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March 2011

March 16

Lenten fasting brings its challenges

March 16, 2011

“I think this Lent we’ll give up meat,” I mused. My husband, the super-traditionalist formerly Episcopalian convert, looked unhappy. Scotland is a meat-and-potatoes society, its diet consisting chiefly of meat, potatoes and distilled essence of grain. “We can have fish, though, right?” he enquired. “Sure,” I said. “We can have anything my grandparents would have had before 1963.”

The Lord is with us, in good times and bad

March 16, 2011

Third Sunday of Lent (Year A) March 27 (Exodus 17:3-7; Psalm 95; Romans 5:1-2, 5-8; John 4:5-42) The experience at Massah and Meribah is a recurring theme in the history of the human race. The Israelites have just been rescued from slavery and led out of Egypt by means of powerful signs and wonders. God has humbled the superpower of that age and made mockery of a pharaoh with divine pretentions. They are free, and God has promised to lead them to a land where they can continue to live in freedom. But now the adrenalin of the escape has abated and reality has set in. They are in a hostile desert — food and water are scarce — and they have no idea where they are or where they are going. With the onset of fear come the complaining, quarrelling and the testing of God that will characterize their entire journey through the wilderness. People have notoriously short memories when it comes to the graces that God bestows on them. For that matter, this memory deficit also applies to the good that others do for us. Their cry echoes with those of so many throughout history even in our own day: Is the Lord among us? Does God even exist? The attitude of the Israelites at that point is shared by people everywhere: If I am a believer, why should I suffer? When the going gets tough, faith is the first victim. And the Israelites want to go back into Egypt, their place of slavery, because in their minds the life was easier and more predictable and secure. Forgotten is the pain and bitterness of slavery. People usually want to go back into their own Egypt. Sometimes they imagine an earlier time in which society was more wholesome and nice and people were more civil and kind. They might remember a previous job, conveniently forgetting how badly they were treated by the boss. Or they might want to return to a romanticized period in the Church rather than face the challenges of the present. All of these reactions are long on fear and short on faith. Faith is not doctrine or creeds but an unwavering trust in the presence and the loving care of God. It does not cut and run at the first sign of adversity, confusion or suffering. Paul recognizes that it is by means of this faith that we are placed in right relationship with God. With this faith comes reconciliation and peace but even more: the gift of the Spirit of God that is poured into our hearts. This Spirit enables us to be loving and faith-filled people regardless of what is going on around us. It is a sure sign that God is with us and that we share in God’s glory. In this haunting and rather mysterious story of Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well we learn that God is still providing for our needs but now the focus is on more than day-to-day survival. Jesus has stepped beyond the ordinary in this encounter: He is in hostile Samaritan territory; He is talking to a woman alone. The conversation gets off to a shaky start with her brusque and sarcastic response to His request for water. Jesus does not help the conversation for He speaks in riddles, symbols and metaphors in His attempt to enlighten her. Just as God provided water for one kind of thirst in the desert, God now provides “living water” for a deeper sort of thirst. The Spirit will quench the thirst for God and transcendence and will never fail or give out. But with this gift of the Spirit there is a challenge. When the woman asks for the legitimate place of divine worship she is told that from now on it is neither Jerusalem nor Mt. Gerizim. God is now to be worshipped in the human heart and soul through the presence of the Spirit. In a sense, the ground upon which we stand is holy for God is present. Worshipping in spirit and truth describes a personal and direct encounter with God. This personal gift of the Spirit must never be domesticated or given into the control of others for it is the gift of access to God that Jesus Himself gives us. Is the Lord with us or not? Look within!

Finding a balance between sacred and secular

March 16, 2011

Those who follow the public voice of Pope Benedict XVI will know that secularism and its negative influence on religion has moved front and centre in his vocabulary. The fact is that when the Pope speaks the Catholic world does listen, but of course not all obey. As a result of Benedict’s attention to secularism, many Catholics and other Christians, not to mention the inter-religious world, have become more keenly aware of the negative presence and influence of secularism within our communities and our family life. We do not have a full and complete treatise of secularism by the present pontiff. We can expect, however, that Benedict will use every opportunity to be a voice of opposition to secularists. Perhaps one of his most scathing criticisms is his view that secularism is a modern-day heresy. Secularism contends that government, society and other entities should exist separately from religion and/or religious beliefs. Clearly, such was not always the case in the past. For several generations in Quebec, for example, religion clearly sought to override secular society. As a result of the backlash to that imbalance, Quebec today is struggling to maintain its religious identity and the imbalance now favours the secularists.

