17 Apr

Here I was in the basement of the New Brunswick Museum, surrounded by tall metal cabinets stuffed with all kinds of dried plants, mushrooms and lichens. Down the hallway, jars of lifeless creatures of all kinds adorned the walls from floor to ceiling. Another room was stuffed with massive bones. Wooden crates held their own secret. Mounted birds and mammals watched my every move. The stuffy odour of ages past thickened the air. Aged photos of venerable-looking, bearded men reminded me of the pioneers of New Brunswick natural history....

16 Apr

In As it is in Heaven, directed by Kay Pollak, world-famous middle-aged conductor Daniel Dareus is forced into early retirement due to a weak heart. When he returns to his home village in Sweden he appears quite mysterious because there is no memory of his having lived there. Daniel, at 7 years, was forced to flee his home village with his mother due to bullying. Now back in his hometown, Daniel has to confront his painful childhood, and when he decides to conduct the local church choir, he realizes that its members too live miserable lives due to oppressive memories and suppressed emotions....

15 Apr

Q was an eccentric. He was known as "Q" by his fellow Jesuits because his name was Edward Quinton Moriarty. Students at Loyola High School in Montreal called him "Mort". Certainly in every way he was a character, a source of constant amusement to students with his odd accent, loping walk, and strange hand movements. He was easy to mimic....

14 Apr

So, what did Oscar winning director Danny Boyle do in his free time while directing the Opening ceremonies of the London 2012 Summer Olympics which had a cast of 10,000 including Queen Elizabeth II as - well – Queen Elizabeth II and was watched by an audience of close to a billion people ?...

13 Apr

the tarnished silver of the Queen Anne's lace in the winter light tinkle as the first trains go by last night's frost has made them brittle this long loneliness rushing past will not last...

13 Apr

Among the martyrs of the Roman Catholic Church, there have always been committed lay people who have worked closely with priests and vowed religious and have paid the ultimate price because of their shared commitment to spreading the Gospel in hostile and unwelcoming territory. Two of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America were young laymen who offered their services to the Jesuits of New France. One is St. René Goupil, a surgeon; the other is St. Jean de Lalande. Both were referred to as donnés....

13 Apr

Jesus reminds us in the Gospel to be as wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Men and women who engage fully in their work of serving the Lord benefit from that mixture of innocence and wisdom. Such was the example of Saint Charles Garnier, one of the eight seventeenth-century Jesuit Martyrs of North America....

13 Apr

The superior of the Jesuits in New France wrote to the Jesuit General in Rome, in March 1649. He describes Fr. Anthony Daniel, a Jesuit who had served in New France and was attacked and killed in July 1648: "a man of great courage and endurance, whose gentle kindness was conspicuous among his great virtues." St. Anthony Daniel was the second to be martyred among the eight Jesuit Martyrs of North America, the first of the group to die in Huronia....

13 Apr

Many saints share our human fears, but have an ability to resist fear and remain in challenging situations. Saint Isaac Jogues, one of the Jesuit Martyrs of North America, overcame his natural, and well-founded, fears and hesitation. He knew first-hand the tortures that were possible, but he also knew that his place was with the native peoples of Huronia. Nothing could separate him from the mission he felt he received from the Lord. The story of Jogues is moving and memorable....

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