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Browse › 2012 › November

November 2012

November 21

A whale of a story that comes with a profound message

November 21, 2012

Even the most biblically illiterate person knows — or thinks they know! — the story of Jonah and the whale. Unfortunately, what they know is likely dredged up from school memories and is likely to be either trivial or wrong. In my own upbringing, the story of Jonah and the whale was a kind of litmus test of the authenticity of your faith. If you swallowed Jonah, as it were, you were a true believer; if not, well, we will continue to pray for you. The Book of Jonah begins starkly: “The word of the Lord came to Jonah: Go to the great city of Ninevah, go now and denounce it for its wickedness…”(v. 1). Ninevah was an enemy of Israel and it was about the last place on Earth that Jonah wanted to go. Jewish belief at that time was exclusivist. God loved Israel but no others. Jews were the chosen people of God. Ninevah was full of wicked gentiles, infidels; why should Yahweh concern Himself with them? When the word of the Lord came to many patriarchs, they tried to play deaf: Moses, Amos, Jeremiah. But Jonah’s hearing was acute. So he boarded the first available ship sailing in the exact opposite direction to Ninevah. “It was going to Tarshish.” Tarshish was the land beyond land, the furthest extremity of the universe, the place beyond the reach of God. Jonah made off, we are told, “…to escape from the Lord” (v. 3). In open seas, the ship was battered by a hurricane. The crew was terrified and began to jettison cargo. Jonah was asleep in the hold, until the captain found him and demanded of Jonah: “Call on your God, perhaps He can save us” (v. 6). But Jonah could not pray. Perhaps he imagined that his disobedience had rendered prayer impossible. Perhaps he was too stubborn or terrified. Then the sailors cast lots to determine who was to blame for their predicament, and Jonah pulled the short straw. He confessed that he was on board to escape from God, and then Jonah offered himself as a sacrifice for the others, prefiguring a later and greater biblical figure who would offer Himself as a sacrifice for all. “Take me, throw me overboard,” Jonah said, “and the sea will go down.” The sailors readily agreed. Jonah was pitched overboard, and then swallowed by “a great fish” (v. 17). In the maw of the great fish Jonah suddenly discovered that prayer came, if not easily, then eloquently. The great fish then spewed bedraggled Jonah up onto dry land. As American theologian Frederick Buechner wryly observed, Jonah’s relief at being out of the whale was probably exceeded by the whale’s relief at being relieved of the troublesome Jonah. Now the word of God came to Jonah a second time: unfortunately, same instruction. Go to Ninevah. This time Jonah went. Who wouldn’t? A miracle occurred. Not a great fish, but a great revival. The Ninevites listened. They repented. And Jonah was furious. God was saving Israel’s enemies. Jonah wanted fire and brimstone to rain down on the heads of the Ninevites. Instead there was nothing but grace, forgiveness and reconciliation. What a marvelous story! Whimsical, perceptive, funny — full of grace and truth. It tells us that there is no Tarshish, no sanctuary safe from God. It tells us that even cowards sometimes sacrifice themselves for others. It tells us that nothing we do, nothing we are, can put us beyond the reach of God’s salvation. If Jonah can be heard from the belly of the great fish, our forlorn prayer, whether it originates from a psychiatric ward or a prison cell, can likewise be heard. Best of all, it tells us that God’s boundless love extends to all, even to Ninevites like us. How sad that some Christians miss the point of the story of Jonah. It is not history; it is something more important — truth. To reduce the wonderful story of Jonah to the know-nothing question of “do you believe that the whale swallowed Jonah and that he survived three days?” is to stunt human imagination and understanding. It is to make reason a stumbling block, rather than an aid, to faith.

Viva the fight for Christian liberty!