Senate urged to quickly pass ‘Medicine for All’ bill

March 16, 2011

Senator Sharon Carstairs [images/stories/canada/canada11/carstairssharon.jpg]OTTAWA - Supporters of the “Medicine for All” Bill C-393 hope the bill can pass the Senate before a possible spring election call that would see the bill die. “This is one of those rare moments of life, where you have a precious window of opportunity, you either open it or you don’t,” said Dr. James Orbinski, Dignitas International founder and a University of Toronto public health professor. “Let’s make it happen.” The bill, which passed the House of Commons March 9, would amend the Access to Medicine Regime and make cheaper generic drugs available to the world’s poor. Opponents are against this as it would infringe upon trademark and other rights held by big pharmaceutical companies.

Pro-family groups are granted intervenor status in prostitution case

March 16, 2011

OTTAWA - Three pro-family groups have been granted leave to make a joint intervention in an appeal to a ruling that struck down prohibitions against prostitution, which is to be heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal later this spring. “We’re very pleased an intervention in support of the dignity of women and of family will be heard in the appeal,” said Catholic Civil Rights League executive director Joanne McGarry. The league is making a joint-intervention with REAL Women of Canada and the Christian Legal Fellowship. The three groups intervened previously when the Terri Jean Bedford et al. vs. the Attorney General of Canada case went before the Ontario Superior Court last September. In that ruling, Justice Susan Himel struck down sections of the Criminal Code that prohibited soliciting for the sake of prostitution, running a brothel or pimping.

Interfaith leaders call for inspired leadership in addressing poverty

March 16, 2011

Joe Gunn [images/stories/canada_people/joegunn.jpg]OTTAWA - An interfaith coalition is calling for “inspired leadership” from the federal government in addressing poverty in Canada. It also expressed dismay over the Conservative government’s March 7 response to the poverty-elimination plan proposed last November by the Committee on Human Resources, Skills and Social Development and the Status of People with Disabilities (HUMA). “We were disappointed that the federal government response did not take advantage of the consensus for co-ordinated action reflected in the HUMA report and did not respond substantively to the recommendations,” said the March 8 Interfaith Declaration from the Canadian Council of Churches (which includes Canada’s Catholic bishops), the Canadian Interfaith Delegation — World Religions Summit 2010, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada and Dignity for All. Citizens for Public Justice (CPJ) released a more critical statement, saying that its “hope for Ottawa to meaningfully engage in poverty reduction efforts evaporated” when the federal government released its response to the HUMA report.

Norita Fleming honoured as Toronto’s Irish Person of the Year

March 16, 2011

Norita Fleming [images/stories/toronto_people/noritafleming2.jpg]TORONTO - More than 500 members of the Toronto Irish community applauded Norita Fleming as she was chosen Irish Person of the Year at a Hilton Hotel luncheon on March 6. “I was stunned when I heard — and felt very humble,” said Fleming. Fleming emigrated to Canada in the mid-1960s where she soon met her husband, Bill. They went on to raise four children in Toronto. She became one of the founders of the County Cork Association Toronto. As an active member of St. Cecilia’s parish in Toronto, she worked on the St. Patrick’s Day Mass Committee. She headed up the World Youth Day committee at her present parish, St. Luke’s in Thornhill, where she arranged billeting for large groups of pilgrims arriving in Toronto. As one speaker put it, “After that there was no stopping her.”

School board’s equity policy up for debate

March 16, 2011

Toronto Catholic District School Board [images/stories/education/education11/tcdsblogo.jpg]TORONTO - As the Toronto Catholic District School Board hammers out its equity policy over the next several weeks, with public consultations scheduled for the end of March, some parents and trustees say “stronger language” is needed to ensure that the province’s policy to promote diversity in “gender identity” doesn’t bypass Catholic school’s denominational rights. But others fear stronger language could have adverse consequences if Catholic school board’s denominational rights are ever the focus of a court challenge. Last year, school boards began implementing equity and inclusive education policies, with guidelines from the education ministry. The province introduced its equity and education strategy in 2008 to prohibit discrimination based upon race, religion and sexual orientation. It became law in 2009.

