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Showing posts from April, 2011

Canadian pro-life giant Fr. Ted Colleton dies | LifeSiteNews.com

Fr. Ted Colleton - tireless worker for the unborn R.I.P. Fr. Ted. THANK YOU for your peaceful and persistent work in favor of the weakest among us... our unborn children. Canadian pro-life giant Fr. Ted Colleton dies | LifeSiteNews.com

Did Canada's economy stall out in February?

Sure hope not! Times are here dire in Mattawa with a sharp decline in the local population because people are leaving town to find work. Long periods of separation with couples living in different regions of the country is hard to sustain in the long run and the stresses upon families lives is becoming all too clear. We need some enterprise to move into the town to offer at least a chance at long term employment for people living in the area to replace at least some of the jobs lost in the collapse of the forestry industry. That's not likely to happen if economic factors are pointing to another period of stagflation in our immediate and near term future. The folks of the Ottawa Valley are a resilient lot, but it's hard to defy the law of economics that states it takes a rising tide to lift all ships... even for the most tenacious and deeply rooted of people. CTV News | Did Canada's economy stall out in February?

A John Paul II Beatification Catechism - George Weigel - National Review Online

An answer from the man who knew Pope John Paul II better than just about anyone else... his biographer, George Weigel, to those who are condemning JPII's beatification. NOTE: A beatification is NOT a declaration of 'sainthood'. It is the first step in the process that can lead to that outcome. A John Paul II Beatification Catechism - George Weigel - National Review Online

Happy Easter to all who visit this page!

HAPPY EASTER! HE IS RISEN... HE IS RISEN INDEED!

A Holy Saturday meditation from ancient times. A great read for all believers!

The Lord's descent into hell   "W hat is happening? Today there is a great silence over the earth, a great silence, and stillness, a great silence because the King sleeps; the earth was in terror and was still, because God slept in the flesh and raised up those who were sleeping from the ages. God has died in the flesh, and the underworld has trembled. Truly he goes to seek out our first parent like a lost sheep; he wishes to visit those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death. He goes to free the prisoner Adam and his fellow-prisoner Eve from their pains, he who is God, and Adam's son. The Lord goes in to them holding his victorious weapon, his cross. When Adam, the first created man, sees him, he strikes his breast in terror and calls out to all: 'My Lord be with you all.' And Christ in reply says to Adam: ‘And with your spirit.’ And grasping his hand he raises him up, saying: ‘Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give you light.

14 Do s and Don ts for Blog Commenting | Blogs | NCRegister.com

Charles Lewis, religion editor of the Holy Post blog recently closed down the comment function of the blog because of a plethora of inappropriate comments. Perhaps he should post this article from the NC Register for all his readers and then pray that at least the majority of these rules might be respected. At the very least, this post is a reminder that just because people can post anonymous comments on line does not mean that they can violate the rules of civil discourse. Since I moderate comments on this blog, this is not too much of an issue. It permits me to keep 'trolls' off the blog... although they do try. (eh, Johnny?)  14 Do s and Don ts for Blog Commenting | Blogs | NCRegister.com

This side of Eden

The latest column from Fr. Raymond DeSouza, dealing with the fact that the advance poll for the Canadian election falls on Good Friday. This side of Eden

An Easter Question

Someone suggested I post the following question during these Holy Days of the Easter Triduum: Who wiped the face of Jesus on the way to Golgotha? Know the answer?

Dissenting priest goes to war against Archbishop Prendergast over D&P

Too bad the 'good Father' didn't remember his vow of obedience and RESPECT to the Bishops! It will be interesting to see if any consequences come to him for his outspokenness.  It seems that in Quebec it's OK to attack the Church from the left... just don't try doing it in the name of orthodoxy! Socon or Bust » Blog Archive » Dissenting priest goes to war against Archbishop Prendergast over D&P

Neutrons could test Newton's gravity and string theory

Lively District Secondary School Mr. Tom Corrigan was my Physics teacher in high school. He was one of a few teachers during that phase of my life who planted within me a life-long interest in a subject... a gift I will always be grateful to him for. Even though I didn't choose that discipline as a career (never good enough at the math) I'm always on the search for any articles from the field. Science texts also have always figured prominently among my reading materials throughout the years. As dedicated as I am to serve and worship the God who created all that exists, I've had a concomitant zeal for learning how creation works. Rather than serving to diminish my belief in a super-natural creator, I've found the laws and patterns that exist within creation a wondrous testimony to the exquisite beauty of his handiwork.  If you share this passion, here are a few other articles on this same subject from the past couple of years. Enjoy! http://news.bbc.co.uk/