November 21, 2012

Viva Cristo Rey! Long live Christ the King! That was the defiant cry of the Cristeros, and the Feast of Christ the King is a fitting time to remember a dark period in history. Never heard of the Cristero rebellion? Most have not, including in Mexico. It is a story we should know. In the 1920s, the Mexican government of Plutarco Calles waged war on the Catholic Church. Not metaphorically, but literally, with laws that proscribed worship, restricted the conduct of the clergy, interfered in the governance of the Church and trampled upon religious liberty — all of it enforced by the armed power of the state. It was totalitarianism just across the Rio Grande. The Cristeros were faithful Catholics who rose up — both in armed rebellion and by other means — to defend their faith and their religious freedom. They proudly proclaimed they were fighting for Christ the King and the Virgin of Guadalupe. The Cristero war lasted from 1926 to 1929. Thousands of Mexicans suffered violent persecution for the faith — priests hanged in their churches, religious shot down by firing squad in the town squares, faithful men and women jailed, tortured and killed in hatred for the faith. After this shameful period of Mexican history concluded, official Mexico decreed that it would not speak of its shame. Consequently, few people are even aware that a fierce religious persecution took place less than a hundred years ago in North America. All this is remedied by a film every Catholic must watch, For Greater Glory, which tells the story in a magnificent way, comparable in acting and production to any major Hollywood film. Released in theatres in the United States in the spring, it did not have theatrical release in Canada. The DVD went on sale in the United States on Sept. 11, and will be released in Canada on Dec. 18. Last week I wrote about the feminine soul and recommended as a Christmas gift a book — My Sisters, The Saints — that gives a compelling account of a distinctly contemporary path of Catholic feminine discipleship. This week, might I suggest this movie, martial in content, which highlights a complementary masculine path to holiness — and all the more compelling for those manly virtues are demonstrated heroically by a 14- year-old boy. Blessed José Luis Sanchez joins the Cristeros after witnessing the martyrdom of his parish priest. This teenage martyr was beatified in 2005, and the cinematic portrayal of his heroic life is profoundly moving. Even more impressive, the heroism of the boy moves the mercenary general, hired to lead the Cristeros, to genuine conversion. The general’s story is one of a great military man who no longer has a great cause to give his life to, and who does not share the tradition of faith with his own wife and the Mexican people. The general learns from the boy the heart of manly virtue, which is to embrace with great courage a noble cause, a cause greater than one’s own achievement. Upon enacting the laws prohibiting worship, President Calles told the French ambassador to Mexico that “without Mass and the sacraments the Mexican people will soon lose their faith.” He was right about the consequences of being denied the sacraments, but he was wrong in thinking that the Mexican people would not fight for their faith, fight for the sacraments and fight for the Mass. All of this is suitable to bring to mind on the Feast of Christ the King. Aware of the attacks on Jesus and His Church around the world — both the Russian and Mexican revolutions of 1917 turned viciously against religion — Pope Pius XI declared in December 1925 a new feast, the Feast of Christ the King. The Holy Father reminded the world that the kingship of Christ was not subject to the ambitions of tyrants. “The annual and universal celebration of the feast of the Kingship of Christ will draw attention to the evils which anticlericalism has brought upon society in drawing men away from Christ, and will also do much to remedy them,” wrote Pius XI in his 1925 encyclical, Quas Primas. “While nations insult the beloved name of our Redeemer by suppressing all mention of it in their conferences and parliaments, we must all the more loudly proclaim His kingly dignity and power, all the more universally affirm His rights. The way has been happily and providentially prepared for the celebration of this feast ever since the end of the last century. … The kingship and empire of Christ have been recognized in the pious custom, practised by many families, of dedicating themselves to the Sacred Heart of Jesus; not only families have performed this act of dedication, but nations, too, and kingdoms. In fact, the whole of the human race was at the insistence of Pope Leo XIII, in the Holy Year 1900, consecrated to the Divine Heart.” I saw the film in Michigan on the Feast of the Sacred Heart last June. I cannot recommend highly enough planning to obtain and see this film now, with Christ the King upon us. Viva Cristo Rey!

A child’s search for Baby Jesus

November 21, 2012

Every year as Advent approaches, my memory goes to a moment our priest asked my six-year-old son if he would carry the Baby Jesus up the aisle on Christmas Eve. I could tell how honoured he was to have been asked but also, in a character trait forming for life, how much he was fretting about the task he’d just accepted. He was silent for most of the trip home, finally asking somberly: “Do we have a Baby Jesus at home? What am I going to bring instead if we can’t find Him?” I reassured him the church would provide the Baby Jesus, though I really wanted to tell him he had already brought Christ anew to the Church by his willingness to serve and bring whatever gift he could to God. The explanation would have gone over his head, naturally, but the moment never fails to open my eyes a little wider each year to the meaning of Matthew 18:3: “Verily, I say unto you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of Heaven.” I must admit that particular piece of Scripture is one of many that took years to sink into my understanding. Don’t we admonish our children to stop being childish? Aren’t children supposed to become adults, not vice-versa? And what does it mean to be “like children” anyway? Sketchy table manners? Missing front teeth? Only coming up to the waist of most of the rest of the world? The easy thing would be to blame Catholicism for my inability to grasp such perplexing verses. Doesn’t accepted wisdom tell us Catholics simply don’t know how to read the Bible? Yet in a recent Convivium magazine interview Paul Henderson, the country’s greatest goal scoring evangelical Christian, told me that he, too, is often flummoxed by Scripture. A passage that upset him for a long time, he said, is the wedding feast at Cana when Our Lord comes across as a provocatively disrespectful son to Mary, speaking to her in a way that would prompt many parents — well, me, anyway — to say with full on-high authority: “Don’t you speak to me in that snippy voice, young mister.” As Henderson puts it so well: “You can get the same problem with Scripture as you do with e-mail. You can’t see the facial expression or hear the tone of voice so it’s easy to have misunderstandings.” Or, as in my case with Matthew, have no easy time understanding at all. Perhaps the biggest roadblock comes from approaching meaning with preconception rather than openness. When Christ calls us to “become like children” don’t our minds immediately flit to images of innocence? Of happiness? In a delightful recollection of long-ago childhood Christmas in Saskatchewan, however, Convivium writer Alan Hustak reminds us that being like children — being children — is not synonymous with a trouble-free, easy-peasy existence. At the tender age of four, Hustak found himself wrestling with the age-old conundrum of giving to Caesar what is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. To be more precise: of keeping to himself a silver dollar even though that meant disobeying his grandfather by refusing to put the coin on the collection plate held by an enormous ceramic angel during Midnight Mass. Most adults would bet on the angel in such showdown, but that doesn’t mean children always do. The essential Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor tells of a game she invented as a child that she called Sock the Angel. She locked herself in a room, closed her eyes and swung her fists wildly around in hopes of connecting with the jaw of the angel on her shoulder. Fittingly, it was also O’Connor who said: “Anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.” Don’t we, as Christian children, know the crucial importance of a Baby Jesus even if we’re unclear on exactly where to find Him? Don’t we just need someone to give us the Word, and we will bear Him as best and as proudly as we possibly can?

