Deacon Pedro is ordained by Bishop Vincent Nguyen on May 26, 2012. Last week we looked, very briefly, at the basics of the Sacrament of Ordination. One of the common challenges to the idea of Sacraments as “a visible sign of an invisible Grace, instituted by Christ” is the “instituted by Christ” part. With Ordination, ...read more

In light of the fact that last week everyone became aware that the early Church had women in the role of deacons or deaconesses (or both, we’re not sure what exactly these roles were), I have begun to deaconstructing the diaconate. But before, let’s take a little detour and look at Ordination. It seems appropriate that as ...read more

A couple of months before arriving in Jerusalem, I was driving my six-year-old daughter to school and she asked me about Jesus’ footprints. Not the real one located inside the Chapel of the Ascension, rather, she wanted to talk about the ones from famous poem called Footprints. She had seen the poster of it hung ...read more

As clearly stated in its previous statements on this issue, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops absolutely and categorically disagrees with any attempt at justifying or supporting a “right” to assisted suicide or euthanasia. This is based on the unchanging teaching of our Church, derived from the teaching of Christ himself, that these practices are ...read more

A reflection for the 6th Sunday in Easter, Year C. The readings are Acts 15:1-2, 22-29; Revelation 21:10-14; 22-23 and John 14:23-29. Whoever loves me will keep my word and my Father will love them and we will come to them and make our home with them… (Jn 14:23) Let’s get this straight: If you ...read more

A timeless memorial to the millions… During our Pilgrimage to the Holy Lands, we made a visit to a place the name of which I never knew, but which now I will never forget. It was a place of silence, a time to listen to the silenced, to the echoing cries of suffering, and to ...read more

We know very little about the woman who is described as the apostle of the apostles, so this village helps fill in some background. ...read more

On Sunday, April 24, 2016, Pope Francis celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Young People. Read below for the full text of his Homily: St. Peter’s Square – Sunday April 24, 2016 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another”  Dear young friends, what an enormous ...read more

Canada is facing the legalization of assisted suicide and euthanasia and for many people, Catholics especially, this raises very serious concerns: About our respect for the principle of the sanctity of human life; what will this mean for the protection of our vulnerable people? How will this affect our healthcare professionals who may be forced to participate in these practices against ...read more

Referring to the night of the Easter Vigil, in the Easter Proclamation (the Exsutet) we pray that “This is the night, when once you led our forebears, Israel’s children, from slavery in Egypt.” The Easter Proclamation also says that “This is the night, when Christ broke the prison-bars of death and rose victorious from the ...read more