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December 2009

December 3

25 years and growing for Marguerite Bourgeoys Centre

December 3, 2009

“It’s a very exciting time in our work,” said Margaret Smith, a nurse, Creighton Model System practitioner and the centre’s program director. “And we already have plans for future education programs in other areas of Ontario and Canada.” As Toronto’s Marguerite Bourgeoys Centre is the largest of its kind in Canada, practitioners in London, Ont., and Calgary have asked the centre to provide the training program locally, which the Toronto centre hopes to do in 2010 and 2011.

The Choir Boy connects new, old Toronto

December 3, 2009

TORONTO - If you’re strolling by the Eaton Centre this Christmas season, you should know there’s a Christmas present waiting for you in one of the store windows. It’s not a Nintendo Wii, a box of chocolates or anything else you might feel compelled to buy before Dec. 25. It’s just a story about a St. Michael’s Choir School boy, his family and the build-up to Christmas. It’s called The Choir Boy and will be presented in 25 installments in a downtown Sears store window between Nov. 30 and Christmas Eve. It will also be posted online at www.thechoirboy.ca .

Adopt-a-Family shows someone cares at Christmas

December 3, 2009

TORONTO - Mary Hatch is comfortably retired from a career in banking that saw her take on various managerial roles. Her kids are in university and starting careers. She lives in one of Toronto’s leafy old neighbourhoods where the houses sell for un-godly sums. In the normal course of her day, or her year, Hatch’s life would never intersect with the life of a single mother who can’t afford a bath mat or towels or a microwave. In Hatch’s parish and neighbourhood mothers don’t fear Christmas because they have no chance of fulfilling Christmas wishes. In Hatch’s world standardized sheets for a crib, a winter coat from Wal-Mart or winter boots are basics, not Christmas gifts.

Real love is about more than fleeting symbols

December 3, 2009

Love: it’s a simple four-letter word, often misused, that brings to mind the picturesque image of a couple frolicking towards each other through a meadow of sunflowers. If that’s what love really is, I wouldn’t understand why everyone was chasing after it. Especially since sunflowers attract bees and various other buzzing insects. As a Catholic teen, I am often conflicted between the difference between God’s love and the world’s idea of love. At first glance, the worldly love seems much more interesting. Red roses, candy hearts with cheesy lines and love letters. They are all symbols of love given to someone. However, I noticed, even as a child, that these symbols quickly fade: the red roses wilt and turn brown, the candy hearts are eaten and the love letter is often torn in two or forgotten.

Building bridges between campus ministries

December 3, 2009

For the first time ever, 12 Catholic movements and organizations met in Toronto to discuss how to “build the Body of Christ on campus” Nov. 30-Dec.1. Bishop Fred Colli, representing the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops at the event, said the Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry board recognized the importance of talking about a comprehensive ministry that would better serve students.

December 4

Mississauga youth host families in transition

December 4, 2009

MISSISSAUGA, Ont. - When asked about the conflicts she faced in her home country of Nigeria, J.P., who did not wish to disclose her full name, was shaken up in discussing an unjust past she has worked hard to put behind her. Hers is a story of courage and determination shared by 135 refugees who attended the seventh annual Family Faith Night dinner and talent show at St. Marcellinus Catholic Secondary School Nov. 26. J.P. came to Canada in 2001, a process that was far from easy. Along with her two sons, Kenny, seven, and Alex, 12, J.P. found support and comfort in Sojourn House, a “short-term shelter for refugees who have no option to stay somewhere decent, and a transitional house that provides a longer-time stay for refugees who have experienced trauma,” said Everton Gordon, the shelter manager.

Struggling Catholic university students turn to chaplaincy

December 4, 2009

OTTAWA - Many Catholic students at Carleton University turn to their faith as a coping mechanism as high tuition fees become increasingly stressful. Michael Bingham, a first-year Computer Science student, acknowledged high tuition costs have made it very difficult and stressful for students. While his financial situation is not as grave as some, Bingham admits that with tuition being where it is, he could see himself “having a difficult time if I were in their situation.”