A little levity for a Monday morning

Controversial proposal would diagnose grief a mental disorder

This is a ridiculous proposal. Grief is the emotional and psychological equivalent to the Measles. It makes you feel miserable, but it's rarely fatal. With the application of  support from family, friends (and if necessary from professionals) it can even become an experience that helps us to grow and mature both individually and as a society. Death is a universal human experience. Everyone who lives into adulthood will lose people close to them; family, friends, acquaintances. To recast the experience of grief as a mental illness will only serve to deepen our current societal difficulties in dealing with death. We live in a society that strives to deny this reality. We've created an entire industry to separate families from the intimate experience of waking and burying the dead. Where once family members died and were waked in their own home, we now have transferred these events into hospitals and funeral homes. We spend billions on an endless variety of cosmetics, medical

A beautiful way to lift your day!

Retired Covington psychiatrist pleads guilty to attempted possession of child pornography | Sylvia's Site

This psychiatrist was in the employ of SNAP, the survivors of sexual abuse at the hands of priests. As Sylvia say's on her site, wolves can be found anywhere these days. Retired Covington psychiatrist pleads guilty to attempted possession of child pornography | Sylvia's Site

Romney considers another run for U.S. presidency - The Globe and Mail

Gee... do you really think he'll run?? (sarcasm intended) Romney considers another run for U.S. presidency - The Globe and Mail

Je me souvien: Is English Canada destined to follow Quebec's decline?

Working as I do within the beauty of the Ottawa Valley, I see many cars pass by from “la belle province” emblazoned with the phrase “je me souviens” imprinted on each license plate. These words are a testament to the desire of this francophone people to always “remember” the struggles of “la révolution tranquille” (the Quiet Revolution) which transformed the Quebec society into a modern secular state. Under  vigorous new secular leadership, and faced with a wholesale ecclesiastical retreat from public affairs, the francophone population of the past 50 years, seemingly all at once, turned a deaf ear to the voice of the Quebec Church within their culture. They've chosen instead to consider only the siren cry of the  secularist project and modern consumerism. The church's counsel is no longer welcome in the public square. This sudden shift rendered the Catholic Church  both impotent and irrelevant in the minds of the overwhelming majority of the Quebec population. In just one gene

Kindling favour with an Internet gadget I actually like | Afterword | National Post

My Kindle is my favorite electronic toy. I use it everyday to read everything from the Bible and biographies to 'who done it?' to 'how does it work?' books of science, philosophy and theology. Not only are ebooks more convenient to purchase, but they have the added benefit of being much cheaper than their print editions. Given the substantial economies of savings with the elimination of the production costs associated with having to publish on paper, shipping and handling costs, (not to mention the fact that bookstores will become superfluous if ebooks become the norm) it is understandable that cost savings would be expected by the consumer. I've taken it everywhere: on fishing trips into the bush or 8 - 10 days (without exhausting a fully charged battery even though I read 8-12 hrs a day) and visits to the doctors office (great way to kill time waiting). Unlike ipads and smart phones, it is not 'backlit' and is no harder on the eyes than a paper edition

Life and liturgies in north west Quebec!

Fr. Michael Smith, a brother priest of the Diocese of Pembroke and my 'next door neighbor', even though he is an hours drive away on the other side of the Ottawa River. He posted this morning that there was a commotion during one of his masses. When the mass came to an end and he inquired about the source of agitation, he was told that a groundhog had wondered in the door and decided to partake in the liturgy, much to the consternation of the denizen's of those precious pews closest to the exit. He mused that there was probably a joke in there someplace and someone on Facebook gave it a shot. A groundhog walks into a church on Ash Wednesday. " How long until Easter, Father ?" he asks the Priest. " After six weeks of Lent ," says the Priest. " And if you had seen your shadow ?" asks the groundhog. It reminded me of the last mass I celebrated as the assistant at our Diocesan cathedral. A bat had awoken in the dead of winter and made his w

