Perceptions of 2020 If we step back and take a look at 2020, there were many blessings for all of us. Yes, there were challenging times, and devastation for so many and our prayers go out to all, but the closeness we have gained in family-time is amazing to ponder. Of course, there have been […]
Saint Anthony of Padua said: “Among all things that are lovable, there is one that is more lovable than the rest, and that most lovable thing is life.” Amen. It is in life that love and joy are possible, not death. The Apostle John tells us that Christ is source of life.[1] Christ came that […]
Ephemeral Hope I possess an intellectual spirituality that makes me shy away from an outward display of faith-filled emotions. I prefer internal intensity. I also fear how such emotions are temporary. Ephemeral feelings should not be the foundation of the spiritual life. Although, we certainly benefit from the good times, those windswept moments of conversion […]
My five year old daughter told me: “Dad, I know what you call stars that draw a picture: consternations.” I chuckled, but thought: No dear, a consternation is when you refuse to eat your dinner for no good reason. I also overheard her explaining to her four year old sister: “The word asteroid has two […]
Life is more about getting up than it is about not falling. So my father commented once, long ago, when (of all things) we were watching figure skating. It wasn’t just any figure skating, though, it was the return of Scott Hamilton after his battle with cancer. For those too young to remember, Scott Hamilton […]
Pope Francis’ General audience this past Wednesday was about hope. Like many other virtues, hope can be twisted into many different definitions. Pope Francis clarified, “Christian hope is not simply a desire a wish: for a Christian, hope is expectation, fervent, passionate expectation for the final definitive fulfillment of a mystery, the mystery of God’s […]
In the great treasury of music, I keep finding myself coming back again and again to Beethoven. You may think it’s because he was one of the greatest composers who ever lived despite his deafness. That is true, everybody loves great music and everybody loves an over-comer. But there’s something more that keeps drawing me […]
A number of months ago I accepted a request to speak at a Baptist church about an hour and a half drive from where I live. They asked me to speak about the rising acceptance of euthanasia and assisted suicide in Canada, and my Christian perspective about suffering. Unfortunately as the date drew nearer, this […]
An urgent appeal for prayer has come from one of Ukraine’s most senior Catholic bishops as momentous political change sweeps the country. Archbishop Mieczys?aw Mokrzycki, President of Ukraine’s Latin-rite Catholic Bishops’ Conference, highlighted the “great solidarity” of people worldwide, shown in prayer and practical aid. The archbishop’s comments, given in an interview with Catholic charity […]
This is a story about defeating autism, the practical attainment of hope for devastated parents, and a whole new way of approaching a scourge upon our beloved children. Our son, Joseph, happens to be its protagonist; but the joyful hope in this story resides in the certainty that it is a template into which parents […]
When it comes to the current peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians the Jerusalem Auxiliary Bishop William Shomali feels torn between hope and skepticism. Talking to the international Catholic pastoral charity, Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Bishop Shomali, who is responsible in the Latin Patriarchate for the Palestinian areas, said (last Friday): “My […]
If you are in crisis, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255). They also have a “Click to Chat” option on the website. For anyone who has struggled with depression, it’s likely they’ve been told to “Suck it up and move on,” or “Get over it,” or “Don’t be so gloomy.” Easier […]
Scanning the various media outlets, it seems as though the bad news outnumbers the good! So, I decided that we all could use a proverbial shot in the arm to lift our spirits and get us thinking, feeling, and acting positively again. I’ve chosen ten quotes about hope (real, Christian hope, not political jargon hope) […]
Charles de Foucauld was a dandy, a fop, or perhaps an epicure. Having lost his faith as a young teen, he learned to enjoy the good things in life and did all he could to continue to enjoy them. Even amidst a military career, in which he performed quite daring exploits, he still loved to […]
The Bard of the Yukon, Robert Service, penned the immortal lines: There are strange things done in the midnight sun, by the men who moil for gold; The Arctic trails have their secret tails, that would make your blood run cold; So began The Cremation of Sam McGee, the poem that would make […]