D&P partner finds immediate rewards in Afghanistan development work

March 16, 2011

CRS enlists local Afghanis for a snow-clearing effort in Ghor through its cash-for-work program. (Photo courtesy of Scott Braunschweig) [images/stories/canada/canada11/snowclearing.jpg]OTTAWA - Scott Braunschweig sometimes wonders if the development work he is doing in Afghanistan is “in some ways very selfish.” After all, he finds it so personally gratifying. Braunschweig works with Catholic Relief Services (CRS), the international development arm of the American bishops. He had worked in many other countries in overseas development previously, but often found it difficult dealing with bureaucracy to get things done. But in Afghanistan, “you get this immediate reward... you can see the physical health of the people improve when you put in a water project.” Afghanistan had been on Braunschweig’s “no-go” list back in 2004 when he was looking at going overseas again. But despite his concerns about violence and negative perceptions about conflict, an intriguing position with the Tribal Liaison Office lured him there.

Vatican offers hands-on approach to art

March 16, 2011

A corner of a sarcophagus is seen in the pre-Christian and early Christian art and artifacts display at the Vatican Museums. The Museums have started special tours for the deaf and blind, offering a multi-sensory experience of some of its most famous works. (CNS file photo/Nancy Wiechec) [images/stories/arts/arts11/vaticanart.jpg]VATICAN CITY - The Vatican Museums have launched special tours for the deaf and blind. The two-hour tours are free to the hearing- and visually impaired and seek to offer a multi-sensory experience of some of the Museums’ most famous works. Seven women, five of whom are deaf, received specialized training in art history and archeology at the Museums so they could work as professional guides for the new tour for the deaf. The tour for the deaf includes stops in the Raphael Rooms, the Sistine Chapel and visits to the classical statues collection. The guides are fluent in a number of sign languages, including British and French.

Remarkably true, yes, but one-sided look at historical wrong

March 16, 2011

Esther: The Remarkable True Story of Esther Wheelwright, Puritan Child, Native Daughter, Mother Superior by Julie Wheelwright (HarperCollins, 342 pages, hardcover, $32.99). [images/stories/arts/arts11/estherbook.jpg]Esther: The Remarkable True Story of Esther Wheelwright, Puritan Child, Native Daughter, Mother Superior by Julie Wheelwright (HarperCollins, 342 pages, hardcover, $32.99). Julie Wheelwright has an extraordinary tale to tell about her ancestor Esther. But she falls a little short of telling the whole story, and that’s a shame. Esther Wheelwright lived in colonial New England at a time when violent conflict between settlers and native people was rife. Imagine living under the constant threat of kidnap. Imagine you are six or seven and this is all you have known. This was the way for 18th-century native children in what is now Eastern Canada and the northeastern United States. Armed settlers took men, women, children, even babies — and this is in addition to taking the land native people needed to survive on. This was long before residential schooling was instituted. In the early colonial era, some were killed, others kept as slaves. We know little else about them.

Religious violence unlikely in Egypt

March 16, 2011

A Christian cleric clasps hands with a Muslim sheik during a rally to demonstrate unity between Muslims and Christians in Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt, March 11. The rally took place after recent sectarian clashes left 13 people dead. (CNS photo/Mohamed Abd El-Ghany, Reuters) [images/stories/international/internation11/egyptrally.jpg]Despite a church-burning and Muslim-Christian rioting that killed 13 and wounded 140 in a Christian neighbourhood in Cairo March 8, Egyptian Christians don’t believe their country is headed for a spiral of Iraq-style religious violence. “Egypt won’t become Iraq because the nature of the Egyptian person throughout history is that he loves to live in peace,” Catholic student Fady Bushra told The Catholic Register in an e-mail from Cairo. “We are all angry. It has nothing to do with being Christian or being Muslim. We are all Egyptians,” said Egyptian-born Germaine Raie of Holy Family Coptic Catholic Church in Toronto. But even as they express confidence that Egyptians don’t want communal violence, Raie and Bushra are worried there could be more incidents.

