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December 2009

December 11

Changing your water to wine

December 11, 2009

A wise priest recently asked me to reflect on the Wedding at Cana, the site of Jesus’ first miracle. At Cana, when, to their great shame, the hosts of the wedding run out of wine, Mary informs Jesus of the situation and then tells the servants, “Do whatever He tells you.” Jesus guides every step from then onward until He miraculously turns the water into the very best wine.

Salesian retreat a success with students

December 11, 2009

TORONTO - As two buses pulled into the parking lot of St. Benedict’s parish on Nov. 29, a group of 60 Grade 11 students from Catholic secondary schools across Toronto began “a new chapter of their lives.” The students, who had spent the previous weekend on a Salesian Leadership Retreat north of Toronto, returned “lighter,” said Atrin Parastesh, a retreatant from Bishop Allen Academy.

Give up self in service to God

December 11, 2009

Fourth Sunday of Advent (Year C) Dec. 20 (Micah 5:2-5; Psalm 80; Hebrews 10:5-10; Luke 1:39-45) One of the little (some translations say “least”) clans of Judea — not what a city would want to put on its promotional literature or web site. And yet who has not heard of Bethlehem? Great things definitely come from seemingly insignificant origins.

Changing government priorities close the door on KAIROS

December 11, 2009

Canada’s International Development Agency (CIDA) has cut off funding to KAIROS, Canada’s main ecumenical social justice group which, for decades, had maintained a stable and respectful relationship with CIDA. KAIROS brings together 11 national churches and faith-based organizations that collectively represent 18 million Canadians. But due to CIDA’s abrupt about face the future existence of KAIROS is now in doubt. The decision to wholly terminate a long-standing program relationship (a four-year cost sharing arrangement worth about $9 million, of which CIDA contributes about $7 million) means KAIROS must make sharp funding cuts to more than 20 ecumenical and citizens’ organizations around the world. CIDA says that KAIROS was just not a “fit” with the agency’s emerging priorities. But those who watched this story unfold think KAIROS was a victim of CIDA’s moving goal posts.

Spanish archbishop chosen as new apostolic nuncio to Canada

December 11, 2009

OTTAWA - Pope Benedict XVI has appointed Spanish Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana as the new apostolic nuncio to Canada. The Holy See made the announcement Dec. 10. “Once again the Holy Father has shown his great care and love for Canada in assigning a first class nuncio to this country in the person of Archbishop Pedro Lopez Quintana,” said Salt + Light Television CEO Fr. Thomas Rosica, who first met Canada’s new nuncio at the Secretariat of State when Rosica was preparing for World Youth Day 2002 in Toronto.

December 12

Tony Blair Foundation teams up with McGill University

December 12, 2009

McGill University has become the first Canadian academic institute, and the fourth university worldwide, to partner with the Tony Blair Faith Foundation’s Faith and Globalization Initiative and expand its research on religious issues. The foundation was launched by former British Prime Minister Blair in May 2008 to promote respect and understanding about the world’s major religions and show how faith is a powerful force for good in the modern world.

December 16

Kennedy hopes to lead Toronto Catholic school board out of provincial supervision

December 16, 2009

TORONTO - Despite facing a court appearance on a charge of conflict of interest, trustee Angela Kennedy was re-elected chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board on Dec. 9. Kennedy is one of two Toronto Catholic trustees facing conflict of interest charges. Former chair Oliver Carroll was found guilty of 10 conflict-of-interest offences in February.

December 17

Bishop Lahey's case postponed until the new year

December 17, 2009

OTTAWA - Bishop Raymond Lahey, who was expected to appear in an Ottawa courtroom Dec. 16 on charges of possession and importation of child pornography, has had his case postponed until Jan. 13. A lawyer for the former bishop of Antigonish, N.S., asked for the postponement for procedural reasons.

Toronto nativity scene plaque honouring pro-life hero caught up in politics

December 17, 2009

TORONTO - Activists with Campaign Life Coalition were shocked to find themselves accused of playing pro-life politics with Christmas. All they wanted to do was honour an aging, beloved priest, said the head of Campaign Life’s Gethsemene Ministries. “I was quite surprised,” Suresh Dominic told The Catholic Register. After written complaints reached Mayor David Miller’s office, city officials asked Dominic to remove a sign from the back of the creche display in front of Old City Hall. The sign on a laminated 8X11 sheet of paper said the statues in the scene had been anonymously donated in honour of “pro-life hero Fr. Ted Colleton.”

Welcome publicity from creche controversy

December 17, 2009

It was petty of Toronto bureaucrats to demand that a tribute to Fr. Ted Colleton be removed from a Nativity scene outside Old City Hall. But like the Grinch, their mean-spiritedness provided a timely, if inadvertent, reminder of the spiritual truth of Christmas. The brouhaha erupted when a local do-gooder became upset because he noticed a Nativity scene that was associating Jesus, Mary and Joseph with the virtues of life and family. That mankind’s holiest family are the standard for the sanctity of family life would seem as obvious as city hall itself. But, this being the 21st century, a letter was fired off to the mayor and, quicker than you can say Big Brother, the Nativity scene was stripped of its pro-life endorsement.

