The news of the bombing of the Boston Marathon is both horrifying and shocking. What was to be a day of great joy and elation, quickly became a day of tragedy and unfathomable suffering. In an instant lives were forever…
The following excerpt comes from Stephen Scharper’s newest book For Earth’s Sake: Toward a Compassionate Ecology available from Novalis. As we enter another spring season and celebrate the joy of the Resurrection, we thought it might be helpful for us to consider…
The following are the prayer intentions for the month of April as suggested by the Canadian Ordo. Let us remember these intercessions as we journey through the month of April. General Intercession: That the public, prayerful celebration of faith may…
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 hosannas that ring out on Palm Sunday should echo throughout Holy Week. Today, we understand hosanna as a word bound up with Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem; it is a term of praise and adoration, fitting for the celebration…
We live in a fast-paced world. With computers, fast food, 24-hour news channels, social media, and instant messaging we can feel antsy when we need to sit down and concentrate on anything for longer than 10 minutes. The Slow Movement encompasses…
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…
From my window I can see the waters of Lake Ontario extending off into the horizon. Looking out, there is no proof that there is an opposite shore looking back at me. Ash Wednesday is kind of like that. We are…
Today’s commemoration of the conversion of St. Paul on the road to Damascus has entered the public imagination in ways that go beyond Church circles or even Christianity. We often refer to our own “Damascus” experience to describe our own…
For most of us, the feast days that celebrate our type of faith should be the Sundays of Ordinary Time. While the ordering or numbering of Sundays gives the name to Ordinary Time, as a faithful ordinary Catholic this time between Christmas…