The Lessons of human suffering

Viktor Frankl, M.D. Ph.D, in his seminal work, 'Man's Search for Meaning' shines a light onto the role of human suffering as a path to discover the meaning of anyone's life. He was certainly  qualified to write on the field as he wrote the book soon after being liberated from a WWII German concentration camp. As well as being a Holocaust survivor, he was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of Existential Analysis, the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy". His best-selling book, chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most sordid ones, and thus a reason to continue living. Frankl was one of the key figures in existential therapy and a prominent source of inspiration for humanistic psychologists. He wrote: “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even

On the Dignity of Dogs and Glory of God | Archdiocese of Washington

My canine companion - Mateo On the Dignity of Dogs and Glory of God | Archdiocese of Washington

Greatest commercial ever! (H/T New Advent RRS feed)

Go For Launch! Space Shuttle The Time-Lapse Movie

Awesome time lapse movie of the shuttle being readied for launch YouTube - Go For Launch! Space Shuttle The Time-Lapse Movie

Canadian Paediatric approves the dehydration of infants who may not be otherwise dying | LifeSiteNews.com

Gee... at least the Spartans were charitable enough to kill defective infants quickly. Somehow killing kids by starving them of food and water is supposed to be an advancement in our 'civilization'? VERY, VERY, SAD comment on our society today. Kill them in the womb... starve them after birth. It seems that the challenges facing the most innocent among us are more dangerous than for the men and women who take up arms in our defense. This is not progress. We are regressing back to some of our more base activities from millennial ages past. Canadian Paediatric approves the dehydration of infants who may not be otherwise dying | LifeSiteNews.com

Hate-filled pastor should be shunned by the world | Holy Post | National Post

There's a neat email that made the rounds in recent years. I suspect it springs from the pool of urban legends that besot the virtual world, but it carries an appropriate message for idiots like Terry Jones. (I won't dignify him by calling him a 'Pastor'.) He recently burned a Koran in a public event covered by the media in Florida. From there the news spread  across the globe faster, than a rumor of some misdeed by a neighbor fires across a village's old time 'social network' system. It's set in a university lecture hall and involves a challenge that an atheist professor puts to God to 'knock him off his feet' if he actually exists. He then gives the Almighty 15 minutes to effect his punishment. As the clock ticks by & the lecture continues, he glances at his watch and reminds God that his time is running out to prove that he exists. As the final few moments approach, and the professor prepares to launch into his usual boastful g

Experts ponder 'playing God' to tweak climate - CTV News

Nature always 'bats last' in creation. Something to remember! Experts ponder 'playing God' to tweak climate - CTV News

The Truth about the Spanish Inquisition | Feature | Articles

Monty Python spoofs the Spanish Inquisition WOW ! Trying to put a positive 'spin' on the Spanish Inquisition! This author (Thomas F. Madden) has taken on quite a task. How do you think he did? InsideCatholic.com | The Truth about the Spanish Inquisition | Feature | Articles

Canada's demographic time bomb

Canada's demographic time bomb

Here's a quote from John Allen Jr. on why Baseball is to sports what Catholicism is to Religion. A cute read for any baseball fan!

Yesterday marked the opening of the 2011 campaign, so in honor of the occasion, I’ll roll out my personal list of the “Top Nine Reasons why Baseball is to Sports what Catholicism is to Religion.” Why nine? It’s a key number in both traditions -- nine players on a diamond, nine innings in a game, and nine days to a novena. The following are nine reasons why Catholicism and baseball are, quite literally, a match made in Heaven: Both baseball and Catholicism venerate the past. Both have a Communion of Saints, all the way down to popular shrines and holy cards. Both feature obscure rules that make sense only to initiates. (Think the Infield Fly rule for baseball fans and the Pauline privilege for Catholics.) Both have a keen sense of ritual, in which pace is critically important. (As a footnote, that’s why basketball is more akin to Pentecostalism; both are breathless affairs premised largely on ecstatic experience.) Both generate oceans of statistics, arcana, and lore. For

In Paris the Dispute Was about God, But about Man First

As I've been saying here since I began this blog, the Church needs to learn and apply the lessons of a modern communications strategy. We have an excellent message to promote. Yet the Church continues to struggle to bring its instruments of communication into the 21st century. Sandro Magister, one of the most important commentators on all things Catholic who writes from Rome takes up this very point in this recent column. In Paris the Dispute Was about God, But about Man First

Knights of Columbus - Catechism

Want to find a reference in the Catholic Church Catechism? Here's the link for you! It is hosted by the Knights of Columbus. Knights of Columbus - Catechism