Irish bishops reiterate teaching on right to life of mother, child

November 21, 2012

DUBLIN - Expressing anguish and sorrow over the death of a pregnant woman in an Irish hospital, the country's Catholic bishops said that pregnant women must receive all treatment to save their lives, even if it results in the unintended death of an unborn child. The statement Nov. 19 came three weeks after the deaths of Savita Halappanavar, 31, who died after a miscarriage, and her unborn child. Halappanavar died after hospital medical staff determined they could not end the child's life because they could detect a fetal heart beat, even as the woman's husband, Praveen, urged them to save his wife's life. Halappanaver's death Oct. 28 at University Hospital Galway has led to an outpouring of public anger. Thousands of people have taken to the streets calling for the country's constitutional ban on abortion to be overturned. In its statement, the Standing Committee of the Irish Catholic Bishops' Conference described the case as "a devastating personal tragedy" for the Halappanavar family and acknowledged that the circumstances of her death had "stunned our country." The bishops' statement sought to clarify Church teaching on the need for medical intervention to save the life of a mother. The bishops said they believe Ireland's medical guidelines contain adequate ethical provisions to allow medical staff to intervene as long as necessary steps have been taken to save both mother and unborn child. The bishops insisted that the Catholic Church has never taught that the life of a child in the womb should be preferred to that of a mother. "Whereas abortion is the direct and intentional destruction of an unborn baby and is gravely immoral in all circumstances, this is different from medical treatments which do not directly and intentionally seek to end the life of the unborn baby," the bishops said in their statement. The bishops also reiterated a statement made by Dublin Archbishop Diarmuid Martin to Catholic News Service Nov. 18 that Ireland is a safe place for expectant mothers. Pointing to international health care data, the bishops said "Ireland, without abortion, remains one of the safest countries in the world in which to be pregnant and to give birth. This is a position that should continue to be cherished and strengthened in the interests of mothers and unborn children in Ireland." The maternal mortality rate in Ireland stands at 4.1 per 100,000 births and is among the lowest in Europe. Martin told CNS he believed doctors, nurses and midwives "set out always to save lives." "The fact that our maternal mortality is so low is a sign that there is something that is working well in the system," he said. Meanwhile, pro-life campaigners have expressed concern at the appointment of Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, head of obstetrics and gynecology at St. George's, University of London, as chairman of a Health Service Executive inquiry into Halappanavar's death. They cited a 2009 statement in which he argued that abortion should be a legal right for women.

Deal getting closer in strike at St. Michael's College

November 21, 2012

UPDATED 22/11/12 TORONTO - As University of St. Michael's College contract lecturers, teaching assistants and continuing education instructors prepare for their second week on strike, union leaders and university administration both say a deal is getting closer. "Students are feeling an impact," said Celtic Mythology lecturer Daniel Brielmaier, speaking for CUPE Local 3902 Unit 4. "We don't like that they're feeling it." Papers aren't getting marked, some classes have been cancelled and others are bogging down without the 38 sessional lecturers, teaching assistants and part-time instructors who teach at St. Michael's, said Brielmaier. St. Mike's administration claims the strike hasn't been felt by very many students. "Some courses are being taught; some are being rescheduled. The effect is relatively small at this point," said Robert Edgett, the executive director of alumni affairs and development who is acting as media liaison for the Catholic college at the University of Toronto. "But our concern continues to be for students. We want to be sure that their term and exams are held. That's why we're working so hard to come to some resolution." A rally in front of the Kelly Library at noon Nov. 21 attracted about 60 students and union activists in support of the contract teachers. Talks were scheduled to continue Thursday afternoon after being put off a day while the administration worked out a new offer. The union, which represents academic staff on contracts of less than 12 months, has been pushing for a greater degree of job security. The mostly younger academics want a right of first refusal if their course is being offered again. The system of repeat short-term contracts with no assurance of future work has been hardest on theology lecturers, many of whom have been teaching the same course for years but never know whether they will work again next year, said Brielmaier. "We're not going to negotiate or talk about the terms of the negotiation in public," said Edgett. "We're going to leave that to the bargaining table." The union members claim to have Pope Benedict XVI on their side, citing his thoughts in the encyclical Caritas in Veritate on the right to secure and meaningful work. The administration is confident the two sides will quickly find a solution. "I hope we'll beat the NHL," said Edgett. "We just want to get a contract and go back to teaching," said Local 3902 chair Abe Nasirzadeh.

