BLOG: Deacon-structing,Faith Education,Family LIfe,
To my Venerable Brothers Cardinal Peter Kodwo Appiah Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace Cardinal Kurt Koch,  President of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of Christian Unity Sharing the concern of my beloved brother, Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew, for the future of creation (cf. Laudato Si’, 7-9), and at the suggestion ...read more
Last week’s Gospel was from John 6:63-68 (the end of the Bread of Life Discourse, which is why we looked at what marriage has to do with the Eucharist) and the second reading was from Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians. This passage from Ephesians 5:22-32 is always a cause for discontent. That is because no one ...read more
Rosemary Azu is hard to miss in a crowd. She has a natural presence that draws people to her. The fact that she is usually dressed in brightly coloured traditional Nigerian dresses also makes her stand out. That natural confidence in her own identity has helped her build her own successful mortgage and real estate ...read more
Last weekend, our Salt and Light team had the honour of being on hand for the sixth annual One Rock Youth Festival just outside of Calgary, Alberta. The Tsuu T’ina Rodeo Grounds provided a cozy home for the event, attended not just by young people, but young families and those of all ages from across ...read more
I recently heard a radio program where they were exploring the idea that the Summer of 2015 was the Summer that love died. They argued this because of the number of celebrity break-ups: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Garner; Britney Spears and Charlie Ebersol; Melanie Griffith and Antonio Banderas and Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale. Not ...read more
When one thinks of Prince Edward Island one tends to think of glowing sunsets over green fields, farms where animals roam free, small towns where everyone knows everyone else, and quaint green-gabled homes. One would not immediately think of the province as a place where 37 percent of people use the services of food banks ...read more
In Abu Dabi in 1993, there was one Catholic Church. The work week in the Arab Emirate was Sunday to Thursday. For Jacqueline Nogier and her husband – both Catholic teachers who were working in Abu Dabi- that meant going to church after work on Sundays. This was Nogier’s life for two years. It taught ...read more
What happens when you gather together some of the most committed, passionate, dedicated Catholic women from across the country in one church? Vancouver’s St. Francis Xavier church in Vancouver learned the answer: the congregation outsings the choir and the decibel level threatens to take the roof off the building. The Catholic Women’s League opened their ...read more
Husbands and wives are called to love each other as God loves us. Last week I asked if this is even possible. We spoke about the story of the Wedding at Cana (John 2:1-12) and the story of Tobias and Sarah from the Book of Tobit, both popular Wedding readings. Both these stories teach us a ...read more
For decades, the Franciscan University of Steubenville has been offering their famous teen conferences to groups around North America. This past weekend Toronto hosted its second Steubenville Conference. The team included Chris Stefanick, Matt Fradd, Cooper Ray, Sr. Miriam Heidland and Fr. Chris Martin. If you missed the broadcasts of their keynote talks on our ...read more