SeasonsDecember 15, 2018Advent is. . . a Call to Patient Waiting
"The Children of Israel yearned for the Messiah. Though they had the Law they did not yet have the Word. They waited in patient expectation."
SeasonsDecember 14, 2018Advent is . . . The Perfect Time
"Advent is a time of anticipation and of memory; the perfect time to reflect on the true meaning of the season of JOY!"
SeasonsDecember 13, 2018Cleaning and Cleansing
"Advent is known as a time of preparation for the Coming of the Lord. As Christians we celebrate the birth of He who would clean and cleanse this lowly world."
SeasonsDecember 10, 2018Star Wars, Christ the King and Advent Calendars
"Trust in the constancy of God’s gifting of God’s very Self to the world. The kind of trust to which Thomas Keating referred when he wrote: “when you trust that we are all part of something beautiful beyond our wildest imagination, you will find healing”."
SeasonsDecember 09, 2018A Voice Crying Out: 2nd Sunday of Advent
"Would we be able to hear John the Baptist today? Are we able to hear the prophetic characters in our culture and era? Are we able to open our ears and hearts, to really and truly hear the cries of people such as John? "
SeasonsDecember 08, 2018Advent has . . . a Scent of Hope
For today's poet, Advent has provided us with a list of Advent metaphors.
SeasonsUncategorisedDecember 07, 20180 ANTIPHON
An original 0 antiphon. The O Antiphons, also known as The great Os are Magnificat antiphons used at Vespers of the last seven days of Advent in Western Christian traditions. They are also used as the Alleluia verses on the same days in the post-1970 form of the Catholic Mass.
SeasonsDecember 06, 2018A Few Reflections
"Advent teaches us about patience and hope, the foundations of faith. Advent is the kindling of faith. A sign, a star, appeared in the east and the Magi went on a quest to find and hail this new Saviour, becoming the first in a long line of sinners to “find Jesus”."
SeasonsDecember 05, 2018Advent is . . . a Time to Thank God.
Advent is - for this one person - a time of thanking God and memories.
SeasonsDecember 03, 2018Getting Ready to Celebrate
"Soon, a joyful feast will mark the reality that heaven came to earth that first Christmas. Until then, some traditional practices can help you get ready to celebrate."
SeasonsDecember 02, 2018Advent and the Fear of the Lord: 1st Sunday of Advent
"Advent’s wakefulness is not mere a movement in our hearts. It must make us alert to all that is happening around us. "
SeasonsNovember 25, 2018Christ The King
"The contemplation on Christ the King is a wonderful exercise which makes abundant use of the imagination in inviting us to pray with our dreams to do great things in the name of God."
SeasonsNovember 02, 2018All Saints and All Souls: All Souls 2018
"By commemorating our faithful departed at the daily Mass, we are acknowledging the same thing – that they are present to us, in a new way."
SeasonsNovember 01, 2018All Saints and All Souls: All Saints Day 2018
"Whatever their quirks or oddities, it is helpful for us to know that there is a special saint who knows precisely what we struggle with."
SeasonsOctober 14, 2018Lasers and Discernment – 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Many successful women and men show us that our life path doesn’t have to be dull or achieved by just-falling-into-something. Donna Strickland shows us that it starts with our passions and dreams."
SeasonsOctober 08, 2018Gratitude takes nothing for granted – Thanksgiving 2018
"We are celebrating Thanksgiving Day. It's a day to focus on gratitude. But it's not the only day for us to live that attitude."
SeasonsSeptember 26, 2018Martyr’s Mass – A Reflection
On this feast of the Canadian Martyrs, Raj offers a reflection he will share with the students at St. Bons.
SeasonsSeptember 16, 2018But who do you say that I am? -24th Sunday in Ordinary Time
"And my decision to remain in the priesthood, with all of its sinfulness and imperfections, is that I witness over and over the good that happens to people who benefit from the ministry of women and men in the church."