Brampton parish opens conversation on Church for Year of Faith

November 21, 2012

BRAMPTON, ONT. - St. Anne’s Church in Brampton is offering parishioners the chance to re-examine their catechetical teachings during the Year of Faith through a series of guest speakers who’ll engage them in deep philosophical conversation. “It is difficult to have adult catechism so I thought that this year is a great opportunity to bring that sense of adult catechetical formation here,” said pastor Fr. James Cherickal. “What people hear from the Toronto Star or the CBC or Cable Pulse 24, many of our Catholics think that whatever they say is the truth. So we need to let people know exactly what the Church’s concerns are for these kinds of issues.” Over the next year the parish will host speakers on the second and third Wednesday of the month to address a variety of topics, including evangelical questions, treasures of the Catholic Church and the Church in media. Following the talks parishioners will have a chance to chime in with their own specific questions for the experts. Among the notables slotted to speak are Fr. Tom Lynch, national director of Priests for Life, journalist and Register columnist Michael Coren and Salt + Light TV CEO Fr. Tom Rosica. Cardinal Thomas Collins will celebrate the closing Mass next November. “They are all very comfortable in taking questions because these are their fields of expertise and these are the things that they usually deal with,” said Cherickal. “These are the people who have both intellect and the calling of the theme which they try to live in their life.” In addition to the speakers the parish will also be offering eucharistic adoration services from 7 p.m. to midnight, with confessions starting at 10 p.m., on the first Friday of each month. Months will close off with another learning opportunity, Apostolic Letters and Teaching of the Church, on the final Friday run primarily by Fr. Ephram Nariculam. With so much happening it should be no surprise there were challenges in organizing everything. “Because St. Anne’s is a very, very active and vibrant parish, it was very difficult to find the time. There (needed to be some) consistency in order for the people to remember the programs are going on,” said Cherickal. “By the grace of God everything worked together.” The Year of Faith Committee was instrumental in organizing the events, said Cherickal. Organized shortly after Cherickal came to the parish in July, the committee first met in late September to brainstorm ideas on how to best celebrate the Year of Faith. “Fr. James wanted to do something to kind of allow the adults in the parish to have opportunities to hear talks and opportunities to deepen their faith,” said committee member Dwight Stead. “Very quickly the slate of speakers emerged.” As an academic consultant for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board, Stead sees the average parishioner’s limited understanding of the Church’s teachings on a regular basis. It is this reason that, when asked by Cherickal to join the committee, Stead immediately said yes. “A lot of times adults go through the sacraments and then they kind of fall into a period of time when their faith isn’t really deepened,” he said. “They have a lot of catechism when they are a student but when you’re a student you can’t really grasp a lot of the deep philosophical messages that adults need to know about.” While the intended audience is adults, both Stead and Cherickal encourage youth to attend — in fact they’ve planned a speaker for each day of Catholic Education Week who’ll address issues relevant to teens. On Nov. 14 when the series kicked off with Fr. Joseph Singh, there was at least one teenager among the 100 or so who attended and now she plans to attend as many talks as possible. “I thought it was going to be boring. I just thought the priest was going to be reading off a piece of paper,” said 17-year-old Yesennia Guzman, who’s mother insisted she attend. “I feel that after that session that it is necessary for myself to go every week to learn something more about the faith. I learned how ignorant I was.” For Guzman the information that she received that Wednesday night has helped her to deepen her faith and allows her to live the Eucharist fuller — the goal Cherickal had in mind when dreaming up the idea in the first place. “The goal is to bring them more closer to Christ and the Church.”

November 22

Sisters of St. Joseph amalgamation brings order back to its roots

November 22, 2012

MARKHAM, ONT. - After a four-year process, and the amalgamation of four congregations, the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada have emerged. “We have shifted in our identity from the Sisters of St. Joseph of Hamilton, London, Peterborough and Pembroke and now we are the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada,” said Sr. Margo Ritchie, speaking via telephone from the order’s chapter in Markham, Ont., which ran from Nov. 18-24. “Together, we feel that we can engage the crucial issues in a way that transforms us and the systems in our world and we could perhaps have a larger voice.” The move actually brings the Sisters of St. Joseph closer to their origins, when there was only one congregation. “So it’s a natural impulse for becoming one again. But there was an emerging energy in all of us to do something new and we felt we could be that better together.” Ritchie believes the change will expand the sisters’ consciousness of who they are. “And some of us may make choices to move if there is a particular job opening in another neighbourhood.” The Sisters of St. Joseph of Toronto and of Sault Ste. Marie were also a part of the four-year process but decided it was best for them to not take part in the amalgamation at this time. That said, “All the congregations will continue to work together,” said Ritchie. With approximately 300 sisters in the newly formed congregation, 137 sisters were in attendance at the chapter. “People were very eager to be part of this new moment.” At press time, the chapter had only undergone its initial two days which began exploring the direction the unified sisters will head in for the next four years. The “coalescing of various voices” discussed ecological justice, the growing disparity between the rich and the poor and indigenous rights, said Ritchie. Sr. Sue Wilson said the conversation focused on the interconnected nature of the sisters’ lives. “No matter what issue we try to take hold of — whether it’s poverty or environmental damage — you start to see how the issue is connected with our social systems, our economic systems, our political systems and environmental systems,” said Wilson. “So given the interconnected nature, we really see a lot of value in contemplative practice to get at that level of interconnection.” Through this, the sisters will be better able to see root causes of injustice and how to bring about systemic change, she added. Sr. Joyce Murray said the discussion tried to better understand what the needs of today mean for the ministry and mission of the sisters. “We have always tried to respond to the needs around us at the moment and have always been conscious of currents in our world,” said Murray. One of the objectives of the chapter is to formulate a new direction statement, said Ritchie. “We’re really clear we don’t want a nice statement that gets framed and put on a wall,” she said. “We want to challenge ourselves.” Ritchie, who held the position of congregational leader for the Sisters of St. Joseph of London as of press time, said the congregational leadership circle of five women was to be elected during the chapter, after The Register’s press time.

