Leafing through some recent issues of Science and Nature underline the truth of such awareness. All Greek to me are such titles as Antidiabetic actions of a non-agonist PPAR ligand blocking Cdk5-mediated phosphorylation or On-demand single-electron transfer between distant quantum dots. Furthermore, I am totally dependent on so many people be they doctors, mechanics, dentists, pilots, cooks, plumbers or accountants....
Salmon numbers are way up this year. Millions of the silvered fish have streamed into the fresh rivers of the Pacific Northwest. In fact, over 30 million sockeye salmon (Oncorhynchus nerka) have finned and funneled through the Georgia Strait up into mother Fraser. Relentless and heaven-bound, the sockeye have surged up the Fraser, spilled into the turbulent Thompson, to finally rest, spawn and die in the 12 km long Adams River over 450 km deep in the heart of BC. Not all make this perilous journey, but millions of sockeye managed to spawn in the Adams this year. Thousands of people from all over the world came to stand on the banks of the river and marvel at this dance of life....
A large prairie field flanked by woods and bordered by a stream may seem like an unusual setting for Canada's newest cathedral. But then one might remember Constable's paintings of Salisbury Cathedral in which the stream, woods and field are complemented by grazing cattle. The new Cathedral of the Holy Family on the outskirts of Saskatoon offers a comparable vista without the cattle although it is next door to the local zoo....
Recently I was called upon to celebrate a Mass of the Resurrection in a nearby parish church. The priest had a difficult decision to make, whether to take the funeral or cancel a long-standing commitment. When he asked if I could help him out, knowing something of his busy schedule, I was pleased to lend a hand....
As we look back in this Year of Faith to the Second Vatican Council, a question that inevitably arises is, "What did the Council change?" Implicit in any answer to this question are notions of what the Church was like both before and after the Council. Much of the time, however, we are presented with overly-simplistic narratives about the pre-conciliar--and increasingly the post-conciliar--Church. It is a worthwhile exercise to examine these narratives, as a sort of propaedeutic to understanding Vatican II....
One of the words that has been used a lot to describe Pope Francis since his election is the word humility. What is humility? It might be helpful to name some of the words we use for its opposite – pride, vainglory, self-centredness, and narcissism. I knew a man who ended a long narcissistic monologue by saying, "Well, enough about me! What do you think of my decision?" I hoped he was teasing, except everything I knew about him told me he was rooted in an obsession with himself and his self-importance. He could have benefitted from C.S. Lewis's reminder that "humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less." That's actually a very good definition because another opposite of humility is having too low a view of yourself, often described as false humility....
Ten years ago a brain tumour left me hearing impaired. After a few years, my hearing loss was deemed severe enough that I qualified for a cochlear implant. Those few years of being more deaf than hearing taught me a great deal about listening and how difficult it is to truly listen to another person, even for those whose physical hearing is perfect....
To come to know the saints of our Church is to discover their strengths, but also their human frailties and limitations. Faith provides these holy men and women with the courage and perseverance to go forward, regardless of their pain and suffering. St. Noël Chabanel is no exception. Despite success in his native France, the man who would become a seventeenth century Jesuit martyr met anything but success in New France. Chabanel struggled with the Native language, felt useless, and experienced great disappointments in the mission activity of New France. It would have been natural to give up and return to France. Chabanel saw this as a temptation and stated, "I must serve God faithfully until death."...
I look forward to answering this question every year on the occasion of ordinations to the diaconate and priesthood. As rector of Regis College and superior of the Regis Jesuit Community, it is my responsibility to present candidates for ordination to the bishop, but only after they have been judged to be very well prepared. It is a huge responsibility with which I am accountable to the people of God. The people expect and deserve priests who will help them find God. Those who are ordained must be worthy, capable and committed to serve....
It is impossible to look at the history of Canada without considering the life of Saint Jean de Brébeuf, the seventeenth century missionary and pioneer. Brébeuf was born in Normandy, France on 25 March 1593 and entered the Jesuits at the age of 24. In 1625, a few years after being ordained to the priesthood, he sailed for Quebec. It is ironic that his formation was shortened due to poor health, since "the giant of the Huron missions" would be recognized as the most robust of the blackrobes in the region of Huronia....
