Do your friends think? Last time we began looking at some qualities that should be part of a friendship: trust, honesty, fun and time. We also saw that in the Gospel of Matthew (5:22), Jesus speaks about forgiveness as a good quality in friendship. Today we’re going to see how friends think. But first, here’s ...read more

(CNS Photo: A Haitian refugee sticks his head out from a tent set up by the Canadian Armed Forces near Lacolle, Quebec, Aug. 10.) Some 6,000 people, mostly Haitian nationals, have crossed illegally into Quebec from the United States since July. This is the second major upswing in the number of asylum-seekers to Canada this ...read more

Most of the time, as kids, we don’t have much choice in our friends. But if we did, what would you look for? What friend qualities would you look for? Last week I called friendship a sacramental, because, like all sacramentals (like a Rosary, prayer card of holy medal), it is something that points us ...read more

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

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