World Vision launches Five for 5

December 4, 2009

TORONTO - Canada should urge other governments at next summer’s G8 summit to fight child poverty and improve children’s health around the world, says World Vision advocate and Canadian singer-songwriter Tom Cochrane. “Five years should not be a lifetime for a child,” Cochrane told The Catholic Register.

Do right by nature

December 4, 2009

World leaders are descending on Copenhagen this week for a UN climate conference that seeks an aggressive strategy to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Their ultimate goal is a new international agreement to replace the failed 1990 Kyoto accord. It is an ambitious undertaking and, even before it starts, Canada has been cast among the villains. The UN General Secretary has singled out Canada as lacking stringent reduction targets. Former U.S. vice-president Al Gore has been targeting the Alberta tar sands as a threat to the planet’s survival. The left-leaning Guardian newspaper of London published a column that called Canada a “corrupt petro-state” that, more than any other nation, has been trying to sabotage a new climate agreement.

Faith groups' hiring rights under the microscope

December 4, 2009

Arguments will begin Dec. 15 in Ontario Divisional Court in the appeal of the decision by the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal against Christian Horizons . The tribunal ruled against the social service agency in April, 2008, stating that it cannot insist on faith requirements in its hiring, nor require employees to sign agreements attesting to such requirements. The decision raised significant concerns about the freedom of all religious organizations to require employees to pledge to adhere to tenets of a religious faith. Christian Horizons operates more than 180 residential homes for people with developmental disabilities and provides support and services to about 1,400 people. It is funded almost entirely by the province, receiving about $75 million each year.

King Tut's glory bought at great human price

December 4, 2009

In the enormously rich drama of dynastic Egypt, the pharaoh Tutankamun played a very minor role. He was born around 1343 B.C., a century after the traditional date of Israel’s Exodus from Egyptian subjugation and during the period when the People of God were settling in Canaan. He assumed the crown of his politically troubled empire at age nine, and died when he was just 19. During his short reign, Tutankhamun (“living image of the god Amun”) appears to have backed a restoration of Egypt’s elaborate polytheism, which had been forcefully suppressed by his father, the pharaoh Akhenaten. If so, Tutankamun was still never forgiven for being the heretic Akhenaten’s son: His statues were defaced after his death and his name was largely written out of Egyptian history. But despite his long obscurity, no ancient Egyptian is more popular today or more familiar to us than this royal young man. We know his serene and handsome face from the portrait-casket of solid gold that enclosed him in death. We know the games he liked to play, the beautiful wooden boxes he handled, even the bed he slept on. We know Tutankhamun so well because, in 1922, the British archeologist Howard Carter broke the seal on his tomb and found its treasury of grave-goods unplundered. The discovery of this trove of household furniture, jewellery, statuary and much else — interred for the king’s use in the afterlife — made headlines around the world. It also set in motion a wave of Egyptomania that persisted through the 1920s and, in some sense, has never subsided to this day.

Light over darkness

December 4, 2009

Recently, I was chatting with a friend about many things — the state of Christianity, of the economy, the world, our lives, people we know. Finally my friend remarked, “The older I get, the more I see that there’s far more evil than good in the world.” His comment was quite understandable. Whether you look around, or whether you look within, it’s evident that evil twines everywhere, like a serpent coiling around one’s legs or a vine climbing a stone wall. We happened to be sitting in front of a display of beautiful Christmas merchandise: wreaths, trees, toys, gifts and a stunning life-size nativity set. The nativity figures were all swathed in flowing clothes of filmy materials that enhanced their beauty, the way clothes should. The figures were artfully arranged so that they seemed to glorify one another, the way people should. The whole effect was a vision of loveliness, without shadow or pain or evil.

Toronto's Out of the Cold program faces higher demand

December 4, 2009

TORONTO - Amanda Inglis and Milton Silcus say they’re getting their “daily bread” and spiritual nourishment at St. Patrick’s Church’s Out of the Cold program. “St. Patrick’s Church gives us some grounding and support,” Inglis, 40, said. Inglis and Silcus are part of a growing trend at some Out of the Cold centres in the city. At least two Catholic-affiliated centres at St. Patrick’s Church and the First Interfaith group at St. Matthew’s United Church are reporting an increased demand for their services during the economic downturn.

