Today’s great Marian feast, the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is a day with joyful implications for all of us. The Assumption celebrates Mary having been taken into heaven, body and soul, at the end of…
Although many of us are accustomed to deacons serving in our communities, a permanent diaconate is a very new experience for those of us in the Western Church. Despite references to deacons in the Christian scriptures, and the profound witness…
“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” The famous poetic assertion of Jesuit Gerard Manley Hopkins aptly summarizes the heart of Ignatian spirituality, an approach to God, prayer and life built upon the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius…
When my children were small, we used to visit my late in-laws every Sunday afternoon. My husband’s family originally came from France in the mid-seventeenth century, so my in-laws were Catholics of the old school. They embraced many traditions including…
At the heart of our Christian spirituality is the belief that we are a pilgrim people. From birth to death our lives are marked by rites of passage leading us to the day when we hope to enter into the…
The New Testament accords Mary Magdalene a place of honour, not only locating her by name at the foot of the cross but also identifying her as one of the first witnesses to the resurrection. Saint Augustine called her the…
I once thought that doubt was not good for the spiritual life. It was the unhealthy trait of those who did not believe in God. A person of faith, on the other hand, trusted in God even when things were…
One of my favourite cities to visit in the U.S. is Boston. Besides its fascinating history and rich cultural tapestry, the city boasts a large Italian neighbourhood known as the North End. Like any good Italian community, it’s known for…
Wouldn’t it be great if we really understood each other’s languages? What if children actually understood what their parents meant, and parents actually understood what their children were really saying. Imagine getting beyong the words to understanding, so that whatever…
Christ is risen! Truly he is risen! Χριστός ἀνέστη! Ἀληθῶς ανέστη! (Greek) Христос воскрес! Воїстину воскрес! (Ukrainian) A number of years ago I experienced the joy and excitement of an Easter Vigil in a Ukrainian Orthodox cathedral. For many weeks…