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November 27, 2009
Second Sunday of Advent (Year C) Dec. 6 (Baruch 5:1-9; Psalm 126; Philippians 1:3-6, 8-11; Luke 3:1-6) Clothes make the person — or so goes the old saying. But this very worldly principle is used often in the Scriptures to indicate something much deeper. Clothes in the biblical sense are indicators of one’s psychological and spiritual state — ways of thinking, worldview, values and personal identity.
WASHINGTON - The health reform legislation now before the U.S. Senate is “an enormous disappointment, creating new and completely unacceptable federal policy that endangers human life and rights of conscience,” the chairmen of three committees of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said Nov. 20. A letter from the three chairmen outlining the USCCB’s problems with the Senate bill’s provisions on abortion and conscience protections, coverage of immigrants and affordability for low-income Americans went out about 24 hours before the Senate voted, 60-39, to begin debate on the legislation. The debate was expected to begin Nov. 30 after senators returned from the Thanksgiving break.
The Little World of Fr. Raby, 1980-2007 by Msgr. Tom Raby (Catholic Register Books, 190 pages, $14.99.) On the matter of Msgr. Thomas J. Raby, I cannot be impartial. At the age of 91, and 64 years ordained, he is the proudest boast of the Kingston presbyterate — the faithful priest who even now, in his infirmity, lives his priesthood as best he can.
TORONTO - Painting is to Christine Granger as singing is to the choir. Granger, an accomplished iconographer, has spent the past 30 years capturing the divine on canvas, mostly producing icons of the Virgin Mary and child. “I can’t sing so I have to paint and I do it in colour and I do the same thing as the Gospel songs, I hope,” Granger said. “I praise and I thank and I say through my art Christianity is a wonder and a joy and I feel in spite of everything we have something so special in being Christian. We have this joy that can never leave us.”
TORONTO - A good Catholic can pressure cook their dearly departed in an alkaline solution so that most of the body can be flushed down the drain before the remaining clean white bones are crushed into a white powder, put in an urn and buried in consecrated ground, according to a Catholic ethicist. This technique for disposing of human remains is variously known as “alkaline hydrolysis ,” “bio-cremation” or “resomation.” Backers claim the process has a carbon footprint 20 times less than regular cremation. It’s not yet legal in Canada, let alone approved by any Canadian bishop, but Transition Sciences Ltd. is betting Canadians — including Catholics — will warm to the newest technology in mortuary science.
TORONTO - It’s an Olympic dream come true for 15-year-old Toronto student Luis Santiago-Gonsalves. Although he’s not competing at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the Grade 10 student at Toronto’s St. Patrick’s High School is going to be part of the Olympic legacy. He was recently chosen to carry the Olympic torch during its cross-Canada stop in Toronto on Dec. 17.
OAKVILLE, Ont. - The importance of going to Mass and God’s plan for their sainthood became clear to Grade 8 students from the Halton Region through dynamic presentations to boost their faith. The Halton Catholic District School Board’s 2,100 Grade 8 students were welcomed to Mary Mother of God parish in Oakville for the board’s first youth leadership rally Nov. 17-19.
My family billeted a group of young adults at our house for one night this month. Because I didn’t know any of them, I was afraid that I would be rejected and I felt very shy and insecure inside. During the evening I went down to the basement to get something, and as I walked, I asked Jesus to help me be myself around them. I heard His voice speak very clearly in my heart.
TORONTO - Thirty years after the John Paul II Care Centre of Copernicus Lodge opened, the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate influence is still strong. Tracy Kamino, executive director of Copernicus Lodge, said ties between the lodge and the Oblate priests continues. Despite now being a non-profit organization run by a board of directors, the board is continuing the Oblates’ legacy of caring for and looking after the needs of Toronto’s Polish community, though it is also open to non-Polish residents.
TORONTO - June Dickenson knows exactly what ails her and precisely what keeps her life on track. “Alzheimer’s. I’ve had it for some time,” she told a visitor. “I couldn’t do without this guy.” Dickenson’s guy is Norm, her husband of 56 years.
TORONTO - Village Mosaic has become the newest hot spot for senior residents of a southern Etobicoke neighbourhood to connect and have fun. The centre, run by the Sisters of St. Joseph, was officially opened in the fall and already receives up to 300 visits monthly. “The centre is just so warm and friendly and it doesn’t matter what race or religion you have,” said June Piitz, a visitor who also teaches line dancing at Village Mosaic.
