In her book of essays, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, author and poet Maya Angelou wrote, “I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‘I’m a Christian.’ I think, ‘Already? You already got it?’ I’m working at it…”
Possibly the most important conversion experience I have encountered personally involved coming to the realization that becoming Christian is a life-long process and while I may experience times of growth, I will never …
There is a poster on the wall in my office that has followed me from place to place for several years. Through graphics, it shows how the sacred texts of 13 faiths from around the world each contain “The Golden Rule.” From Islam and Christianity to Traditional Native Spirituality and Confucianism, we all hold sacred some version of “Do unto others what you would have them do unto you,” which was the version I learned as a child. The …
For the past three years, I have experienced the Advent season differently because of a reflection from Sr. Ilia Delio, a Franciscan Religious with doctoral degrees in both theology and science, who suggested that during these four weeks leading up to Christmas, we as Christians are not passively waiting for what is not there, but we are preparing room in our hearts for a Jesus who has already come and part of our task is to illuminate his presence …
Interesting bit of trivia…did you know the feast of Thanksgiving has been officially observed as an annual holiday in Canada since November 6th, 1879?!? Some years later, on January 31st, 1957, the Governor General of Canada at the time (Vincent Massey) issued a proclamation stating, “A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed – to be observed on the second Monday in October.” I understand that many in 2021 observe Thanksgiving as a …
In the Pentecost narrative, we hear of Jesus’ post-resurrection visit to his 12 BFFs, how they were infused with the Holy Spirit, and the instructions Jesus left them (and us) for sharing the Good News with the world. Jesus would have known his Apostles well enough to gauge their strengths and weaknesses and he would have understood how differently each of them would confront the task set out before them. I suspect the same was true then as now: …
In her book of essays, Wouldn’t Take Nothing for My Journey Now, author and poet Maya Angelou wrote, “I’m always amazed when people walk up to me and say, ‘I’m a Christian.’ I think, ‘Already? You already got it?’ I’m working at it…”
Possibly the most important conversion experience I have encountered personally involved coming to the realization that becoming Christian is a life-long process and while I may experience times of growth, I will never …
In Christus vivit, Pope Francis’ response to the 2018 Youth Synod, he writes “All the faithful, whatever their condition or state, are called by the Lord, each in his or her own way, to that perfect holiness by which God is perfect.”
There have been times when I have willfully ignored the place to where I was called because it seemed too far out of sync with what I wanted or where I was situated at …
When preparing young people to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation we often speak to them of gifts. We speak of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit (wisdom, understanding, counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety, and wonder & awe) as well as the Fruit of the Holy Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.) The idea being that when we graciously receive the fits God bestows upon each of us and work at strengthening them, we are rewarded …
Have you
held a grudge against another person, place or thing, whether that grudge be
grounded in truth or grounded in gossip? Perhaps you are harbouring a grudge
right now. Are you someone who likes to grumble over, find fault with or show
dissatisfaction with? If you are, then
you may be a grudge-holder.
My father’s mother died
in 2017 at the age of 94, and her mother died at the age of 90 in …
Do you have a favourite book you read on a regular or semi-regular basis? I do this with Angela’s Ashes, by Frank McCourt. I will not tell you how many times I have read it, but it is many, and I have learned that with each reading, different aspects of the book stand out for me depending on what is occurring in my own little world. “How could I not have noticed that before, it’s right there!?”