Dad defends parental rights in education

November 22, 2012

OTTAWA - A Hamilton, Ont., father battling to protect his children from anti- Christian indoctrination in the public schools says he is only seeking the same rights of religious accommodation like those already accorded Muslims. Dr. Steve Tourloukis, a Greek Orthodox believer, is taking the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board to court, seeking a declarative ruling that recognizes his right to be informed when a classroom will be teaching curriculum contrary to his Christian faith, the right to have his children exempted from such teaching and an acknowledgement from the court of parents’ rights to educate their children. What’s at stake is the “ability to influence the moral development of our children,” he said. “Education is a way to recruit child soldiers. In 20 years there will be no Christians left to fight the battle.” The school system is imposing an “unlearning process” on children to undermine the traditional beliefs they are taught at home. Ahead of court appearances Nov. 21 and 22 in Hamilton, Tourloukis spoke in two Catholic venues in Ottawa Nov. 17, warning the same provincial equity and inclusiveness strategy is being foisted on Catholic schools. Tourloukis said he is “heartbroken” about what has happened in Catholic schools, pointing to the province’s forcing gay-straight alliances upon the system in its equity legislation. Taking his children, aged six and eight, out of the public system and into the Catholic schools would not protect them from the kind of indoctrination he is already taking on. “The Catholic schools are like the Vancouver safe injection site,” he said. “The drugs are the same but the needles are cleaner. As a parent, I want to choose what’s best for my kids, not what causes them the least harm.” Tourloukis said he is only asking for the same religious accommodation that is accorded Muslims. Muslim students can be exempted from any school discussion of Christmas, Easter or Halloween, while their requests for special prayer time are accommodated as are requests to opt-out of gym for modesty reasons or out of music classes for religious reasons. “I’m only asking for what other faiths receive,” he said. The school board was not interested in learning about his concerns as a Christian, he said. Instead, he confronted a “bigoted stereotype” that paints Christians as homophobes. The board is treating constitutional rights of religious freedom as if they are subject to the Ontario Equity Policy and not the other way around, he said. He said he was told it was too difficult for the board to inform him about when subject matter might come up. Tourloukis decried the fact there is no organized inter-denominational effort to “stop this madness.” “Our collective response as parents and as the Body of Christ has been pathetically underwhelming,” he said. “We have failed to recognize our sacred responsibility to our children. I’m doing nothing heroic. These are my children for crying out loud. I will not be an accomplice in the corruption of my children.” He pointed out Catholics should not blame their leaders. The gay community is excellent at organization and even though it is relatively small in number, when one speaks up politicians know many more stand behind them. Tourloukis’ lawyer, Ottawa-based Albertos Polizogopoulos, said the court battle could cost $50,000, but could go up tenfold should the case end up at the Supreme Court of Canada. More information about Tourloukis’ case can be found at www.defendingparents.com, which is raising money for similar parental rights cases elsewhere in Canada.

Gripped by spiritual dread

November 22, 2012

A doctor’s appointment brings me to the scene of the crime The moment I saw the address of the medical building, I felt uneasy. I had an appointment with a new doctor and I feared his office was in the same building my husband and I had prayed in front of during 40 Days for Life. I had stood outside the building and its abortion clinic, but never gone inside. I didn’t want that to change. Approaching the building the morning of my appointment, I realized that, yes, it was the same one. This time, no one was praying out front, no one was holding pro-life signs. Everything in me wanted to turn around and leave. The thought of entering the very building where babies were being killed — even if I was there to receive medical care — filled me with a spiritual dread I couldn’t bear. I was also filled with a profound sense of responsibility. What was I doing to protect the babies and their mothers? What should I be doing? I had to remind myself I was there for my own medical reasons. Yet part of me was rebelling. I wondered: “Why Our Lord, why did you bring me here today?” When I pulled on the door handle to enter the building, a group of women whisked by, rushing to the elevator. I could hear the last few words of their conversation: “This is where they get rid of the baby.” I was overcome. I didn’t know how to respond. Should I say something? Should I follow them? They quickly disappeared into the elevator. I went to the building directory and scanned the list of tenants. Two listings jumped out: one for a birth control and sexual health office, and the other for a women’s health clinic. I wondered if I should go to those clinics and say or do something. Was God calling me to become more involved in the pro-life movement? I carried that thought with me as I approached my doctor’s office. I thought to myself: I could never work in this building. How could anyone come to work day after day knowing babies were dying in the building while they worked? I was disturbed further after reaching my doctor’s office. A large, bizarre painting was hanging in the waiting room. It mocked Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece of the Last Supper. In the place of Jesus was Marilyn Munroe. Instead of apostles, the table was populated with celebrities such as Elvis Presley, Laurel and Hardy, Marlon Brando, Clarke Gable and Fred Astaire. There was even a monster, Frankenstein. I was stunned. I stared at the painting, dumbfounded. Finally I told the receptionist that, as a practising Catholic, I was very offended by it. She muttered something under her breath about the different reactions of people to the painting. It turned out my doctor was out of the country, so I left, silently. The events of that morning got me thinking about how hostile the world still is to Christ and to Church teachings. I realized that, as a Catholic, I would often bear the brunt of that hostility. The words, “We must be in the world, but not of the world” reverberated in my soul. I thanked God for the grace to see, hear and know the truth in a world so often overwhelmed by destructive messages. And as a parent, I reflected on the Declaration on Christian Education from Vatican II. “Since parents have conferred life on their children, they have a most solemn obligation to educate their offspring,” it reads. “Hence, parents must be acknowledged as the first and foremost educators of their children. Their role as educators is so decisive that scarcely anything can compensate for their failure in it. For it devolves on parents to create a family atmosphere so animated with love and reverence for God and men that a well-rounded personal social development will be fostered among the children. Hence, the family is the first school of those virtues that every society needs.” Those are powerful words and they remind me that it is my parental duty to evangelize the Catholic faith within my family but also beyond. During prayer, my mind often returns to the morning appointment at that dreadful medical building, and I plead to Him: “Show me Lord, show me what you want me to do.” (Writer, speaker and consultant, Pilarski’s book, Motherhood Matters: Inspirational Stories, Letters, Quotes & Prayers for Catholic Moms, is available by calling 416-934-3410.)