SeasonsSeptember 09, 2018“No one ever steps in the same river twice.” – Twenty-third Sunday in Ordinary Time
"Ignatius of Loyola saw interior movements in a person as being at the heart of his discernment techniques. He would not trust stasis."
SeasonsSeptember 03, 2018Transitions – Labour Day 2018
"Labour Day has been an official holiday in Canada since 1894, though its origins date from before that. Its roots are in the labour union movement, which advocated eight hours for work, eight hours for recreation, and eight hours for rest. That neat threefold division is laughable in our contempora
SeasonsAugust 26, 2018Why Can’t We All Just get Along?”- Twenty First Sunday in Ordinary Time
" ...that general advice about being kind, tender-hearted, and forgiving is not bad advice for our personal and workplace relationships."
SeasonsAugust 19, 2018A Wise and Discerning Heart – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
" find up here the same longing and hunger that brings others to retreats at spirituality centres. It’s a longing for peace, healed relationships, personal spiritual strength to handle difficult situations, and wisdom to make prudent decisions."
SeasonsAugust 12, 2018Edifying Ministry in Midland
"To sit outside dressed in clerical attire is an invitation to conversation with visitors, many of them of a spiritual nature. "
SeasonsJuly 24, 2018Spring Canticle
A spring day at the English Garden in Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, inspired this canticle from the poet/
SeasonsJune 03, 2018The Abiding Presence of God – Feast of the Body and Blood of Christ
"Cardinal Nguyen was simply trying to be a Christian in a Communist country in the twentieth century."
SeasonsMay 27, 2018Trinity Sunday -The Gift of Freedom
"Whenever I am asked what I am most grateful for as a Jesuit and a priest, I immediately reflect on the freedom that I sometimes have the privilege of seeing in others through my ministry. "
SeasonsMay 21, 2018Victoria Day and Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
“Mary is the mother of the members of Christ, because with charity she cooperated in the rebirth of the faithful into the Church.”
SeasonsMay 20, 2018Pentecost: The Gifts of the Holy Spirit
At the time of our Confirmation, we hear reference to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. This is a traditional list that comes from the early church. The seven are good to reflect on from time to time.
SeasonsMay 16, 2018Ramadan 2018
"Ramadan is a required observance for most Muslims, taking believers on a path to righteousness."
SeasonsMay 14, 201840 Days in the Digital Wilderness: A (very late) Lenten Journal
This post is longer than our usual posts. Lent and Easter are both long gone. Yet one person's experience of a social media fast is important and worth reading. Reposted with permission from Neo(un)Orthodoxy.
SeasonsMay 10, 2018Ignatius and the Ascension
"The Ascension does not mark the end of Jesus’ relationship with the church but the beginning of a new way of his relating to the world through the church."
SeasonsApril 28, 2018The Easter Mystery
"Easter is a time to celebrate God’s love for us, a love that He definitively proves in the death and resurrection of His Son. We mediate that love to each other in our family. God calls us to reflect it to the world."
SeasonsApril 26, 2018Easter Life
"In my new work with migrants and refugees, Pope Francis says each of us, individually and communally, is responsible to welcome, to protect, to promote and to integrate them. Don’t these four active verbs also apply to those with HIV or AIDS and their people, the infected and the affected?"
SeasonsApril 01, 2018Easter and The Office of Consoler
"Easter grace is elusive and hard to pin down. ...... It’s important to let the Resurrection’s grace do what it did for the disciples heading to Emmaus: Let it set our hearts on fire!"
SeasonsMarch 28, 2018Holy Week – Being With
"Most of us are probably too busy to spend all of our time in Holy Week in the manner we’d like. How can we heighten our sense of being immersed with the suffering, death and Resurrection of Jesus?"
SeasonsMarch 25, 2018Palm Sunday – The Doorway to a Sacred Journey
"It’s good for us to ask what our true expectations are for this week. What are our deepest desires as we enter through this day’s doorway to Holy Week?"
SeasonsMarch 24, 2018Annunciation, March 25, 2018
On this vigil of the Feast of the Annunciation, some thoughts for consideration.