El Camino
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…
Category Feast Day
Dispelling the Myths of Mary Magdalene
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…
The Virtue of Doubt
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…
St. Anthony of Padua: Traditions and Customs
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…
Pentecost: The Feast of Understanding Each Other’s Language
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…
The Year of Two Easters
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…
Feast Day of St. Catherine of Siena
Today is the feast day of St. Catherine of Siena. To celebrate, here is a short biography of Catherine from Saints, A Visual Guide. One of Italy’s most celebrated saints, Catherine was born in Siena in 1347 as the youngest…
Easter Joy
Every year I have the privilege of being a lector at the Easter Vigil. It is the highlight of my liturgical year, to be sure, and the solemn warmth of the candlelight that slowly fills the church at the beginning…
The Feast of the Chair of St Peter: What’s so Important About a Chair?
Liturgical Chairs have been an interest of mine for several years. It may seem strange, but how we see the chair of the presider says a lot about how we see the role of the priesthood, and especially the role…
Why Abstain?
Over the past few weeks I’ve been wrestling with the realization that I no longer appreciate feasts. I became poignantly aware of this last Christmas. It was not that I wasn’t enjoying the day, but rather that it felt no…