada takes its title from the question of a Tsimshian chief to an explorer first arriving on the shore of the Pacific northwest coast. This book addresses our struggles with…