Walls and Bridges
The Dispossessed is a novel that brings to mind St. Ignatius' "Contemplation to Gain Love."...
15
Jul
Johnston Smith is a retired teacher and an active spiritual director in Winnipeg.
38 posts
14
Jun
Canada 150 & Me – Dear Canada 2067.
For the "Canada 150 & Me" series, igNation asked writers what being Canadian means to them. Today a letter to Canadians celebrating in 2067....
10
Jun
Ignatius Knew
In this era of alternative facts" it's more important than ever really to listen to people whose views clash with our own. And we need to do this honestly, not like a debater attending to his opponent's arguments for the purpose of more effectively rebutting them."...
22
Nov
See No Evil
If St. Paul were alive today I suspect that he would still write about how the god of this age has blinded people to the light of the Gospel. In his day, slavery and public brutality were the signs of at best indifference to, at worse enjoyment of others' suffering; today it is less public but all the more insidious and occurs in prisons and nursing homes and other locales where one exercises power over another....
20
Jun
Reckoning
In today's poetry Tuesday, Johnston Smith looks at the consequences of facing the truth....
19
Feb
A Refusal to Discern
Donald Trump, The Fox News Effect, and a rapidly disintegrating world view can lead to a surrender of autonomy and a refusal to discern....
07
Apr
Teacher, Student and Cura Personalis
I see cura personalis as our attempt to imitate the intensely personal, specific, wild and oceanic love which God has for each human being, a love so unimaginably great that he joins himself eternally to us as one of us and so persisting that he continues in the Eucharist to give food to our body and spirit and to intoxicate us with his love, his cura personalis....
15
Mar
Portrait of a Jesuit: Father Jack Murray, SJ (1925 – 2000)
Fr. Jack Murray, SJ, kind, attentive but firm, good natured with a charming sense of humour, became a great favorite with the students, teachers and parents of the school and parishes where he worked. He was a singularly talented man - he produced over 100 plays in 26 years at St. Paul's - and a true Jesuit. As a former student said: "He was a good priest. There was no compromise to his priesthood." Today's posting is one recollection about a man whose simple piety and love of teaching and creating appealed to many....
14
Feb
For Whom The Bell Tolls
The Supreme Court of Canada's recent ruling on physician-assisted suicide was a disappointing but predictable one. The wide-spread support the ruling has received across the country reflects a widening values chasm between the dominant post-Christian humanist culture and the world-view of Catholics and many other adherents to more traditional religions. The critical difference centers around what it means to be a person....
07
Oct
Pesach in Egypt
A poem about a Jewish family who celebrates Passover while living in exile in Egypt....