Meditation awakens the heart to the spirit who dwells within every person. Each of us is called to continually renew that spirit as we follow our life’s path. We might express this in another way by saying that we are each called to give birth to Christ in our hearts just as Mary did in…
The first half of Advent sees us praying, watching and waiting for the coming of Christ at the end of time. The second half of Advent, though, focuses on the coming of the Messiah at Christmas – in the form of a new born baby; innocent, defenceless and totally dependent. Right at the beginning of…
In her book, Kitchen Table Wisdom, Stories That Heal, medical doctor and writer, Rachel Naomi Remen shares this story. When she was 14 years old, she took a summer job working as a volunteer in a nursing home for the aged. This wasn’t easy for her. She was young, shy, and mostly afraid of elderly…
The Sunday Gospel Children are counting down the days. Only 10 more days till Christmas. I am really taken by the television commercial where the little boy keeps asking “Will he really come?” Of course, we think that it refers to Santa Claus. But no, it is Grandad. “I knew you would come.” It’s a story of expectation and joy,…
Godly Play seeks to help children explore their innate spirituality in a Scripture-centric way, writes Jason Osborne How many Catholic parents over the years have longed to see their children engage with the Faith with the same degree of enthusiasm as they engage with their play? While I don’t have the answer to that, it’s…
Faith in Film Reese Witherspoon and Mark Ruffalo star in the subtle rom-com Just Like Heaven. Last week, I wrote about how great art can turn our eyes to God to appreciate his beauty. But not everything has to be deep and serious to warrant our attention. Light, sincere films can be just as effective,…
Saint of the Week It wouldn’t have been proper to focus on anyone else this week other than Mary, the Mother of God. The Church celebrates on December 8 the Solemnity of her Immaculate Conception, which is such a momentous occasion that it’s a holy day of obligation – meaning that Catholics must attend Mass…
by Lindsey Weishar I love the hymns that accompany us through the Advent season. A term I sometimes hear used for them is ‘haunting.’ Some are played in minor keys, which fills them with a special mystery, a particular kind of longing. I think haunting is such an appropriate word as the earliest usage of the word haunt…
Questions of Faith Faith in the power of prayer has been shaken in recent years. Unanswered prayers have left many wondering if there’s anyone listening to them at all, and if not, what’s the point in maintaining the practice? If we ask for things – good things – and God doesn’t grant them, what does…
The full story of how Jesus Christ came to be born includes elements that we do not easily imagine when we sing our Christmas hymns. Jesus’ family tree and bloodline were far from perfect and this, according to the renowned biblical scholar, Raymond Brown, needs to be kept in mind whenever we are tempted to…
Fr Ronald Rolheiser
Ruadhán Jones