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December 2008

December 12

Marian shrine attracts devoted following

December 12, 2008

TORONTO - Some call it a place of miracles. For Ukrainian Catholic priest Fr. Basil Cembalista, OSBM, the Marian Monument of Gratitude is also a place of prayer and thanksgiving. Little known outside its circle of devoted visitors, the Marian shrine which Cembalista built has steadily drawn crowds and interest from many Roman Catholic groups.

Rwandan genocide survivor's speaking tour threatened

December 12, 2008

TORONTO - A Rwandan genocide survivor who has been denied entry into Canada is launching a final appeal so that she will be able to speak about reconciliation at aboriginal reserves in Manitoba and Ontario. Having exhausted all of her options for a visitor's visa, Patricie Mukundiyukuri, 24, has now applied for a minister's permit, also known as a temporary resident permit.

December 15

Dulles was the oldest living U.S. cardinal

December 15, 2008

WASHINGTON - Cardinal Avery Dulles, a Jesuit theologian who was made a cardinal in 2001, died Dec. 12 at the Jesuit infirmary in New York. A cause of death was not released but he had been in poor health. At 90, Cardinal Dulles had been the oldest living U.S. cardinal. His death "brings home to God a great theologian and a totally dedicated servant of the church," said Cardinal Francis George, president of the U.S. bishops.

December 16

Some biotech advances playing God, Vatican says

December 16, 2008

VATICAN CITY - A new Vatican document warned that certain recent developments in stem-cell research, gene therapy and embryonic experimentation violate moral principles and reflect an attempt by man to “take the place of his Creator.” The latest advances raise serious questions of moral complicity for researchers and other biotech professionals, who have a duty to refuse to use biological material obtained by unethical means, the document said.

December 17

Report calls for increase in welfare rates

December 17, 2008

TORONTO - One way to stimulate the economy, according to some poverty advocacy groups, would be to increase welfare rates. Clarence Lochhead, executive director of the Vanier Institute of the Family , said as politicians and economists consider ways of dealing with the economic crisis, they should take a look at increasing social assistance payments.

December 18

Nuns inducted into Order of Canada

December 18, 2008

OTTAWA - Two nuns, the founder of the Reform Party and the first Reform Party MP were inducted into the Order of Canada at a Rideau Hall ceremony Dec. 12. They chose to receive Canada’s highest civilian honour, despite the controversy over abortionist Henry Morgentaler’s appointment last July 1 that has led about a dozen Canadians, including Montreal Cardinal Jean-Claude Turcotte , to return their awards. Earlier this month the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate — Assumption Province returned the Order of Canada honouring two of its deceased members.

CCCB Christmas message: Be aware of the shepherds in our midst

December 18, 2008

Material, economic poverty is certainly not a blessing. Yet it is often those who are poor economically who are more trusting in God, more generous in sharing with others and more hopeful in the future. Although material riches are meant to help us, so often they burden us with false hopes, turning our eyes away from the needs of others and making us less confident in the power and graciousness of God. Even worse, material riches can blind us from seeing how the worst forms of poverty are not lack of wealth or possessions, but lack of dignity, acceptance and love.

Let us pray

December 18, 2008

As we mark with joy the coming of the Saviour, let us spare a prayer for our world. What should we pray? A few suggestions: Let us pray that, somehow, tribal conflict in the Congo can be resolved and that the United Nations gather enough international effort to help bring an end to the violence in that war torn nation.

Herod's shadow is still with us

December 18, 2008

The Christmas season is the prime film-launch time of the year. There are the award nominations to consider as well as the simple commercial fact that this is the time when families go to movies in droves. So, brace yourselves for the onslaught of the sublime and the absurd, the elegantly crafted and the insipid, the insightful and the hopelessly banal. Alas, the numbers of genuinely accomplished works of art are few, the formula-driven installments of previous successes omnipresent, and the range of offerings shamelessly constrained by myopic distributors.

Listened to any voices lately?

December 18, 2008

Sometimes it takes a while to see what’s at the end of your nose. I was groaning under the weight of things: impossible duties, unfulfilled hopes, unending worries, immovable problems. My inner chambers had become cramped and narrow, like a house I saw once. It was crammed from floor to ceiling with things, sofas on chairs on tables, broken crates, old hub caps, huddles of books, while the owner lived in narrow crooked pathways carved through the piled mountains. Like the man in the narrow pathways, I felt constricted and controlled, trying to live in tight little mental warrens hemmed in by earthly cares.