CCO to launch Ryerson chapter in fall 2013

November 22, 2012

TORONTO - Catholic Christian Outreach (CCO) is finally coming to Toronto. To coincide with its 25th anniversary, CCO has entered into a partnership to bring the student-focused evangelization movement to Ryerson University starting in the 2013 fall semester. “As a movement we are very excited to be invited into the archdiocese of Toronto,” said Dan Freeman, district director for Kingston, Ont. “The real excitement is just the opportunity to service Christ and influence the culture in a place as significant as Toronto but also Ryerson University.” Since forming in 1988 on the University of Sasketchewan’s campus, CCO has spread coast to coast, from Dalhousie University in Halifax to the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. Ryerson will be the 10th campus to have a CCO ministry and the third in Ontario, joining Queen’s and Ottawa universities. The new partnership came at the invitation of Cardinal Thomas Collins, the archbishop of Toronto. “CCO is always on campus at the invitation of the local bishop,” said Freeman. “So in this case we were invited by Cardinal Collins to Ryerson because he deemed it to be the most appropriate location for our ministry.” Oriana Bertucci, the director of Ryerson’s Catholic Campus Ministry, was thrilled by the announcement. “We’re really excited because it is an opportunity for us to grow the number of people that are here to support the Catholic population at Ryerson,” she said. Bertucci says there are 15 faith groups on campus and they currently account for about 25 per cent of the room bookings by the Ryerson Student Union. “The RSU has been really supportive in realizing that this is a growing need on our campus,” she said, adding space is always a challenge in downtown Toronto. “They’ve worked with the university to find and renovate and open some additional space specifically for faith groups on campus.” Freeman says the first step in launching CCO is becoming familiar with student needs. “Our focus in the first months is going to be getting to know the students, who they are, where they come from, what their personal aspirations are, what programs they’re in. We’re going to be very much dependent on their experiences and their observations,” said Freeman. “There will be more strategical tactical goals after that. Leading faith studies and unrolling our programs.” One of the first programs excpected is Discover Studies, essentially a Bible study, which focuses on a relationship with Jesus to remind students that, through Jesus Christ, Christians connect with God.

Strike settlement reached at St. Mike's College

November 22, 2012

School is in for winter at St. Michael's College at the University of Toronto. The college's 38 sessional lecturers, teaching assistants and continuing education instructors, who have been on strike the last week, reached a tentative agreement with university administrators at 2:00 a.m. Thursday morning, Nov. 22. On the CUPE Local 3902 web site the union's bargaining team requested that the St. Michael's staff go back to work immediately. A ratification vote will be held by write-in ballot until the end of the day Friday. Under the tentative agreement union members with a certain amount of experience will receive preference in awarding new teaching contracts, the union bargaining chief told The Catholic Register. Job security for contract employees was the major issue that sent the union out to the picket lines Nov. 15. A day earlier, Celtic Mythology lecturer Daniel Brielmaier, speaking for CUPE Local 3902 Unit 4, said student papers weren't getting marked and some classes had been cancelled. "Students are feeling an impact,"he said. "We don't like that they're feeling it." St. Mike's administration claimed the strike hadn't been felt by very many students. "The effect is relatively small at this point," said Robert Edgett, the executive director of alumni affairs and development who is acting as media liaison for the Catholic college at the University of Toronto. "But our concern continues to be for students. We want to be sure that their term and exams are held. That's why we're working so hard to come to some resolution." Talks had been delayed a day while the administration worked out a new offer. The union, which represents academic staff on contracts of less than 12 months, was pushing for a greater degree of job security. The mostly younger academics wanted a right of first refusal if their course is being offered again. The system of repeat short-term contracts with no assurance of future work has been hardest on theology lecturers, many of whom have been teaching the same course for years but never know whether they will work again next year, said Brielmaier. "We just want to get a contract and go back to teaching," said Local 3902 chair Abe Nasirzadeh.

