SpiritualityMay 25, 2018St. Ignatius: Administrator / Mystic – Part One
How are the inner reality of Ignatius the mystic and the outer reality of Ignatius the administrator related?
SpiritualityMay 24, 2018Marriage is in the Air
“Marriage and other forms of partnership can be placed along a sliding scale of commitment, with greater commitment conferring greater benefit,”'
SpiritualityMay 23, 2018Eastern Europe Trip: Our Visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau
It was, quite simply, an experience like no other. A four hour visit touring Auschwitz-Birkenau for thirty two students and four teachers from St. Paul’s High School was an experience that we will carry with us for the rest of our lives.
SpiritualityMay 18, 2018Christian Maturity
A personal relationship with Jesus they see as the most important and effective means to help spiritual growth and maturity.
SpiritualityMay 13, 2018The First and Most Perfect Communicator – Mother’s Day 2018
"One of the drawbacks to having a day dedicated to mothers is that we too often focus on them on that single day and take them for granted for the rest of the year."
SpiritualityMay 11, 2018Power and Authority
"An interesting distinction came to me the other day which, for me, makes sense of this peculiar scene between Pilate and Jesus. There is a difference between authority and power."
SpiritualityMay 07, 2018My Yoke is Easy
"To what, then, is Jesus comparing his easy yoke? He’s comparing it to the yoke of the Law, which, though we may delight in it and love it, is still very demanding: “You shall love the Lord your God with all our heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might”, and “You shall love your neighb
SpiritualityMay 06, 2018The Inexpressible Comfort of Friendship –
Our friendship with Jesus requires the same level of trust, generosity, and honesty as any other friendship in our lives. The gift of friendship takes time to develop.
SpiritualityMay 02, 2018I Shouldn’t Have to Feel Guilty
"The American Dream is built upon notions of hard work and self-sufficiency, that we deserve every luxury and privilege that we have worked to earn. But what if that dream is not the reality we believed?"
SpiritualityApril 30, 2018A Silent Saint
"Sacred Scripture has no record of any words that he uttered, yet he is the patron saint of Canada, of the universal church, of workers and of the dying."
SpiritualityApril 29, 2018United By Our Grief – 5th Sunday of Easter
"Once again, we see people unite in their shared grief for people they didn’t even know. That is one of the strange gifts of tragedies. We know the deep need to come together and be with others when tragedy strikes."
SpiritualityApril 27, 2018A New Direction
"This call to “repent” is a call to metanoia, a transformational change of heart, a radical spiritual conversion. Do I really need that, or more importantly, do I really want that?"
SpiritualityApril 25, 2018About Kindness
"When we have been reconciled with God, our smiles are a little wider and our attitudes improve"
SpiritualityApril 22, 2018Rejoice and be Glad (Gaudete et Exsultate)
As we read about Pope Francis' latest writing - a call to sainthood for all - it is good to recall on this Earth Day his writings on ecology.
SpiritualityApril 16, 2018An Hour With Jesus
"We are living at a time when churches must be locked between services to protect these sacred places from vandalism. It is a sad commentary to modern living, but also a practical and necessary solution".
SpiritualityApril 15, 2018The Humboldt Broncos and the Strong Arms of Saskatchewan – Third Sunday of Easter.
"We’ve all been affected by last week’s terrible tragedy on a highway in rural Saskatchewan. Sadness and grief disrupted the peace and sleep of much of the country."
SpiritualityApril 14, 2018Learning a Lesson from King Zedekiah
"The pattern of sin, disobedience, and mercy is repeated countless times throughout scripture. But is this pattern repeated in our own lives as well when we reflect back?"
SpiritualityApril 13, 2018Giving Renewed Meaning to the Title of Pope
"Pope John and Pope Francis were to my mind outsider Popes. That is they were ready to break free of the orthodoxy of the administrative church and bend it more toward a pastoral church. "
SpiritualityApril 11, 2018Holocaust Remembrance Day 2018
“Jews survived all the defeats, expulsions, persecutions and pogroms, the centuries in which they were regarded as a pariah people, even the Holocaust itself, because they never gave up the faith that one day they would be free to live as Jews without fear.”
