Today’s culture has begun to realize that recent decades of overzealous positivity have led to unsustainable expectations for happiness and success, often with dire consequences. The mantra in this burgeoning awareness of mental health is: “it’s okay not to be…
There have been so many heart-breaking stories over the past 18 months. Thousands of our elders in long-term care died of the virus, while countless others had to stay in their rooms alone for weeks on end. People in hospital…
When the pandemic began 18 months ago, I regularly thought of myself as living in extraordinary times. I am struck by how very much we have adapted. That which was unprecedented in human history has come to feel almost normal…
Since Pope Francis offered the world his reflections in the encyclical Laudato Si’, my consciousness of caring for Creation has been notched up. I have always thought that by not littering, recycling, reusing, reducing, composting, not wasting food, etc, I…
One of the most encouraging developments of our recent pandemic confinements has been our webinars. We’ve had as many as 600 people participate in our discussions on everything from the climate change crisis to dealing with dementia in our parishes.…
The feast of St. Monica and St. Augustine provide opportunities for much reflection and consideration. As North African Christians, for example, it is remarkable that most depictions of them present them as white Europeans. Failing to depict them as African,…
If “back to school” is starting to feel like a regular occurrence, that’s no surprise. Canadian families and educators have had countless stops and starts to the school year since March 2020, and plans for the weeks and months ahead…
All stories are true… and some of them actually happened. As an Irish/Indigenous Catholic storytelling family, this aphorism sums up our attitude to stories. The following event likely never happened, but when we heard it many years ago, we immediately…
In his book, St. Clare of Assisi: Light from the Cloister, Bret Thoman, OFS describes how St. Clare (1193-1253) referred to herself as the “Little plant of St. Francis.” When she was 18 years old, she heard a sermon by…
Have you ever been in a time and a place where everything seemed to be just perfect? Perhaps for just a few moments, on a beach at sunset or, perhaps, for a few years, a time when family life was…