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May 29, 2008
Last week, we offered some general comments on the report of the Bouchard-Taylor Commission on reasonable accommodation in Quebec. By and large, the commissioners used common sense and open-mindedness in dealing with very real tensions over religious and cultural differences between immigrants and older Quebec communities.
Preparing for my upcoming trip to Sydney, Australia, for World Youth Day (WYD) this July has taken me a long time to plan. But deciding what to wear during my 15-day trip hasn’t been the issue.
TORONTO - When his godmother gave him a gift of $300 for his Confirmation last year, Andrew Chown, 14, had a mission: find a worthy cause and pay it forward.
Being Consumed: Economics and Christian Desire, by William T. Cavanaugh (William B. Eerdmans, 96 pages, softcover, $13.50). Our homes and garages are filled with all sorts of stuff, some of which we need, and a lot of which we do not. The words “shopaholic” and “retail therapy” are part of our everyday vocabulary. We tend to use them in a self-deprecating sense. At the same time, we admit to ourselves that we are not going shopping out of necessity, but simply for the sake of it. We feel a void in our lives and hope shopping will make us feel better but what we end up buying often has very little meaning for us afterwards. We never fill the spiritual void, so we go out to shop again.
10th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) June 8 (Hosea 6:3-6; Psalm 50; Romans 4:18-25; Matthew 9:9-13) Sometimes the limitations of human language can obscure the beauty and subtlety of the intended meaning of a word or phrase. Hosea chastises the people of Israel in God’s name, highlighting the fickleness and superficiality of their commitment to God. He ends his tirade with a warning: God will not be manipulated or bought off by behaviour common to religious people of all times and places. This is the attempt to placate God with sacrifices, rituals, acts of asceticism and the like, while protecting the core of one’s selfish personality. The assumption is that punctilious religious observance will persuade God to ignore or overlook the less admirable areas of our lives.
I’m writing this column in a room on the psychiatric ward of a large downtown hospital. I’m not here as a visitor or observer. I’m a patient.
The trees fluttered to and fro in a brisk autumn breeze. The scene at the back of St. Isaac Jogues Church was one filled with the sound of people tapping their feet to the music as the air was filled with the tantalizing smell of hamburgers and hot dogs cooking on the barbecue. Our pastor warmly greeted my family as he mixed and mingled among the crowd.
May 30, 2008
TORONTO - Ethicist Margaret Somerville challenged Catholic media to become “word warriors” and ethics agents to give people “the words they need to protect human dignity.”
May 31, 2008
TORONTO - Jesuit Father Frederico Lombardi urged Catholic media to highlight the positive and beautiful in Christian life, but at the same time not to duck the responsibility to recognize and denounce evil.