November 23

Local Indians thrilled new cardinal one of their own

November 23, 2012

TORONTO - Canada’s Syro-Malankara Catholic community may be modest in size but its members are reacting with immense pride to the elevation of its first cardinal. Major Archbishop Baselios Cleemis Thottunkal, the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church, was to be among eight prelates elevated to cardinal by Pope Benedict on Nov. 24. He is the first cardinal ever selected from the India-based Syro-Malankara Church. For the 250-member Syro- Malankara congregation of Toronto, the unexpected honour is cause for celebration. “I’m really, really thrilled for this recognition because the universal Church is recognizing our Church as a deeper part of communion,” said Sebin Alexander, 24, a parishioner at St. Mary’s Malankara Catholic Mission in Toronto. The elevation of the head of the Syro-Malankara Catholic Church puts the entire world congregation of approximately 500,000 members into the limelight, said Fr. John Kuriakose, pastor at St. Mary’s. “Hopefully, since he received this elevation, it will put (the new cardinal) in a better position to work towards the unification of the Church,” Kuriakose said. A handful of parishioners from St. Mary’s went to Rome for the elevation ceremony, where they expected to meet up with about 80 members of the faith from across North America. There is a second Canadian mission in Edmonton and approximately 10 congregations scattered across the United States, Kuriakose said. The Syro-Malankara Church was founded in India by St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 52. In its long history it has experienced schisms and a break with Rome. Full communion for the Syro- Malankara Church with Rome was re-established in 1930. Church members are hopeful that Thottunkal’s elevation to cardinal will help bring unification to the many branches of India’s Christian churches. “Since this happened, it is with great hope we can extend our hands to our brothers in the Orthodox community, in the Jacobite community,” Alexander said, referring to the many splits in the Indian Church. “We can have more of an ecumenical movement to bring them back to the Church. “It’s also a reminder of my responsibility as a youth to really understand the call of the evangelization in this culture and to have a greater dedication to the Church.” Francis Thazhamon was to join the pilgrims in Rome. “This is something he (Thottunkal) deserves and the universal Church is moving in the right direction realizing the need of the Church at this time,” said Thazhamon. Thottunkal, 53, is one of six new cardinals being created by the Pope. They hail from six different countries and, in a rare twist, none are European. They are U.S. Archbishop James M. Harvey, 63, Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Rai, 72, Nigerian Archbishop John Olorunfemi Onaiyekan of Abuja, 68, Colombian Archbishop Ruben Salazar Gomez of Bogota, 70, and Philippine Archbishop Luis Tagle of Manila, 55.

God is the key ingredient

November 23, 2012

In the summer of 2011, I spent at least three hours each day trying out new recipes that I found online. Baking, frying, steaming, roasting, barbecuing, and most of all, enjoying the food that I cooked. My summer menu included simple dips like guacamole to more complicated dishes like Shepherd’s Pie, fettuccini alfredo, biryani and desserts like cakes and crepes. Most of the time, I compromised the ingredients necessary for making a dish to prevent the grocery list from becoming too long. I substituted yogurt for sour cream, Nutella for sugar icing. But some ingredients are so vital, they should not be substituted. I made mistakes with virtually every recipe and the worst was my pizza dough mishap. This ordinary recipe for a homemade pizza was ruined with an accidental reach into the wrong bag of flour. I used whole wheat instead of all purpose flour. It was only after the pizza came out of the oven that I realized my mistake. The pizza looked extra crispy and a little burnt. But even then, it still tasted delicious after I topped it with tomato sauce and cheese. We are not unlike my pizza dough. Just as the pizza did not turn out as I expected, the mistakes that we make in our lives can make us feel overwhelmed and imperfect. But God is like the cheese on the pizza. We all need God as our “topping” to enhance our taste, to bring out the best qualities in each one of us, to keep life more interesting. God is that crucial ingredient in our lives. Having God in my life has helped me to make right choices. I have come to understand that when things don’t go as well as planned, God’s presence makes life beautiful. God gives me a positive attitude and gives meaning to everything. Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move” (Matthew 17:20). With faith in God I can overcome any obstacles, in life and in the kitchen. He is the icing on the cake that makes life sweet and smooth. God is the seaweed on the sushi that holds us in one piece when our lives seem to be falling apart. God completes who we are. He is the curry on the dosa, the ketchup on the hot dog, the corn beef with the rice, the sauce on the spaghetti. God is the cheese on the pizza. (D’Souza, 16, is a Grade 11 International Baccalaureate student at Blessed Pope John Paul II in Toronto.)