SpiritualityApril 08, 2018A Man of Peace – Martin Luther King, Jr – 2nd Sunday of Easter
"The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.'s dream of a dignified life for all men and women regardless of colour or creed continues to live on in the teachings of one of his most influential admirers, Pope Francis, a Vatican representative said."
SpiritualityApril 04, 2018Evangelization: Religious Minorities in Asia
In writing and on video, Bill Robins, SJ recounts his life and work in Nepal.
SpiritualityApril 02, 2018This is What Mass is About? Really? !
"Ask anyone who doesn’t regularly go to Mass why they don’t and one of the top answers you will get among youth is because it’s boring (among young adults, that response turns into “I don’t really get anything out of it”)."
SpiritualityMarch 29, 2018The Distinguished Donkey
"When you read the title of this article, you are probably thinking about that figure of speech called an oxymoron, for who would refer to a donkey as being distinguished . . . "
SpiritualityMarch 21, 2018The Art of Reflection
"Aren’t we all people becoming patches of light? Coaxed out of our own shadows by friends, we shine."
SpiritualityMarch 17, 2018The Presence of God
"The presence of God, the Trinity, is all-encompassing, all-inclusive. The Jesuit priest-scientist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, described the universe we live in as “The Divine Milieu”, where God is all in all."
SpiritualityMarch 09, 2018My Readings
"Allow me to share with you my top three scriptural readings that have influenced me in my living a Christian life. "
SpiritualityMarch 04, 2018Reflecting on my Early Faith
"When I was told that I was to write for Ignation Blog countless different topics came to mind, . . . I thought it was a good idea to express myself in my native tongue first and to reflect on the earlier parts of my faith."
SpiritualityMarch 02, 2018The Eucharist
"It is the belief of Catholics that the bread and the wine offered in the Mass become the body and blood of Jesus Christ." How is this possible?
SpiritualityFebruary 27, 2018Walking in Fellowship
The 500th anniversary of he Reformation gives rise to feelings of unity rather than division.
SpiritualityFebruary 25, 2018Flying and “Contemplatio ad Amorem.”
"The crowning meditation of The Spiritual Exercises is the contemplation to achieve divine love. But, what has it got to do with flying a small airplane? For me - lots."
SpiritualityFebruary 23, 2018On Vocation
"may the grace of vocation well up in our land, characterized by an increase in listening and following, by hearts that are open and unafraid."
SpiritualityFebruary 20, 2018The Chair of Peter
A look at this feast of St.. Peter lead to something deeper.
SpiritualityFebruary 16, 2018If God Worked At McDonalds . . .
"Today I was sitting in a McDonalds enjoying a coffee and a random idea came to me. I wondered to myself, if I were the owner of this little food chain, and God was an employee of mine, where would he be?"
SpiritualityFebruary 15, 2018Looking Back: The Relic of St. Francis Xavier in Canada
"For five weeks in Canada we have experienced hands reaching out in faith to touch the Major Relic of St. Francis Xavier, drawing people from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific. Many came for personal reasons, hoping for a miracle, hoping for encouragement"
SpiritualityFebruary 10, 2018“Unclean, unclean” – Sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"I had the privilege of working with lepers and tuberculosis patients at Jesu Ashram, in Matigara, India (in the Darjeeling district of West Bengal). This was for a few months in the early nineties, when I was in the Jesuit stage of formation known as tertianship."
SpiritualityFebruary 09, 2018Lapsed Christians
"The Pope's prayer intention for July 2017 was: That our brothers and sisters who have strayed from the faith, through our prayer and witness to the Gospel, may rediscover the merciful closeness of the Lord and the beauty of the Christian life."
SpiritualityFebruary 03, 2018The Intensity of Jesus – Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time
"In the commentary on today’s readings in Living with Christ, Marilyn Sweet stresses that today’s Gospel excerpt from Mark reveals the “intensity and urgency of Jesus”. She looks at his feverish activity in one day."
SpiritualityFebruary 02, 2018A New Altar
"From the earliest days of the Church, the altar has been at the centre of Christian acts of thanksgiving. Our altar reflects the incomparable beauty of the Risen Lord Jesus Christ, who offered the perfect sacrifice for our salvation on the Altar of the Cross. "
SpiritualityJanuary 30, 2018The Advent of Liberty
Four women - a Gypsy, a Jew, a Muslim, a Catholic - brought gifts to the author this season.