27 Jun

The German statesman Otto von Bismark is reputed to have said, "Politics is like sausage making: if you want to enjoy the product, don't look too closely at the process." In our society, major group decisions are usually made by some compromise between clashing power interests. The recent Occupy Wall Street movement and the 2012-3 National Hockey League lockout illustrate how the exercise of clashing power drives decisions. Perhaps Adam Smith would call all this "enlightened self-interest." Well, I certainly see the self-interest but am not so sure about the "enlightened" part!...

02 Jun

What do we want for those we love? I don't think we have to look too deeply into our hearts to discover the answer: we want those whom we love to be alive and well and with us forever. But our love is not strong enough to bring that about. Those whom we love get sick, and if the sickness is serious enough there is little we can do about it. Those whom we love die, and we can do nothing about that. We ourselves get sick and die, and those who love us can do nothing about that. So it would seem that love is not stronger than death....

27 May

This spring and summer gives me a chance to celebrate four anniversaries. I entered the Jesuits 35 years ago, in late August 1978. Ten years later, I was ordained to the priesthood. That's 25 years on May 28. My final vows were professed 20 years ago, on May 31, 1993. And, in late August, I celebrate the 10th anniversary of successful surgery for a brain tumour....

18 May

How many of us know of ordinary people who overcome their fear and reluctance and do courageous things? Think of the young man who has the courage to go against the pressure he is getting from peers to join in their vandalism. There's also the young woman who has the courage to go through with a pregnancy, even after her doctor tells her that there is a high risk of a genetic disorder in the fetus. Or, there's the older man who has the courage to make a painful decision about sending his frail wife to a nursing home. Think of the parents who have the courage to show tough love to their adolescent son who is addicted to dangerous drugs. They all conquer their fears. These people have fortitude, one of the seven traditional gifts of the Holy Spirit. As we celebrate Pentecost, let's focus on that gift....

01 May

As a Jesuit priest, celebrating Baptism is the one I enjoy the most of all the sacraments. Each of course has its grace and blessing, but there is something special about welcoming an infant into the community marked by the sign of Christ. The celebration is not without its challenges....

28 Apr

The problem of why God allows suffering never seems to go away. Why are innocent children allowed to suffer? Why deformities in the newly born? And the list goes on. God did not intend that we should have sufferings when He created the world as a place for humans to live. At the same time, God did not make us robots to live on earth with an automatic response to eating when hungry and propagating the species. The Church teaches that we were made like God with the ability to love stemming from a free will. We can choose what we want to do. It is because of our free will that the Church teaches that we are made like unto God....

21 Apr

Often we have been congratulated at the Jesuit Centre of Spirituality here in Halifax because the new Pope, Jorge Bergoglio who is now Pope Francis, is a Jesuit. Of course we are delighted that he is a Jesuit. But membership in the Society was of no consequence in his choice and is no motive for congratulations. One point that certainly stood out for the cardinal electors was his lifelong dedication to the basic values of apostolic religious life as lived in the Society, and this was strong enough to counter arguments that he was too old....

20 Apr

It was August in Taiwan. Waking briskly through the university campus toward the library, I was close to being late for a morning meeting. Suddenly, someone from behind called out in English, "Are you a Jesuit?" Surprised, I turned around. "Yes," I replied. I thought to myself, 'he must have seen the letters 'SJ' on the back of my T-shirt.' He introduced himself. Juan was a student from Central America....

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....

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....

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