Lessons learned from Christianity's medieval past

December 4, 2009

Medieval Christianity in Practice , edited by Miri Rubin (Princeton University Press, 360 pages, $85). In this new book, old voices offer lessons to modern Christians about the diversity and flexibility of their faith. Medieval Christianity in Practice gives short excerpts from medieval writings describing how medieval Christians lived their religion and provides commentary by leading scholars. The Middle Ages ended 500 years ago, but the period still inspires — and haunts — the 21st-century church. So it’s worth a visit. The title evokes one of two opposite responses. For some, medieval Christianity represents the “good old days” when the Catholic Church presided over an undivided Christendom that seamlessly fused secular and religious spheres of life. Medieval conjures up soaring cathedrals, Latin chant, studious monks and nuns, wonder-working saints, heroic crusaders and a pious laity. Self-styled Catholic traditionalists see themselves as the preservers of an authentic and timeless faith passed down from the Middle Ages.

Challenge to Morgentaler's Order of Canada dismissed

December 4, 2009

Order of Canada recipient Frank Chauvin has said thanks, but no thanks, to the country’s highest civilian honour. Chauvin will be returning his Order of Canada after a federal court judge dismissed his application on Nov. 24 challenging abortion doctor Henry Morgentaler’s appointment to the order. “The Order of Canada is nice and all, but give it to somebody who deserves it and wants it,” Chauvin told The Catholic Register from Windsor, Ont.

Conservatives show weakened resolve on death penalty

December 4, 2009

TORONTO - Heavy condemnation of Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his Conservative government for its pick-and-choose approach to protecting Canadians facing the death penalty abroad came up repeatedly during the third annual Cities for Life protest in Toronto. “We now have, for the first time in more than 50 years, a Prime Minister and a government who support the death penalty, who believe in the death penalty,” said James Lockyer, director of the Association in Defense of the Wrongly Convicted .

God asks that we be compassionate, just

December 4, 2009

Third Sunday of Advent (Year C) Dec. 13 (Zephaniah 3:14-18; Isaiah 12; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18) Prophets seldom make pleasant company, and the prophecies of Zephaniah for the most part do not make for pleasant reading. Writing during the reign of Josiah in the seventh century BC, Zephaniah preached against idolatry and other forms of religious corruption. In his attempts to stir the people to moral and spiritual renewal, he prophesied doom and misery for Jerusalem as punishment. He even expanded his prophecy to include the rest of the world in the coming judgment called the “Day of the Lord.” In their eyes, these warnings and prophecies were fulfilled with the destruction of the first temple in 586 BC by the Babylonians.

Oberammergau carries a passion for the greatest story ever told

December 4, 2009

It’s a testament to human tenacity and faith that the people of a tiny Bavarian village, keeping a promise made four centuries ago, will again hold performances of the Oberammergau Passion Play next year. Following the deaths of 80 townspeople in 1633 from a plague that swept Europe during the Thirty Years War, the people of Oberammergau promised to perform a play depicting the suffering, death and resurrection of Our Lord Jesus Christ every 10 years if they could be spared further deaths. Miraculously, the epidemic ended and the following year the first presentation took place. Since then, with only a few exceptions when world events intervened, the people of Oberammergau have kept their pledge.

Finding shelter at St. Clare Inn

December 4, 2009

TORONTO - What are the chances an illiterate, alcoholic, drug addicted, bipolar, paranoid schizophrenic woman is going to pull it together, learn to read, hold down a job, stay on her medications and begin a mini-career as a stand-up comedian? Linda Chamberlain is that woman, and at 60 she looks back at her 25 years of fear, despair and homelessness with disbelief. She also knows precisely what saved her life.

Copenhagen climate change talks must consider effect on poor

December 4, 2009

World leaders and negotiators participating in the UN Climate Change Conference must remember that the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people will suffer most from environmental factors, church activists say. “This is a pivotal point for all people of faith and good will,” said Cliona Sharkey, policy and advocacy officer for CIDSE , an international network of Catholic development agencies. “We simply cannot accept the continuation of a situation that is impacting on the people who have contributed least to the problem.”