THAT OUR WORK MAY BEAR GOOD FRUIT
It’s a little ironic that Labour Day — an occasion to honour the sweat of our brow and the work of our hands — is actually a holiday. Nice touch! Actually, it’s a blessing for all of us that the…
WHEN SUFFICIENT IS NEVER ENOUGH, PRAYER IS REQUIRED
Pope Francis has slated September 1 as the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. And we will certainly need all the prayers we can muster. The state of creation is not good: depending on whether we refuse…
ST. MONICA AND THE POWER OF PERSISTENT PRAYER
As the mother of a son, I have always felt a connection with St. Monica. I mean, sometimes all you can do is pray! Her eldest son, Augustine (354–430), was a rather wayward lad who didn’t want his mother following…
“A GREAT SIGN APPEARED IN HEAVEN: A WOMAN CLOTHED WITH THE SUN, AND THE MOON BENEATH HER FEET”
Most years on August 14, my wife Nora and I make the one-hour drive northeast from Edmonton to the Marian grotto at Skaro to participate in the vigil Mass of Mary’s bodily assumption into heaven. The grotto was built by…
WHAT SPARKS JOY IN YOUR LIFE?
Although not observed this year, August 11 is generally recognized as a feast day of St. Clare of Assisi (1194-1253). Born into a noble and wealthy Italian family, at 17 years of age, upon hearing a young man (Francis of…
BEEN HOPING WE MIGHT MEET AGAIN
People have asked me a few times over the last couple of months about a particular title we published. It is Been Hoping We Might Meet Again: The Letters of Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Marshall McLuhan. At first blush, this…
“JESUS TOOK WITH HIM PETER AND JOHN AND JAMES, AND WENT UP ON THE MOUNTAIN TO PRAY…”
Probably, most Catholics do not link Jesus’ Transfiguration on the mountain with the Exodus of the Old Testament. For us, it is a stand-alone, unique event which reveals Jesus as the Son of God. The Transfiguration surely is that (and…
“THAT WHICH MAKES YOU FEEL THE MOST ALIVE….THAT IS WHERE GOD IS.”
Faith development and spiritual growth almost always require change. We are called by God to be consistently a work in progress. It is important to remember that God speaks and we respond. Our response can be varied in how we…
St. Martha
Are you a Martha or a Mary? I ask myself this question from time to time. After all, both types are necessary: without the “doers,” no one would get fed and nothing would get done. And without people who focus…
ST. ANNE AND ST. JOACHIM
Being raised in Quebec, I knew early on who St. Joachim and St. Anne were. My grandfather was born in a town called St. Joachim in the Eastern Townships and my grandmother was born a bit further east in a…