Michael Voris gives a voice to the voiceless faithful

March 16, 2011

Michael Voris (Courtesy of St. Michael's Media) [images/stories/canada_people/canada_people10/michaelvoris.jpg]TORONTO - American Catholic YouTube sensation Michael Voris doesn’t mince words. His direct, no-nonsense approach to hot-button issues like abortion and contraception may rub some the wrong way. But a dedicated following, including young Catholics like 24-year-old Therese Miller of Cambridge, Ont., has discovered him online and say they find his countercultural message inspirational as they live out their faith in their schools and workplaces. Voris’ appeal is extending north to Canada, where he had recent exposure on the Michael Coren Show and he was scheduled to speak at a March 19 World Youth Day fundraiser in Kitchener, Ont. Voris is an Emmy award-winning broadcaster who founded St. Michael’s Media in 2006. His YouTube show The Vortex averages thousands of viewers and has been downloaded more than five million times over the past two years.

MPP honoured for efforts to recognize Ukrainian genocide

March 16, 2011

MPP Dave Levac with his Ukrainian Order of Merit. (Photo by Michael Swan) [images/stories/canada_people/davelevac.jpg]TORONTO - Not many people have been knighted for an act of remembering. Ontario Liberal MPP Dave Levac is one of the few, recently made a Chevalier of the Ukrainian Order of Merit for his efforts to have the genocide of Ukrainians in the 1930s officially recognized in Ontario. In 2009 Levac pushed through the Holodomor Memorial Day Act, recognizing the fourth Saturday of each November as Holodomor Memorial Day. A Soviet government-engineered famine in Ukraine in 1932 and 1933, the Holodomor killed up to 10 million Ukrainians, as many as 25,000 a day at its peak in 1933. Levac was presented with his Order of Merit medal at St. John the Baptist Ukrainian Catholic Church in Brantford, Ont., Jan. 21. It’s the highest honour awarded by the Ukrainian government. “It humbles me,” said Levac.

New tool to help pick Catholic education

March 16, 2011

CCCM president Fr. Daniel Renaud and CCCM co-ordinator Lori Neale. (Photo by Deborah Gyapong) [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/campusministry.jpg]OTTAWA - Canadian Catholic Campus Ministry (CCCM) has devised a tool to help guide students in choosing a university where there` can keep their faith alive. The tool can help students find a school where there is a “vibrant, active student ministry” that will help “nurture their faith” and allow them to “blossom,” said CCCM co-ordinator Lori Neale. The 2011 Status Report on Catholic Campus Ministry in Canada is the first of a series of status reports on the state of campus ministry across Canada. Neale said CCCM will track the information by doing a similar study in another two or three years.

Faith-filled reflections can offer youth solace

March 16, 2011

Each academic year comes with its own sort of headaches, deadlines and stress. We constantly look forward to the next break — be it a long weekend or a longer holiday — and its promise of relaxation. But even these breaks are filled with work or studying. We never truly seem to be able to find a break from our constant stream of work. Amidst this organized chaos, it is easy to forget about faith. Most people I know, myself included, often think, “I’ll go to Mass next Sunday; I’m too busy today.” We often forget the benefit of taking time throughout the week to pray because we are focused on more tangible deadlines. Worship becomes an obligation that quickly gets overlooked. When I do go to Mass, it is difficult to leave worries and deadlines at the door. Outside of the church walls, multi-tasking prevails. I walk to class with a running mental list of deadlines, assignments, outlines, readings, events that I need to go to, think and write about, remember. When I get home, all of these tasks need to be completed quickly, and well. The Catholic tradition contrasts this chaos by offering structure. During Mass we are asked to focus, meditate and pray within a structure that can be both comfortingly familiar and shockingly alienating after a week of stress. The abrupt switch can be difficult to navigate. And if an hour a week seems difficult to spare, other Church events seem impossible. At my college, one of the campus ministers organizes a busy person’s retreat near the end of each semester. It requires participants to dedicate an hour a day for four days: 30 minutes of meditation on a couple of Bible passages and 30 minutes of discussion with a retreat director. But students tend to have the same reaction when they hear about it: “I’m way too busy for that!” I had the same thought when I heard about it — that is, until I went to one. Unlike long weekends or holidays, this was time during which I could not multi-task or study. It forced me to slow down, focus and, ultimately, regain a sense of my true priorities. Though I had difficulty switching from work to the retreat for the first couple of days, I started to value the time that I spent away from my studies by the end of the retreat. I could relax and think for an hour a day without worrying about a deadline. When I did approach my work again, I approached it from a more focused perspective. Going to Mass or prayer groups regularly helps in the same way. The time spent must be dedicated to the activity at hand completely or the effort is meaningless. Worship and prayer, whether with others or alone, provide opportunities for focus and reflection that is unrelated to work or school. They provide a break from the stress of everyday life and the chance to regain a sense of balance. Afterwards, the chaos does not seem so unbearable. (Liska, 22, is an English major at the University of Saskatchewan.)

