PENTECOST
On a Tuesday night at St. Ignatius Parish 14 young people stand ready to be anointed with oil. They have come from many different situations and different schools. Some of them are new Canadians. We often talk of how discouraged…
Category Feast Day
SPEAKING WITH THE HEART: WORLD COMMUNICATIONS DAY
Today is World Communications Day, which we mark every May, on the feast of the Ascension. This is appropriate: in today’s Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus sends out the eleven disciples to “go and make disciples of all nations” –…
ST. JOSEPH THE WORKER
One of our Catholic Social Teachings is the dignity of work. People ought to be able to use their skills and knowledge to accomplish a purpose and to have self-worth and self-esteem. The work may not be perfect in the…
ANNUNCIATION
Are you one of those people who never takes down your Christmas lights? Or maybe you’re the neighbour scowling at one of those people? Exactly nine months before the birth of Jesus, we celebrate his conception. Today’s solemnity of the…
OUR LADY OF LOURDES
When you are sick or feeling like you are coming down with something nasty, what do you want? Most people will answer that they want their mothers, even if they are adult. Today is the Marian Memorial of Our Lady…
THE FEAST OF THE PRESENTATION OF THE LORD AND LITURGICAL FUN
Today, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord in the Temple, is my favourite feast day! When I mention it, people usually ask why and I never have an answer. I thought I’d ponder that here today as an…
ST. ANDRÉ BESSETTE, PATRON OF FAMILY CAREGIVERS
It was an ordinary Sunday until the Mass ended and a parishioner went up to the ambo to speak. He shared the story of a man who had been severely injured by a falling tree and who had gone to…
THE CHRISTMAS CARD DOESN’T TELL THE WHOLE STORY
One of my favourite Christmas images is of the Holy Family huddled together. Looming large in the forefront is a Christmas card bearing images of gifts, bells, candles, etc. The painting is by an Argentinian artist and I am not…
FROM POLITICS TO PEACE: THE FEAST OF HOLY INNOCENTS
Three days ago, we were filled with joy at the birth of the Christ child. Today, we mark the deaths of innocent children at the hands of Herod, pawns in a political game. Two thousand years later, how much has…
OUR LADY OF GUADALUPE & NATIONAL DAY OF PRAYER IN SOLIDARITY WITH INDIGENOUS PEOPLES
December 12th is the Feast Our Lady of Guadalupe (Patron of the Americas). In December of 1531, on a site revered by Aztecs as a shrine to the goddess Tonantzin, the Blessed Virgin appeared to an indigenous man, Juan Diego.…