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January 12, 2011
Third Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Jan. 23 (Isaiah 9:1-4; Psalm 27; 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17-18; Matthew 4:12-23) Walking in darkness and thirsting for a great light take on a special meaning during the long winter months. The many coloured lights of the Christmas season are but one attempt to roll back the gloom and compensate for the long hours of darkness. Thoughts of spring and long summer days are helpful during these months. But there is another kind of darkness: the sense of hopelessness and gloom that occur after a great disaster or tragedy. We can think of wars and natural disasters of our own time. Darkness and the absence of hope are often the daily bread of those whose homes, cities, families and lives have been devastated. Although light, hope and joy are in short supply they top everyone’s wish list.
When the message is displeasing, shoot the messenger. That old saying came to mind when I was reading Fr. Raymond de Souza’s final Catholic Register column (Dec. 26) for 2010. The messenger who got shot, in this case, was Globe and Mail correspondent Michael Valpy, the lead author of a five-part series on the “future of faith” in Canada that ran in the newspaper before Christmas.
Religious freedom cannot be reduced to freedom of worship. That’s the subtle, but essential point at the heart of Pope Benedict XVI’s message for the annual World Day of Peace. For nearly 50 years now, the Holy See has designated New Year’s Day as a special day to pray for peace. Each year the Holy Father selects a theme for his annual message, and for 2011 he selected religious liberty.
At the nursery school my children attended, parents were assigned duty days to maintain the required adult-to-child ratio. If you were assigned to group time or snack time you had to be prepared for any and all sorts of conversation. One morning, I listened along with four pre-schoolers as a little boy told how his family had gone out to buy a Christmas tree on the weekend. It was no ordinary trip to the Boy Scout lot or the garden centre, but a drive to the country where the perfect tree was selected. Dad chopped it down, they brought it home, set it up and put a star on it.
World religions [images/stories/international/internation11/worldreligions.jpg]The right to religious freedom is the first of human rights. With those unequivocal words, delivered to diplomats from around the world, Pope Benedict XVI proclaimed a cause that has become fundamental to his papacy. Religious freedom is being battered in many parts of the world and, with few leaders speaking out, Benedict has become the staunchest voice in the denunciation of religious persecution and intolerance. All people of religion should applaud him. The theme of religious liberty has appeared often recently in Benedict’s public comments, but perhaps never as forcefully as Jan. 10 during the Pope’s annual address to the Vatican diplomatic corps. The Holy See maintains diplomatic relations with 178 nations, as well as the European Union and observer status with the United Nations. Addressing the diplomatic corps at the start of each year, the Pope outlines the Vatican’s position on an important international issue, anything from peace to the environment to world trade.
For years I travelled extensively to deliver seminars on how to develop the skills and habits to be successful at life and work. One of those skills was goal setting. Visualizing, setting and implementing goals can be an amazing experience. It became a passion and I loved teaching others how to set and achieve their goals. For years, I set personal goals, sometimes weekly, daily or even hourly, and always yearly.
January 13, 2011
TORONTO - Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins will meet with abuse victims and lead a penitential service in the course of a two-week visit to the archdiocese of Cashel and Emly in Ireland. Collins’ apostolic visit to Ireland, which began Jan. 13, was mandated by Pope Benedict XVI’s March 19, 2010 pastoral letter to the Catholics of Ireland. Along with Collins’ visit to Cashel and Emly, Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., has visited the archdiocese of Tuam, Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O’Connor, archbishop emeritus of Westminster, England, will visit Armagh and Boston’s Cardinal Sean O’Malley is visiting Dublin. The program of apostolic visitation to Ireland also includes a trip by New York’s Archbishop Timothy Dolan to Ireland’s seminaries, and a delegation of religious visiting the religious orders. Collins will lead a penitential service in the Cathedral of the Assumption in Thurles on Jan. 16 at 3 p.m. Thurles is about an hour-and-a-half drive west of Dublin. All of the apostolic visitors to Ireland will meet with victims, with a particular emphasis on meeting individuals and families.