An angel still looks over them

December 18, 2008

TORONTO - He may not be the Christmas angel but St. Michael has spent many Christmases with patients’ loved ones during the holidays at St. Michael’s Hospital in downtown Toronto. The full-sized marble statue of the angel has been sitting in the hospital’s Victoria Street entrance since 1997. Before that it quietly guarded the older Bond Street entrance after its rescue from a second-hand store on Queen Street some time in the late 1890s by members of the hospital’s founders, the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Spiritan seeks aid for Malawi seminary

December 18, 2008

TORONTO - Missionary work seldom evokes the thought of spiritual direction at a seminary, yet that is exactly what Fr. Locky Flanagan is preparing to do in Malawi in the new year. The Spiritan priest from Ireland has served two stints as a missionary in the southern African country, both in the early 1980s and then again in 2000 — a total of 10 years. When he wasn’t serving in Malawi, Flanagan was based here in Toronto. But his recent decision to spend at least the next six months again in Malawi to spiritually guide the seminarians has also extended to a desire to help out financially.

Blessed are those called to single life

December 18, 2008

Yesterday I got an e-mail from a dating web site aimed at Catholics. I don’t like dating companies; I think they exploit people. Yesterday’s e-mail only reinforced this opinion. Its subject line was “Don’t Be Alone This Christmas.” The implication was that for a certain sum a month, I wouldn’t have to be. Every year secular newspapers run gloomy articles about Christmas. By Christmas Day it will be well rubbed into us that the season is a sad time of year for many people. It is sad for those who feel they are too poor to celebrate adequately. It is sad for those who walk into family dysfunction. And it is sad for those who have no “partner” with whom to go to parties. It can be hard to be a single person at Christmas.

A Christian's pain can be life-giving

December 18, 2008

With the Dawn Rejoicing: A Christian Perspective on Pain and Suffering by Melannie Svoboda, SND (Novalis, 138 pages, softcover, $14.95). Each of us has experienced pain in some way. We may have lost a loved one or seen a loved one suffer. Perhaps we have been injured or fallen sick. Or maybe we have struggled with uncertainty, broken relationships or disappointments. When such hardships come upon us we often find ourselves asking, “Why is this happening?” At times we may ask, “Why has God let this happen?” or “Where is God in all of this?”

Helping women move out of shelters

December 18, 2008

TORONTO - It’s been three years since Lynne Fisher moved out of a shelter and into her own apartment. The 49-year-old marital abuse survivor was on the brink of homelessness and credits the Independent Living Account program for helping her regain her independence. The Social and Enterprise Development Innovations , or SEDI, started the $146,000 financial literacy program in 2005. It currently teaches shelter residents how to save money, pay bills and prepare to move out on their own. The program also offers a matched saving incentive of $3 for every $1 deposited into a savings account with TD Bank Financial Group. TD and the National Club of Toronto are donating the matched funds for the 61 residents in the program, each of whom can save a maximum of $400 and have those savings matched up to $1,200.

Family history fills this Christmas tree

December 18, 2008

In magazines and on TV, the Christmas trees are tall, symmetrical and tastefully decorated using just the right amount of restraint. Sets of ornaments are evenly distributed and garland perfectly draped. Oftentimes there’s a colour scheme — blue and white or red and gold, for example — with impeccably co-ordinated trimmings. In contrast, our family Christmas tree (always a real one, and so intrinsically imperfect), contains an eclectic mix of embellishments accumulated over many years. All of them, though, have meaning, and so rather than one more holiday task to be completed, decorating the tree is a welcome walk down memory lane.

Using the weapon of words

December 18, 2008

I have always enjoyed meals when my entire family is present. The laughter is contagious and we all relish revisiting memories and experiences. The topics I look forward to the most are more serious topics like politics or world issues. This is because my views and opinions would always build up and I would want to contribute. Yet because of my age, views were automatically labelled unimportant and then ignored by the older members of my family. Accepting defeat, I would then hide my frustration by concentrating on the meal before me.

Redeemer pro-life club off to successful start

December 18, 2008

ANCASTER, Ont. - They call themselves Humanae Heartbeat. With the support of the school and classmates at Redeemer University College in Ancaster, outside of Hamilton, students Allie Klassen and Jessica Dunn have re-established the school’s pro-life club, which had collapsed last year due to a lack of proper leadership. There are already approximately 50 members in the club, many of whom attend meetings on a bi-weekly basis since the club began in September.

Christmas gift ideas

December 18, 2008

Christmas gifts don’t have to be expensive to be heartfelt and generous. With Christmas day upon us, there is still plenty of time to put together something memorable. To help you out, members of the Youth Speak News team have kindly shared some of their favourite gift and wrapping ideas that are meaningful and different.

Mary, the model of motherhood

December 18, 2008

Christmas centres on the Nativity, the birth of Christ who came into the world to save us from our sins. There would be no birth, of course, if there were no mother. As the poet Coventry Pattmore has remarked, Mary is “Our only Saviour from an abstract Christ.” If there is a secondary message that Christmas brings, yet one that is still intimately tied to the first, it is the motherhood of Mary which, in turn, serves as the model for all motherhood. This message takes on greater significance in an age in which motherhood, in many instances, is routinely eviscerated into a “choice.”