The patron saints of World Youth Day in Madrid

March 16, 2011

St. John of the Cross (1542-1591) [images/stories/ysn/ysn11/stjohn2.jpg]The nine patron saints named for this summer’s World Youth Day in Madrid, Spain, serve well as patrons for young Catholics, said Fr. Edwin Galea. “Their lives tell us that all things are possible to God,” said Galea, who will be a part of the World Youth Day pilgrimage run by the archdiocese of Toronto’s Office of Catholic Youth. “The worst sinner could become the greatest saint so they inspire us. They provide us with a depth of spirituality that is not normally attained in the ordinary world but can inspire a person not to give up.”

Marie Wilson to give Royackers lecture

March 16, 2011

Regis College [images/stories/toronto/toronto11/regiscollegerendering.jpg]Marie Wilson will be the keynote speaker at Regis College’s second annual Martin Royackers Lecture on April 6. A commissioner with the Truth and Reconciliation Commission examining Indian residential schools, Wilson will speak on “Fostering Cultural Reconciliation in Canada: Healing Relations with Aboriginal Peoples through Truth-telling.” It takes place at 7 p.m. in Regis’ St. Joseph Chapel. Fr. Gordon Rixon, S.J., dean of Regis College, said Wilson was invited to reflect upon “what it means to go forward, prepare people in ministry in the Church, post-residential school in Canada.” The Truth and Reconciliation Commission was established in 2008 as part of the court-approved Residential Schools Settlement Agreement negotiated between legal counsel for former students, legal counsel for the government of Canada, the churches that ran the schools, the Assembly of First Nations and other aboriginal organizations. It is set to complete its work in 2013.

ShareLife aims high in 2011

March 16, 2011

Sharelife [images/stories/canada/canada11/sharelife_mar2011.jpg]TORONTO - The ShareLife parish campaign kicked off Ash Wednesday with a goal of increasing donations by 2.5 per cent to help with the ever-growing calls for help. Coming on the heals of last year’s record-breaking campaign, this year the fundraising arm of the archdiocese of Toronto’s annual campaign goal is to at least match last year’s total of $14.3 million, including $12.3 million from the parish campaign. “The repercussions of the economic downturn are still being seen in the community,” said Bill Steinburg, communications manager at ShareLife. “There are a number of people who were able to get by for so long that are now in a position that they’re close to the end of their own resources — their safety net.”

Graphic images force Alberta bishops out of March for Life

March 16, 2011

Archbishop Richard Smith [images/stories/canada_bishops/richardsmith.jpg] EDMONTON - The Alberta bishops will not participate in this year’s March for Life because organizers could not guarantee that placards displaying dead fetuses would not be present at the event. Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith, liaison bishop with march organizers, said the presence of images of aborted babies at the march is not consistent with the message the bishops want to portray about the dignity of human life. The graphic images “have started to become a predominant image in the march,” Smith said. Given that the Alberta bishops have been in the forefront of organizing the march, people could naturally assume that they have “given our blessing” to those images, he said. This year’s March for Life is scheduled for May 12 and Smith said the bishops “will not stand in the way of anybody else participating.”