No community should botch its deaths. Mircea Eliade said that. What underlies his wisdom here is the truth that what we cease to celebrate we will soon cease to cherish. With that in mind, I would like to highlight what we, both the religious and secular community, need to celebrate and cherish as we mourn…
Jem Sullivan Is 63:16b-17, 19b; 64:2-7 Ps 80:2-3, 15-16, 18-19 1 Cor 1:3-9 Mk 13:33-37 Advent offers us a graced time to recognise that the deepest longings of our heart are for God. The prophet Isaiah shines a bright light on this indwelling desire, etched by God into each human heart. For this reason, Isaiah…
I live on both sides of a border. Not a geographical one, but one that separates the church pew from the academic halls of theology. I was raised a conservative Catholic. Although my dad worked politically for the Liberal party, most everything within my upbringing was conservative, particularly as this pertains to religion. I was…
Deacon Greg Kandra Ez 43:11-12, 15-17 Ps 23:1-2, 2-3, 5-6 1 Cor 15:20-26, 28 Mt 25:31-46 Are we here already? Suddenly, we find ourselves at the end of the liturgical year, gazing down the road toward Advent and Christmas, and facing one of the biggest feasts on the Church calendar, with one of the longest…
Sometimes we are the most helpful and life-giving at the very times when we are most helpless. We’ve all been there. We’re at a funeral and there’s nothing to say that will ease the heartache of someone who has lost a loved one. We feel awkward and helpless. We’d like to say or do something,…
Jem Sullivan Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31 Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5 1 Thes 5:1-6 Mt 25:14-30 Mt 25:14-15, 19-21 (alternative) As we gather around the Thanksgiving table with family and friends, hearts and minds fill with gratitude to God and our loved ones. We may not realise it but in giving thanks to God…
Gilbert K. Chesterton once stated that Christianity is the only democracy where even the dead get to vote. In light of that, I share two stories. A psychologist at a conference I once attended shared this story. A woman came to see him in considerable distress. Her disquiet had to do with her last conversation…
Deacon Greg Kandra Wis 6:12-16 Ps 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8 1 Thes 4:13-18 1 Thes 4:13-14 (alternate) Mt 25:1-13 It’s that time of year again. In much of the country, the leaves are falling, nights are lengthening, frost is appearing on the ground — and the readings at Sunday Mass are turning once more to talk of…
Words give us meaning. We can’t make or remake reality, but the words we choose to name our reality can lift us out of the humdrum of everyday experience.
A good teacher can influence a student in profound ways. Think back to a teacher who may have shaped or transformed the direction of your life.
Fr Ronald Rolheiser