Friends: We all have them and we all want them. We love them; we want to kill them. I’ve heard that friends are good for us: they make us healthier and they even make us more attractive! Can friends point us to God? Of course, right? But is that what you look for in a ...read more

A month ago, at age 82, my mother died. As much as I know that my mom was a woman of deep faith and belief in Eternal Life, I’m finding it hard. I’m usually OK, until someone asks me how I am. My mom was also a public figure. She was a ballet dancer and ...read more

Join us in prayer for the intentions entrusted to us by Pope Francis. For August 2017, we join the Holy Father in praying for: Artists – That artists of our time, through their ingenuity, may help everyone discover the beauty of creation. Daily Offering Prayer God, our Father, I offer You my day. I offer ...read more

There aren’t a lot of things that bring Canada together; that make us feel like we are all part of this great country. I mean, do people in Vancouver feel like they are one and the same as people in Charlottetown or St. John’s? Do people in Whitehorse feel a kinship with the people of ...read more

In case you’ve just stumbled upon this article because you’re curious about the female diaconate, you may want to backup and start where we started a couple of weeks ago: We began first by addressing the event that brought about this whole conversation and then in two parts (part 1 and part 2), briefly, the meaning of the Sacrament of Holy ...read more

Last time we looked at a little bit of the tradition of deacons in the Catholic Church. Deacons go way back and there is a consistent presence of deacons and the diaconate in many Church documents and writings up until the 3rd century. We also saw that the diaconate as a permanent order was brought back ...read more

Last time we saw how far back the diaconate goes in our Catholic tradition. Deacons are there from the time of the Apostles and all throughout the early Church. We saw a lot of proof. At the expense of making this an exhausting (not just exhaustive) exercise, let me lead you to Council documents: Council ...read more

In the last couple of weeks we’ve been looking at the diaconate, first by addressing the event that brought about this whole conversation and then in two parts (part 1 and part 2), briefly, the meaning of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, for I don’t think you can separate the conversation about Church hierarchy outside ...read more

Join us in prayer for the intentions entrusted to us by Pope Francis. For July 2017, we join the Holy Father in praying for: Lapsed Christians – That our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty ...read more

Interested in Women Deacons? Read what Sebastian Gomes recently wrote on this topic. And the two interviews with Phyllis Zagano: Subject Matters and Witness with Fr. Rosica Either the Church ordains women to everything, or we don’t ordain deacons. There are two questions we have to answer: ‘What is Ordination?’ And ‘What is the Diaconate?’ ...read more