Dear friends, As we approach Christmas, I am usually invited to a variety of special events. Andrew Miller's Christmas Cantata, The Birth of Christ, sponsored by Salt & Light Media Foundation, was held at the Cathedral Basilica of Christ the King. It was an absorbing evening of music and song. View PDF
In the past months, there has been much attention on the federal government's refusal to provide summer jobs funding to organizations who will not attest to their support for, among other things, the right to abortion. Much has been said already of the many ways this policy is wrong and dangerous... View PDF
We settle in for another Christmas season. Christmas is always a blessing, a time for giving thanks – especially for the Father’s gift to us: Jesus, Emmanuel, God-with-us – even though many struggle at this time of year. A good friend, a brother Priest, and a member of the Religious community to which I belong, Father Chris Rushton, is being cared for at Emmanuel Hospice in Hamilton, one of the many Good Shepherd ministries. It means, simply, that he is in the process of dying. (I am glad that “The Good Shepherd” is caring for him!) View PDF
At the Easter Vigil, we celebrate the light of Christ which we carry, filled with hope, into a world of darkness and uncertainty. In the shadow of the Sainte-Foy massacre this past February, with tensions escalating between nuclear powers and refugees on the move, the invocation of hope seems premature to some and dangerously naïve to others. View PDF
The season of Lent is now upon us. It is an opportunity to renew and deepen our relationship with Jesus, and to renew the choices we make, so that we might live as he taught. In fact, if we take seriously the Lenten program, it offers us the opportunity to renew our whole life! View PDF
Dear friends in Christ, Christmas has come. For believers, the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem represents the victory of light over darkness, joy over sadness, hope over despair, love over hatred, peace over conflict, gratitude over misery, obedience over disobedience, and order over chaos read more
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, As the Jubilee Year of Mercy draws to a close, I am struck by what a gift it was to have experienced this period of special reflection on the inexhaustible mercy of God. In calling the Church into this Year of Mercy, Pope Francis has shown himself to be greatly attuned to a profound need of the Church and the world. How deeply the People of God long to encounter God’s mercy anew! View PDF
As Syrian refugees begin to settle into their new reality of life in Canada, stories of their journeys to this new land all have similar themes. Feeling under siege and faced with an uncertain future in the midst of war, many people were compelled to flee their land, their homes, their work, their education and all that seemed familiar in order to find new life. View PDF
Dear friends, Goodness abounds! This Christmas, as a counterpoint to the destructive forces of misery and terror that we have witnessed these past months, we must not forget that goodness abounds! More than not forgetting, let us be ready to point it out when we see it read more
We will soon cross the threshold of the Jubilee Year of Mercy, proclaimed by Pope Francis and set to begin on December 8th, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. Throughout this Jubilee Year, we are called to contemplate divine mercy so that we may become “merciful like the Father.” View PDF