Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from November, 2013

NCRegister | Thanksgiving for the Catholic Faith: A little something in honour of American Thanksgiving. Happy Turkey Day to the American friends of this blog!!

Happy Turkey Day to all my American friends NCRegister | Thanksgiving for the Catholic Faith

Best coin ever spent - A gift after a busy weekend

Musical Flash Mobs produce some amazing videos. Here's one to lift your spirits. It sure lifted mine!  In my youth I played in such a symphony orchestra in Sudbury, Ontario as well as in a few concert & blues bands (some of the BEST moments of my life!!) and this is the closest experience I think anyone who hasn't shared such a joy of playing as part of a large musical group could hope to have which replicates the wonderful experience of being 'among the notes' as it were. Thanks to Fr. Mitch Beachy up there in my old stompin' ground of Mattawa for pointing me in the right direction to find this gem. I hope you'll like it too. Best coin ever spent.

The Christian Intellectual | First Things

The cultural climate today isn’t very congenial for men and women of faith. Graduate students tell me they need to be very careful. There are religious colleges and universities, to be sure, but for the most part institutions of higher education are dominated by an aggressively secular culture hostile to faith. These days the love of God often seems to be the one love that cannot speak its name. How, then, should the Christian intellectual proceed? What should be our approach to higher education and academic work? More broadly, how should we view our distinctive vocation as intellectuals? Clink on link below to read entire article: The Christian Intellectual | First Things

We are in the greatest tribulation-time in Christian history by Dr. Eowyn

The Catholic concept of the "Church Suffering" refers to Christians being martyred for their faith. George Weigel writes for First Things, Oct. 30, 2013, that alas, few Christians in the West seem aware of the Suffering Church, much less have it weigh on their Christian conscience. Christians today live in the greatest tribulation-time in Christian history. More Christians were killed for fidelity to Christ in the 20th century than in the previous nineteen centuries of Christian history combined. Wiegel cites the following examples of persecution from a recent issue ofTouchstone: Some 1,200 Protestants are being imprisoned in shipping containers in Eritrean desert camps where "torture is routine". Mostafa Bordbar, a 27-year-old Christian convert, was arrested and charged with "illegal gathering and participating in a house church" in Iran. Kazakh Christians, many of them converts from Islam, are "encouraged," by the arrest and impriso

Let’s talk about life

Canadians can’t stop talking about the appropriateness of allowing the weakest and sickest members of society to be killed. In Quebec, legislation has been tabled to legalize medical euthanasia. Last month in Ontario, after a popular doctor died from a brain tumour his family released an emotional video promoting assisted suicide for the terminally ill. And most recently in British Columbia, an appeals court reversed a lower court decision and ruled that assisted suicide is still illegal in Canada. The confluence of these events has intensified calls for a national debate on end-of-life issues. The way things are heading, it seems inevitable that euthanasia and assisted suicide will once again be argued in the Supreme Court of Canada. Before that, however, Canadians would be better served if the matter of life and death came to Parliament for a full and public airing. Click on link below to read rest of the article: Let’s talk about life

Atheist ‘mega-churches’ are now a thing in the U.S as popularity spreads from U.K. | National Post

Congregational worship for atheists? Really?  Kind of reminds me of that old 'ecumenical' joke. 'Q) What do you get if you cross a Jehovah's Witness with a Unitarian? A) Someone who knocks on your door for no apparent reason.' It just doesn't seem to make sense on the face of it. After all, isn't one of the big benefits of tossing aside a traditional faith practice that you get to do what you want on Sunday mornings? Wouldn't coming together as a congregation when Christians gather in churches kind of take all the fun out of being able to stay in bed and read the Sunday papers with a hot mug of coffee on the bedside table and a comfortable duvet to snuggle in? I'm just sayin'... Atheist ‘mega-churches’ are now a thing in the U.S as popularity spreads from U.K. | National Post

Remembrance Day ceremonies to include Afghanistan veterans - Canada - CBC News

Thank you to all who step forward to serve in the defence of our country. May those who lost their life to protect our freedoms be granted a merciful judgment and a place among the saints in heaven. Remembrance Day ceremonies to include Afghanistan veterans - Canada - CBC News

Drinking Beer With Jesus: Finding Jesus in the most unexpected places

Pope Francis has earned a great deal of acclaim and praise since his election as Pope thanks to his emphasis on the mercy of God instead of a strict adherence to God's law. I believe this emphasis is rooted in a piece of wisdom that was shared with me by a priest at the time of my ordination.  He stated that every priest (like every other person) will fail to perfectly live the Christian life as taught to us by Jesus. That despite our best efforts, we will at times fail resulting in us falling into a state of sin. Therefore, he said I should decide then at the start of my priestly ministry whether I think it best to be too generous with God's mercy or too strict with God's law. To help me make such an important decision he told me to read the Bible accounts of how Christ dealt with those guilty of violating the commandments and model myself after his example. Hopefully I've been more or less successful in doing so. But it was during that exercise that I began to ref

Catholicism and Free Thought: latest column from Fr. Dwight Longnecker

Many people believe that Catholicism, because it is a dogmatic religion, stifles free thought and free speech. “How nice for you,” some will say to a Catholic convert, “Now that you’re a Catholic, you won’t have to think anymore.” Or, “It must be nice to be a Catholic and have such ‘certainty.’” This is said with a snuffling, cynical laugh because by ‘certainty’ they often mean that one has become a mindless robot—a Kool Aid drinking cult member following the demands of his leader in white, without thinking. Another jab Catholic converts often hear is, “Of course there are some folks who need that kind of certainty.” The subtext here is, “You’re not really smart enough to think things through for yourself, and you are probably emotionally and socially insecure and immature so you need to belong to a mutual self-love group which offers its members certainty in all things.” Like any criticism leveled against the Church, this one is partially true. There certainly are cults that offer

Romanian Catholic priest gets two years in prison for money theft | National Catholic Reporter

I posted this article not because of the issues specific to it but out of wonder that this priest who stole money is given a 2 year jail sentence whereas many priests who stole the innocence from children by sexually abusing them often get off with a far lighter sentence. Which is really more important: money or children? This story seems to indicate that the court system (just like Bishops who covered up for predator priests) has their priorities all mixed up. How painfully sad. Romanian Catholic priest gets two years in prison for money theft | National Catholic Reporter

Review of The Transforming Power of Faith by Pope Benedict XVI

NCRegister | The Gift of Faith

Tocqueville on the Individualist Roots of Progressivism | The American Conservative

Tocqueville on the Individualist Roots of Progressivism | The American Conservative

Time to change the clocks: How to make it work for your sleep routine | CTV News

Don't forget to put your clocks back one hour tonight (unless you live in Saskatchewan) to start our journey through Standard Time. You wouldn't want to miss mass tomorrow by arriving too early!! Time to change the clocks: How to make it work for your sleep routine | CTV News