Blasphemy protests [images/stories/international/internation11/blasphemysupporters.jpg]VATICAN CITY - Religious freedom and religious diversity are not threats to society and should not be a source of conflict, Pope Benedict XVI told diplomats from around the world. The Pope asked the representatives of 178 countries, as well as of the Palestine Liberation Organization, the European Community and the Knights of Malta, to examine how well their own countries respect the right of individuals to believe, to act in accordance with their conscience, to gather with other believers for worship and to carry out the educational and social projects their faith inspires. Pope Benedict met Jan. 10 with diplomats accredited to the Holy See and continued his Christmas-season focus on the connection between religious liberty and peace, and on threats to full religious freedom in Western democracies as well as in countries notorious for violating human rights. Once again he denounced recent attacks on Christians in Iraq, Egypt and Nigeria and expressed concern about the recent renewal of Chinese government restrictions on Catholics there. Condemning the murder Jan. 4 of Salman Taseer, the governor of Punjab in Pakistan, the Pope said the country must overturn its blasphemy law, which makes insulting the Prophet Mohammed or the Quran punishable by death. Taseer supported the move to abrogate the law, which the Pope said often “serves as a pretext of acts of injustice and violence against religious minorities.”
Exorcism [images/stories/features/freature11/exorcismhelp.jpg]TORONTO - Exorcisms have always piqued the Hollywood imagination and provided a steady source of material for filmmakers in the horror genre. And with a new movie set for release Jan. 28, plus a reality-TV series on exorcists, Hollywood is once again entering the battleground of good versus evil. The Rite, a horror film featuring Anthony Hopkins, is based on a book by journalist Matt Baglio about the accounts of an American exorcist. Meanwhile, the Discovery Channel is working on a reality show called The Exorcist Files. Fr. John Horgan, a scholar on exorcisms and pastor at Vancouver’s Sts. Peter and Paul parish, was a consultant to the 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose, a movie loosely based on an actual case in Germany. He cautions that Hollywood versions of exorcism usually provide a “liberal” interpretation of the actual rite. Scenes of “being chained and tied up has nothing to do with the Catholic rite of exorcism,” he said.
Iraqi sponsorship [images/stories/toronto/toronto11/archdiocesesponsorship2.jpg]TORONTO - The process is underway for the archdiocese of Toronto to sponsor the Hermez family, Iraqi Christians currently residing in Lebanon, Fr. Edward Curtis told a group of about 30 people at the Catholic Pastoral Centre on Jan. 10. “The archbishop is the one who is technically sponsoring them,” said Curtis. “He’s signed the papers himself. It’s all been sent to begin the process but no individual can sponsor a family, it always has to be done by a group according to immigration laws.”
Basketball girls [images/stories/education/education11/basketballgirls.jpg]TORONTO - Most basketball players have a conventional notion of what makes a great basketball photo. The great photos show a player rising above the rest — a hand blocking a shot, a rebound plucked out of mid-air, a shot launched with precision. But those heroic moments aren’t how 5’9” centre Cesarine Moundele of the St. Joseph’s College School Rough Riders thinks of her sport or her team. When I asked the team what sort of picture would best tell the story of basketball at their school, Moundele said, “A picture of the bench.” Teammates all around her agreed. What makes their team is all of them, together, cheering each other, supporting each other. “We’re like family,” said 5’0” guard Christi-Ann Miole. The Rough Rider’s improbable coach Francesco Maltifitano — who made his mark playing soccer, not basketball — turned away from the kids to hide his smile. He was as proud of this answer as he was of any of their wins. Challenged to say why basketball should matter at all in a Catholic school, 5’4” guard Raize Dela Pena said, “You learn teamwork. You know you’re not alone in the world.”
What came first, the chicken or the egg? I am sure everyone has heard this question and attempted to tackle it — and always been unsuccessful in the end. As scientific and technological advancements continue in the modern world, our religious beliefs and values are often challenged. As Catholics, we can find ourselves torn between religion and science, but it is possible to reach a consensus. Looking at different viewpoints about how the world came into being highlights why this schism exists.
Bottled water free zone [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/nobottledwater.jpg]TORONTO - As part of the Canadian Catholic Organization for Development and Peace’s year-long campaign against the privatization of water, Catholic high schools in the archdiocese of Toronto are working to create “bottled water free zones” within their schools. Themed “Water for All: Let Justice Flow,” the kick-off for the campaign in schools took place over three student workshop days held in November for more than 400 students in the Greater Toronto Area. Since then, schools have started to take action. “The idea is to create a culture where students don’t bring bottled water or use bottled water even though they may have the right,” said Luke Stocking, Central Ontario Animator for Development and Peace.
