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…
THE WITNESS OF MARY MAGDALENE
July 22 used to be a memorial of St. Mary of Magdalene. Two years ago, Pope Francis raised that celebration to the level of a feast. There are now calls to raise it to a solemnity. That could be a…
REST AND RECHARGE THIS SUMMER
How is your summer going? Are you as busy as always, or have you had some time to re-charge? Do you have any special plans coming up? Rest is important for our bodies and for our souls. Scripture is filled…
INTERVIEW WITH BETH PORTER, AUTHOR OF ACCIDENTAL FRIENDS: STORIES FROM MY LIFE IN COMMUNITY
Beth Porter has been a member of the L’Arche Daybreak community for four decades. Here she answers some of our questions about her recently released book. 1. What was your biggest goal in writing Accidental Friends? When I retired, I…
NOVALIS BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ THIS SUMMER
As an editor, I read books for a living. Dream job! I love suggesting books to people, hoping that a new author or title will grab their attention and help them to see the world or their faith in a…
A HEALTHY SKEPTICISM IS GOOD
I teach environmental studies for a class of 500 students at University of Toronto (when I am not publishing books). I present students with the scary facts about climate change (I am afraid they are indeed scary). Part of our…
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CANADA!
The older we get, the faster that birthdays breeze by. When we were young, they proceeded at a stately pace. Now they’re just a blur. Canada is 152 years old this year. Only a heartbeat ago, we were celebrating our…
SINNERS AND SAINTS…AND BOLD PROCLAMATIONS
It seems that God couldn’t have chosen two people more different in background for his ministry than Simon (Peter), an uneducated fisherman, who led a fairly uneventful and quiet life, and Saul (Paul), who had the very best of education,…
SACRED HEART OF JESUS
When I was growing up, we often had Sunday dinner at my grandparents’ house. My grandmother was a wonderful cook, and we all looked forward to our visits there. There would be seven of us around the table, but someone…