TORONTO - Alvera Nyabasa grew up going to church in her native Zimbabwe, but she had little idea what was going on before she moved to Canada as an adult. Like 80 per cent of the world’s 1.3 million deaf Catholics who live in developing countries, Nyabasa grew up in a church that simply didn’t know how to deal with her. Today, attending Sunday Mass with the De Salles Chaplaincy to Toronto’s deaf community is a happy occasion for Nyabasa and her two boys. There at St. Stephen’s Chapel on Bay Street, Fr. Harry Stocks says Mass in American Sign Language, or, if another priest is covering the Mass, it is simultaneously translated.
TORONTO - A “theology of the street” put forward by retired Sen. Doug Roche could be the basis for Catholic participation in the peace movement, said Catholics for Peace spokesman Deacon Steve Barringer. Delivering the annual chancellor’s lecture at the University of Toronto’s Jesuit faculty of theology, Regis College, Nov. 20, Roche proposed a Catholic response to modern warfare which would replace just war theory with a call to dialogue and peace building.
TORONTO - After a gun-wielding 14-year-old killed his son Jason at the local high school, Anglican minister Dale Lang led a memorial service and publicly prayed for the killer and his family. That was 10 years ago, and to this day, the Taber, Alta., resident continues to share his story and message of forgiveness. Lang was in Toronto Nov. 20 for a restorative justice conference to speak about forgiveness as a means to break a cycle of violence.
TORONTO - Community stakeholders converged at St. Augustine of Canterbury Church Nov. 24 to celebrate a large donation to the parish’s planned Family Centre. Peter Groccia, president of Precise Parklink, donated $4,000, 10 computers and 15 printers for the centre, which is currently under construction on church property and will provide a home to a multitude of community and after-school programs to help keep kids off the street after school and build community in the Jane and Finch area.
OTTAWA - The House of Commons passed a resolution Nov. 24 to eliminate child poverty, calling on the federal government to develop “an immediate plan to eliminate poverty in Canada for all.” The motion — passed by the unanimous consent of the House leaders of the political parties — marked the 20th anniversary of the House’s unanimous resolution in 1989 to end child poverty in Canada by the year 2000.
TORONTO - Catholic charities remain hopeful that donors will continue to open their hearts and wallets this holiday season, despite donations having fallen to their lowest level since 2005. According to a Nov. 16 Statistics Canada report, Canadians donated $8.19 billion to charities in 2008, in the midst of the economic downturn, a 5.3-per-cent fall from the previous year. This was the lowest figure in four years when donations totalled $7.9 billion.
OTTAWA - REAL Women of Canada and the Catholic Civil Rights League are applauding the federal government’s efforts to curb child pornography on the Internet. “The Conservative government apparently has a grasp of the horrors of child pornography and the fact that Canada has the second highest worldwide rate, behind the U.S., for hosting child-porn sites,” said a news release from REAL Women Nov. 25. On Nov. 24, Justice Minister Rob Nicholson introduced Bill C-58, a third piece of legislation that would make it mandatory for Internet Service Providers to alert police of sites that link to child pornography and any tips they receive about sites they host. In June, he introduced two related bills: Bill C-46 that would require providers to give police the e-mail addresses and provider addresses of child porn viewers; Bill C-27 would require providers to create the technical ability for police to obtain information about clients.
November 28, 2009
Bus terminals, train stations and airports tend to be drab and colourless places that people simply pass through — with the exception of the days preceding Christmas. At this time of year, waiting areas in the “arrivals” zone are marked by waving arms, smiling faces and warm hugs as travellers land into the arms of loved ones. Want a rich Advent meditation? Just go to your local bus or train station and watch the scenes of reunion. Even though you don’t know any of the people you’re watching, you might find your own emotions rising up within you. And why is that? Because what we’re seeing touches our own deep longing and appreciation for relationships that bring us joy.
November 30, 2009
DUBLIN, Ireland - A report detailing failures of church leaders' handling of sex abuse cases in the archdiocese of Dublin has resulted in calls for bishops' resignations and further investigations and prosecution. "The Dublin archdiocese's preoccupations in dealing with cases of child sexual abuse, at least until the mid-1990s, were the maintenance of secrecy, the avoidance of scandal, the protection of the reputation of the church, and the preservation of its assets," said the report by the independent Commission of Investigation, headed by Judge Yvonne Murphy. "All other considerations, including the welfare of children and justice for victims, were subordinated to these priorities. The archdiocese did not implement its own canon law rules and did its best to avoid any application of the law of the state." The report said church officials and police colluded in covering up instances of child sexual abuse by clergy. The commission investigated the period from January 1975 to May 2004, during which time there were four Dublin archbishops: the late John Charles McQuaid, Dermot J. Ryan and Kevin McNamara and Cardinal Desmond Connell, who retired in 2004 and is now 83.