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.
SeasonsMarch 23, 2018What is the purpose of Lent?
"Lent is a long time of preparation—preparation not just for Easter Sunday, not just for the Great Three Days (the Triduum) of Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and the Holy Saturday Vigil. I would say that Lent is a preparation for the whole of Holy Week, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday."
SeasonsMarch 18, 2018A Grain of Wheat – Fifth Sunday of Lent
"It was Tertullian, an early Christian author, who stated that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church. Relatively few of us will experience physical martyrdom because of our faith. But anyone who calls him or herself Christian is called to die to self."
SeasonsMarch 15, 2018Spring Fever
"Spring is the season of plans and projects. It’s God’s way of reminding us of what can be done with what looked so bleak and barren in winter. We can finally move beyond daydreams to action."
SeasonsMarch 10, 2018Rejoice and Exult! – Fourth Sunday of Lent
"This Fourth Sunday of Lent is known as Laetare Sunday, a day for rejoicing. This comes from the Entrance Antiphon, from Isaiah 66:10-11. Rejoice Jerusalem! Let’s name reasons to rejoice!"
SeasonsMarch 03, 2018Take a sober, second thought – Third Sunday of Lent
"A good Lenten exercise can be to ponder the foolishness-wisdom dynamic in our lives, or the crooked lines of our lives."
SeasonsMarch 01, 2018Lent – An Opportunity
" . . . God often uses how humans perceive the physical world to impart something spiritual. He uses the seasons of the year to ingrain divine lessons. One such season is Lent."
SeasonsFebruary 24, 2018Why do mothers and fathers have to bury their children? Second Sunday of Lent
"We are not usually asked to sacrifice a child. This freedom of Abraham is usually seen as remarkable – to give up one’s only son. But, how can we freely face the death of our children?"
SeasonsFebruary 17, 2018God’s Faithfulness – First Sunday of Lent 2018
"It is not lost on me that we start the Season of Lent with love and end up on April 1 [Easter Sunday] Holy fools.”"
SeasonsFebruary 01, 2018Groundhog Day- February 2, 2018
"Scholars point out connections to old lore that clear weather on Candlemas (i.e., the Feast of Jesus at the temple) forebodes a prolonged winter." What will our groundhog predict for us today?
SeasonsJanuary 06, 2018What will you bring? Epiphany 2018
T.S.Eliot wrote that the Magi had " a cold coming" in "the very dead of winter." Even so, they brought special gifts. What do we bring to Christ?
SeasonsDecember 30, 2017The Holy Family – “A Kind of School”
"Let’s pray, on this Feast of the Holy Family, for all families – that they may continue to serve as educators for all women and men who play a role in public life."
SeasonsDecember 24, 2017Christmas 2017 – Speaking some words to the close and holy darkness
"It remains always essential to continue speaking to the close and holy, but also to listen to what we hear from it. In these days of Christmas, let’s take time to deepen that conversation."
SeasonsDecember 23, 2017Discerning God’s Dreams: The Fourth Sunday of Advent (and Christmas Eve) 2017
"Advent and Christmas are times to look to our desires and God's dreams for us. What invitations from God cause me to be fearful or reluctant? Is that fear really an invitation to ponder and move to a new level of trust in God?"
SeasonsDecember 22, 2017Promises Kept
"this is the night the promises made by God to the Jewish people and to Mary are fulfilled with the birth of a child in the village of Bethlehem. And in the midst of this most holy night the world springs to new life with the promise of joy and peace that this birth announces."
SeasonsDecember 17, 2017Am I Poor Enough to Celebrate Christmas? The Third Sunday of Advent 2017
"The Gospel for the Third Sunday of Advent has John the Baptist say, "I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." Advent is a time to recognize our basic human unworthiness."
SeasonsDecember 10, 2017Sympathy or Justice : The Second Sunday of Advent 2017
"It's time to stop feeling "sympathy" for our aboriginal brothers and sisters and help them move toward rights and justice. So long as we call them victims and feel sorry for them, we are still maintaining a kind of power over them."