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The
first reading came from a book within the Bible called the Acts of the Apostles
and written by the same author who wrote one of the four gospels, the Gospel of
Luke. The opening line in Acts, Luke writes, “In my first book,
Theophilus.” The first book refers to the Gospel of Luke. Acts of the
Apostles his second book. So, think of the Bible not as a book but as a
collection of books or a mini …

If you are
keeping track, you know that we have not gathered for Sunday Eucharist since
March 15th, the third Sunday of Lent. I half-jokingly suggested we
were celebrating our “Last Supper” not realizing then that my words would
become a self-fulfilling prophecy. We are all waiting, including Bishop
Vienneau, for the health authorities to open churches for limited gatherings
like we see in some sectors of society. Throwing the doors of the church wide
open, though, will probably …

Elie
Wiesel (1928-2016) authored 57 books during his lifetime, but perhaps his most
notable work was his book entitled Night. Read it if you have not already.
Wiesel was born in Transylvania which was annexed by Hungary in 1940 and
subsequently invaded by the Nazis in 1944. Although only about 100 pages long,
Night is a powerful telling of the horrors that he and his family went through
in the Nazi-run concentration camps. Elie’s mother and sister were murdered …

Back in the summer of
2001, five years after I had moved away from the Ottawa Valley, the City of
Ottawa hosted the Francophone Games. Immediately after the Games closed over
100 participants, from abroad, decided they were not going back home to their
country but instead were seeking refugee status in Canada. The next day, a
popular radio talk show host (akin to Rush Limbaugh) began his show with a
roar. He came out with guns firing. Calls …

I am not sure if this story is in any of Fr. Richard Rohr’s numerous books or not, but he does tell it on a C.D. retreat talk entitled “Fire from Heaven.” It goes like this.

“There is a
story that an artesian well had sprung up in the middle of the desert, and it
was a marvelous well with clear, nourishing, and copious water. People began to
come and to drink and to celebrate their …

We continue
the journey of living our faith amidst a pandemic. Provincial health officials
are loosening, ever so slowly, some of the restrictions we have all been living
under. Premier Higgs even suggested church services can resume outdoors albeit
with cars spaced a safe distance apart. Bishop Vienneau is not moving in that
direction, as we would still not be able to share in Communion and having a
“drive-thru” Mass would trivialize the sacrament.  I agree.

Our
faith, based on the gospel reading for this Sunday, tells us that God does not
love the world in some big, bland, generic way. God’s love is particular and
concrete. Love that is not concrete is not love at all. Love is about this
particular young man (not all men) whose addiction is costing our family
dearly. Love considers this particular woman (not all women) who just became a
widow. Love takes into account this particular guy, (not …

Of the four gospel writers, Luke is by far the best
storyteller. And today, we have Luke’s best story. By the way, scholars and
archeologists to this day, cannot find, in the Holy Land, this place called
Emmaus. They keep unearthing dig after dig, each, as the story tells us, 11 km
from Jerusalem, but they still cannot find it. From a storyteller’s point of
view, what is important is that these two disciples are going away
from Jerusalem. …

Just
when I thought things could not get worse, with all the suffering COVID-19 has
brought the world, things actually did get worse with the mass shooting in Nova
Scotia this week. With 23 known dead, what great pain there must be within
those families, including the family of the shooter.

When I try to
ponder something that is either too good or too bad, my mind boggles, and I
lose words.  Even wordsmiths—writers,
poets, and …

The Resurrected Lord told his disciples to remain
in Jerusalem and to wait for his spirit to come to them, a spirit
he promised them at the Last Supper, a spirit that would clothe them with power
from on high (see Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4). Waiting is easier said than done.
Waiting implies we remain in the same spot, even, and especially, when we would
rather be elsewhere.

With the coronavirus severely curbing what we …