The start of a school year is filled with a variety of emotions and tasks. When I was teaching, I had feelings of hope and apprehension. What will be the character of my classrooms? What exactly will I be teaching?…
In 2015, Pope Francis announced that the Roman Catholic Church would join with the Orthodox Churches in recognizing September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. Since that time, there has been broad ecumenical observance…
What is a Doctor of the Church, really? And how does someone become one? For St. Augustine of Hippo, whose feast we celebrate August 28, his elevation to one of the highest honours bestowed by the Catholic Church was anything…
Happy new year! I’ve been out of school for a long time, but September still feels like the start of a new year for me. It’s a good time to reflect on where I want to spend my time, what…
“But human beings did not invent God the way an inventor creates something new. Most religions will tell you that God came first. God is the creator of the universe.” God, Yahweh, Allah, p. 12 Throughout his papacy, Pope Francis…
On the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we celebrate God’s fidelity and tenderness for her and for us. In his tenderness, after he gave us his Son, he “assumed the Immaculate Virgin Mary, the Mother of…
This moment in Jesus’ life is described in the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew 17: 1-8; Mark 9: 2-8; and Luke 9:28-36) and in 2 Peter 1:16-18. Three of Jesus’ disciples accompany him up a mountain to experience an extraordinary event. Jesus…
It is interesting that when most Christians think of Martha, the passage of Luke comes to mind where Martha is “distracted by many things” while Jesus is a guest in the house. This reference in the Gospel of Luke gives…
The relationship between a grandchild and a grandparent can be locus of the most profound experiences of love and joy. The other day, I returned home from a month-long trip. My daughter Beth and 15-month-old grand-daughter Aliyah picked me up…
I know quite a few people who have walked the hundreds of kilometres along the Camino de Santiago de Compostela (The Way of St. James) in Spain – either all at once or over a few years. Their reasons for…