Green team [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/greenteam.jpg]Vancouver - The Green Team, a new environmental club at St. Patrick Regional Secondary School in Vancouver, is giving students the opportunity to let the environment take centre stage. Grade 11 students Veronika Bylicki and Grace Wicken founded the environmental club in September to help the students become more aware of environmental issues that surround them and encourage them to take action in their local community. “As Catholics we should be stewards taking care of the Earth and of God’s creation,” said Bylicki. The two co-founders felt that a club of this kind was needed.
Politically correct books [images/stories/arts/arts11/bookspoliticalcorrectness.jpg]What does Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jackson and Malcolm X have to do with teaching children about the Catholic faith? According two new books for Catholic students, teaching kids about Catholic saints and traditions means teaching them about multiculturalism and social justice, while skimming on details about the Catholic Mass. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with introducing children to the hot-button issues of our time like combating racism. In fact, it’s crucial to make the connection between faith and how it is lived out in society. But in trying to be all things to all people, Jeanne Hunt’s Celebrating Saints and Seasons: Hundreds of Activities for Catholic Children (St. Anthony Messenger Press) and Lisa Freemantle and Les Miller’s Words for the Journey for Kids: Ten-Minute Prayer Services for Schools (Novalis) may be taking kids on a detour that falls short of teaching kids what their faith is really about.
VATICAN CITY - In the wake of Egypt's displeasure at recent comments by the Pope, the Vatican's foreign minister met with Egypt's ambassador to the Vatican before the minister was recalled to Cairo for consultations. Archbishop Dominique Mamberti, whose formal title is secretary for relations with states, met with Ambassador Lamia Aly Hamada Mekhemar Jan. 11, just hours after she was told to return to Cairo in response to Pope Benedict XVI's appeal to Egypt to protect Christians. The Vatican said in a written statement that it "fully supports the government's concerns about 'avoiding an escalation of clashes and tensions for religious reasons,' and appreciates the efforts that it is taking in this direction."
BANGALORE, India - Catholic officials in Pakistan expressed disappointment after Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani reiterated there would be no amendment to the country's blasphemy law, which makes insulting the Prophet Mohammed or the Quran punishable by life imprisonment or death. "This is a setback. We have to take it in our stride and move on," Archbishop Lawrence Saldanha of Lahore, president of the Pakistan Catholic Bishops' Conference, told Catholic New Service Jan. 12, hours after the prime minister's remarks. "We are really disappointed," Peter Jacob, executive secretary of the church's National Commission for Justice and Peace, told CNS from his office in Lahore.
January 14, 2011
John Paul II [images/stories/historical_people/PopeJohnPaulII/JPIIWYDToronto.jpg]VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI approved a miracle attributed to Pope John Paul II's intercession, clearing the way for the late pope's beatification on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday. Pope Benedict's action Jan. 14 followed more than five years of investigation into the life and writings of the Polish pontiff, who died in April 2005 after more than 26 years as pope. The Vatican said it took special care with verification of the miracle, the spontaneous cure of a French nun from Parkinson's disease — the same illness that afflicted Pope John Paul in his final years. Three separate Vatican panels approved the miracle, including medical and theological experts, before Pope Benedict signed the official decree.
January 17, 2011
Toronto Archbishop Thomas Collins' apostolic visit to the Irish archdiocese of Cashel and Emly started off with a reality check on the harm done by priests who abuse their position of trust for sex. "Even one priest gone wrong causes immense harm, and throughout the world priests have done unspeakable evil," Collins told a penitential service at Thurles Cathedral in County Tipperary on Jan. 16. Collins' visit is in the wake of the sexual abuse scandal that came to light in the Irish Church. It was mandated by Pope Benedict XVI last March.
January 18, 2011
Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) Jan. 30 (Zephaniah 2:3; 3:12-13; Psalm 146; 1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Matthew 5:1-12) Most people would not view being poor as something desirable but a misfortune to be avoided at all costs. We do not see any particular virtue in having an empty bank account. But the poor — the anawim — are praised in the Old Testament for they are especially close to God and enjoy His favour. In this context poverty has a far broader definition than mere lack of wealth. The anawim are cut off from the usual avenues of power in society, disenfranchised, and find themselves with only God as their defender and protector. Part of their isolation stems from their refusal to “play the game” by engaging in the cold and crafty machinations of the power struggles that surround them or the culture of lies and deceit that often accompanies it.