Comment from the editorial board of the Our Sunday Visitor website.
The April 15, 2019, tragedy transcended borders, uniting the world in a shared sense of loss. For the Catholic Church, Notre Dame is, first and foremost, a place of worship. However, the cathedral also stands as a monument to the Church’s indelible and unrivaled contribution to art, architecture and culture. As we mark this somber anniversary, it is also a moment to celebrate the Church’s role in nurturing and preserving the cultural and artistic heritage of the West.
Since the end of January when I turned 65, I have had a part-time job serving as a sacristan at St. Joseph’s Chapel, at Holy Cross Cemetery, in Toronto. When I first heard the word “sacristan,” I wasn’t sure what it meant. I was told it is the person who sets up and serves during Mass. Oh, I said, like an altar boy, something I had done 55 years ago at St. Andrews Parish in Etobicoke.
It was a moment suspended in time. Shortly after 3 p.m. on April 8, complete darkness covered the land. Birdsong ceased abruptly as a cool night breeze blanketed the eerie silence.
Science told us the darkness would disperse in three to four minutes with the return of the mid-afternoon sun’s light. But some of us felt uneasy as we waited and wondered: will the light really return?
Verbatim: Media release on the Sacred Covenant
Media release from the Tkemlúps te Secwépemc (Kamloops First Nation) and Archdiocese of Vancouver on the Sacred Covenant published April 1, 2024.
I enjoy reading The Catholic Register website and write to share with your readers a great Catholic program of reflection, inspiration, music and meditation on a Catholic radio station here in Connecticut.
How fitting that the Good News of Christ’s Resurrection on Easter Sunday should be accompanied by a trinity of good news stories about the state of our Holy Mother Church.
Fr. Clair Watrin, the Basilian priest from southern Alberta who founded the ecumenical Live-In weekend retreat movement and Catholic Christian Outreach, has died at age 91. Both of those movements brought thousands of people into a deeper relationship with Jesus and His Church.
On International Women’s Day, The Globe and Mail published a lengthy article about the difficulties millennial mothers face. An article released later in March also discusses “the motherhood penalty and its impact on Canadian women in the workplace.” Both are effectively summarized by this quote: “The world isn’t set up to support young mothers at work.”
I am about to do a new thing.
Isaiah 43: 19
When I accepted the position of President of St. Mary’s University in Calgary, I had to convince my family that it was exciting to give up our life on the beach and move to a glorious mountainous winter wonderland. I must have been convincing because they immediately agreed. But when we left Sydney, Australia, at 40 degrees, and landed in Calgary at -40 degrees, my daughter looked at me sternly: “This is child abuse!”
More than a week has passed since Easter and there is still chocolate sitting in the Easter baskets. We are gradually learning that joy can be spread over many days in small doses, rather than trying to consume it all at once. Though the Easter baskets appear on Sunday morning, the resurrection in my life rarely arrives overnight. New life is emerging more than arriving suddenly.
An excerpt from Pope Francis’ Urbi et Orbi Message on Easter Sunday, 2024.