10 Nov

During the early days of the Second Battle of Ypres a young Canadian artillery officer, Lieutenant Alexis Helmer, was killed on 2nd May, 1915 He was serving in the same Canadian artillery unit as a friend of his, the Canadian military doctor and artillery commander Major John McCrae.As the brigade doctor, John McCrae was asked to conduct the burial service for Alexis because the chaplain had been called away It is believed that later that evening, after the burial, John began the draft for his now famous poem "In Flanders Fields"....

30 Oct

There are some Christians who question whether we should celebrate a day that has become so secularized. But the Church has been celebrating Halloween for centuries. The real meaning of Halloween is All Hallows' Eve or All Saints' Eve. We are using humour and ridicule to confront the power of death....

12 Oct

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving. As Philip Shane, SJ writes in today's post, "This Thanksgiving Day provides us with another reminder of God's countless gifts and unlimited goodness, reasons for a constant stance of gratitude."...

07 Oct

A poem about a Jewish family who celebrates Passover while living in exile in Egypt....

30 Jul

uly 31, the Feast Day of St. Ignatius of Loyola, is a sacred day for Jesuits, our works, and our collaborators. Here in Canada, we have a celebration in the Toronto area on that day. As many Jesuits as possible come together for a family reunion of sorts. There are almost always Jesuits from other parts of the globe who happen to be in the area for commitments such as study or workshops. We start with Mass. One of the 50 year jubilarians preaches and all of the year's jubilarians are acknowledged. That is followed by a luncheon for Jesuits, families and friends of the jubilarians, and many of our collaborators....

30 Jun

Several months ago, there was a joint meeting of Jesuit superiors from French and English Canada. We are preparing to unite into a new Jesuit province in Canada. A few of the older Jesuits there spoke of the famous "two solitudes" notion that is an element of the history of this country. The references were often in the broader context of the linguistic and cultural distinctions between English and French Canadians.One English Canadian Jesuit summed it up by stating that even if we all became bilingual in French and English overnight, we really would not bridge the cultural divide. They really are two cultures. I would say that there was an unspoken assumption by a few people that we are all either French or English....

26 Jun

Are we able to do in the twenty-first century what St. Margaret Mary Alacoque did in the 1670s regarding devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus? That's the question posed by Fr. Gerry O'Hanlon, an Irish Jesuit, in A Renewed Devotion to the Sacred Heart. He writes of this traditional devotion in light of modern theology and looks at what a renewed devotion might mean for our times. He suggests that the symbol of the heart conveys very well that the focus of this devotion is the person of Jesus Christ, someone with whom we can identify....

12 Jun

I grew up never realizing how unusual for the time were my father's contributions to our family life. Not only did he often do the dishes, he regularly cooked meals for the family. This is primarily in the 1960s! As I recall, his dishes were generally creative affairs, often inspired by his fondness for Asian cuisine. He also had a habit of creating an Easter cake in the shape of a bunny. This became so etched in our memories that I recall him having to recreate this for at least one grandchild. And there were other creative efforts. I always took for granted his help with the household tasks. But, at the same time, I realized that his ways were in marked contrast to neighbours' and friends' fathers....

05 Jun

Saint Ignatius of Loyola invites us to pray for an "intimate knowledge" of Jesus Christ. He is not inviting us to research Jesus Christ on Google until we get to the very heart of who Jesus is. This knowledge is not about the mere accumulation of facts. A person can read theology books and every word of sacred scripture, but if that person is without a heartfelt understanding, they don't really have knowledge of God.A wise person once reminded us that the longest journey in the world is from the head to the heart. The smartest person in the world is not necessarily able to grasp divine truths and have a real appreciation for the surpassing greatness of God. Knowledge is one of the seven traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit, gifts that we celebrate with Pentecost....

29 May

C. S. Lewis once remarked that the scriptural account of the Ascension of the Lord "presents greater difficulties to the modern mind than any other part of Scripture". We tend, he explained, to see it in terms of "primitive crudities", what with "the vertical ascent like a balloon, the local Heaven, the decorated chair to the right of the Father's throne". Our basic embarrassment with the Ascension is perhaps reflected in the fact that we rarely explicitly include it when speaking of the Paschal Mystery: the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus often ends abruptly just there. In Canada, the Ascension is no longer celebrated forty days after Easter but has been removed to a Sunday. All in all, there is a vague discomfort with the whole idea that is never articulated but often just below the surface....

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