Most understand Christmas is the season

December 17, 2009

Most of the advertising media and much of our public space at this time of year is devoted to Christmas. While creches, angels and peace candles are often part of the mix, there is no doubt that most messages are concerned with the cultural holiday, not the religious one. It’s no wonder that Christians have been expressing concerns for half a century or more that Christmas has become too commercialized and that religion has been pushed to the back of the line, if not out of the public space altogether. Since much of the grumbling seems to concern exchanges in shops and restaurants, I suspect merchants aren’t the only ones who regard the season as a business event. We’re all part of it.

Obama upsets Catholic right - again

December 17, 2009

Whatever you think of the current U.S. president, one thing is beyond dispute: Barack Obama certainly makes life interesting for the Catholic right. The latest kafuffle started with the appearance in early December of a New York Times profile of White House social secretary Desirée Rogers. In this piece, we learned that the Obama family had toyed with the idea of breaking with White House tradition and not putting up an antique manger scene in the East Room of the executive mansion. (A White House official later confirmed that there had indeed been a discussion of whether to make Christmas more “inclusive” — apparently by excluding the crèche.)

December 18

Environmentalism part of promoting peace, says Pope

December 18, 2009

VATICAN CITY - The degradation of the environment is a pressing moral problem that threatens peace and human life itself, Pope Benedict XVI said. “We cannot remain indifferent to what is happening around us, for the deterioration of any one part of the planet affects us all,” the Pope said in his message for World Peace Day, Jan. 1.

KAIROS reapplies for CIDA funding

December 18, 2009

KAIROS is willing to reapply for Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funding, but the ecumenical justice organization wants to know the new ground rules. “We’ve already spent six months on this proposal and discussions around this proposal, understanding that this was an excellent proposal and we got an excellent evaluation right in the middle of our work,” said KAIROS executive director Mary Corkery. At a brief meeting with CIDA Minister Bev Oda, KAIROS “didn’t learn very much,” Corkery said.

Strive to be at one with God

December 18, 2009

Holy Family (Year C) Dec. 27 (1 Samuel 1:20-22, 24-28; Psalm 84; 1 John 3:1-2, 21-24; Luke 2:41-52) The road to motherhood was a long and painful journey for Hannah as for many of the “barren women” of the Bible. Not only did she have to deal with the disappointment at being childless but the shame and guilt as well, for childlessness was thought to be a punishment or curse from God. Not even Hannah’s prayer to God was without difficulty — she had to endure the snide and contemptuous accusations of public drunkenness from Eli the prophet. But she was a woman of intense faith and her prayers were answered.

Religious retailers seeing the Christ in Christmas

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - The Christmas season always brings an upswing in sales for stores specializing in religious items as the public scrambles to buy Christmas cards and wreaths, gifts and Nativity sets for their home. But for some religious suppliers, this year brought some interesting surprises. “This year, surprisingly, we’ve been doing really well with Nativity sets. The general public has been buying full Nativity sets, adding pieces to their existing ones and also little baby Jesus’ on their own,” said Sal DiCarlo, head of DiCarlo Religious Supply Centre in Toronto.

Much can be learned of Holocaust sensibilities

December 18, 2009

No Going Back: Letters to Pope Benedict XVI on the Holocaust , Jewish-Christian Relations and Israel, Edited by Carol Rittner and Stephen D. Smith (Quill Press, softcover, 180 pages, $20). When Pope John Paul II visited Jerusalem and Palestine in 2000 he made a powerful and lasting impression. Prior to his visit and throughout his pontificate, the Catholic Church had done much to nurture and follow the spirit of Vatican II. Many Jews thought they had a friend in John Paul II and relations between the two faiths were warming.

Mummering for the holidays

December 18, 2009

It’s Boxing Day. A group of friends get together, put on strange clothes and cover their faces with masks and pillow cases. They walk to a stranger’s house, bang on the door and, in a fake voice, demand to be let in. You may think I’m describing a robbery, but it’s a favourite Christmas activity for many Newfoundlanders. It’s called mummering. Mummering, which came to Newfoundland with the first settlers from Ireland and England in the 1500s, is all about having a good time with friends and strangers alike during the Christmas season.

Symposium shows the homeless reality

December 18, 2009

TORONTO - Catholic students from across Toronto sat in silence as John Bransfield and Joey Ivory, a young engaged couple, described their tragic struggle with homelessness. The couple was asked to speak at the annual Social Justice Symposium, hosted by Brebeuf College School on Dec. 11, at Toronto’s University of St. Michael’s College campus.

Celtic performance celebrates all Irish

December 18, 2009

BRAMPTON, Ont. - Nearly 200 people gathered inside St. Marguerite D’Youville parish Dec. 11 to witness and enjoy otherworldly performances by many of Canada’s best musicians and musical directors, including Juno-nominated Loretto Reid. An ensemble of nine vocalists and six instrumentalists, mostly between the ages of 24-35, mixed traditional Celtic songs with contemporary Christmas carols on this evening, and again at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto Dec. 12.