Nine Brampton students involved in Twitter attacks

November 23, 2012

BRAMPTON, ONT. - Nine high school students in Brampton learned this week that while talk may be cheap, tweeting isn't. "Over the weekend it came to the attention of the administration at the school that some disparaging, offensive and totally inappropriate comments were directed at specific teachers at St. Marguerite d'Youville School," said Bruce Campbell, director of communication for the Dufferin-Peel Catholic District School Board. "The school investigated and found nine students involved in a Twitter discussion." While Campbell wasn't able to say exactly how the school became aware of the comments, he did say in the past students, parents and staff members have brought similar comments to the attention of school administration. In this case the remarks made ranged from sexually explicit comments to messages of violent aggression directed specifically at three of the school's teachers — two female and one male. Punishments varied in severity based on the degree in which each student participated in the "extremely derogatory" conversation. The nine were sent home Nov. 21, with five students receiving suspensions — two students hit with seven-day suspensions, the others with two-day suspensions. "The remaining two students, who's remarks were the most outrageous, received seven-day suspensions, they have to write letters of apology and they have been removed from the classrooms of those teachers whom these disparaging remarks were directed," said Campbell. "Peel police were actually called in to speak with a couple of them regarding the tone of the remarks. No charges were laid but two students were given a warning." Campbell said none of the students were known for causing trouble in the past. "These were good kids who made a bad decision." Although the board is still developing a policy specifically regarding social media, these comments fall under the Catholic Code of Conduct's section on conduct injurious to the moral tone of the school. Campbell said there is a good lesson to be learned out of all of this, which the school's principal has been echoing in the morning announcements during Bullying Prevention and Awareness Week in Ontario. "Bullying, cyber-bullying or any kind of bullying is wrong," said Campbell. "Once you use social media it's not a conversation directly between you and two or three or four friends; it's out there. "Regardless of whether it's during the day, off time, the weekend or in the summer, if somebody makes remarks directly related to somebody at the school — whether it be faculty, staff, admin or student — they should be aware that that has impact on the moral tone of the school and if we find out about it we're going to act on it."

Youth knit to keep homeless warm

November 23, 2012

TORONTO - St. Bonaventure’s youth ministry is gearing up for its annual knitting event for the homeless. Participants are taught how to knit scarves during two learning sessions, with the finished scarves returned to the youth ministry in January when they will be handed out to the homeless. “(My office) is piled with yarn right now,” said Jonathan Nix, co-ordinator of the youth ministry at the parish. “It is crazy.” The project started in early November 2010 as a small, one-time event. The response from many of the parish’s young people was positive, prompting the youth ministry to continue the event. This year’s learning sessions are being held Nov. 22 and 29. After a general introduction and a prayer, participants break off into groups where one or two expert knitters — a mix of both young and older volunteers — teach the group how to knit. Michael Johnston, a member of the youth ministry and a youth leader who participated last year, said it was an opportunity to stay connected to his community. “I thought that it was a great way to aid those who would be cold for the winter and show compassion to others by giving out handmade scarves,” Johnston said. “Scarves are easy to knit,” said Nix. “We basically have two sessions to teach so we can’t get too crazy complicated in that time.” With Christmas holidays being a busy time and the varying age groups that come out to participate in the event, the youth ministry wanted to keep it simple. “The idea is to have as many as possible to give away,” Nix said. “Last year we prepared for 50 people. Forty people showed up for the training and we received almost 70 scarves.” This year, the youth ministry decided that the finished scarves will be given to Good Neighbours, a club in downtown Toronto for homeless men over the age of 50. It is a venue that will allow a greater opportunity for members of the ministry and the parish to spend time with the walk-ins. For the last event, the ministry gave the scarves away during the parish’s Poverty Walk in January. Johnston said the program “really opened my eyes to the situation of others right in our own city.” He plans on participating again this year. “The experience of conversation can be, for a homeless person, something that they miss, that they’re just ignored on the streets or wherever they may be,” Nix said. The event is ultimately rooted in service. “We’re a Franciscan parish and there’s a big part of that spirituality that’s dedicated to service, and particularly direct service with the poor,” Nix said. Reflecting on the washing of the feet from the Last Supper in John’s Gospel, he said “we need to be out there humbling ourselves and seeing God in everyone.” Nix hopes that this promotes an understanding that “we always need to be thinking of the other” and that “it doesn’t always have to be writing a cheque,” but “it can be fun and it can be creative.” “So often we get lost in our own lives that we lose perspective on how other people might be living,” Nix said. “(When) we think of faith, we have to think of hope and love and... how do we express that together,” said Nix. “These types of activities — getting out, being with people, being present to others — is our faith.” (Bernardo, 26, lives in Toronto, Ont.)

Welcome Christ’s embrace, says Pope

November 23, 2012

VATICAN CITY - In his message for World Youth Day 2013, the Pope asked young people to welcome Christ’s embrace and share with others the joy of being loved by Him. In preparation for the international youth gathering July 23-28 in Rio de Janiero, Pope Benedict XVI asked young Catholics to “reread your personal history,” looking at how the faith was passed down to them from previous generations. The Pope also asked them not to wait to begin the task of sharing their Christian faith with others. “We are links in a great chain of men and women who have transmitted the truth of the faith and who depend on us to pass it on to others,” he said in the message released Nov. 16 by the Vatican. The theme of World Youth Day 2013 is “Go and make disciples of all nations.” “This mandate should resound powerfully in your hearts,” the Pope told young people. In fact, he said, the heart has a major role to play in bringing them closer to Christ, motivating them to share His Gospel and determining the words and actions they should use in approaching others. “Many young people today seriously question whether life is something good and have a hard time finding their way,” the Pope said. Faith helps people see that “every human life is priceless, because each of us is the fruit of God’s love,” he said. “God loves everyone, even those who have fallen away from Him or disregard Him.” Pope Benedict asked young Catholics to reach out with love to their questioning or doubting peers, helping them find the hope and meaning faith brings. As the Catholics most impacted by globalization and new technology, Pope Benedict said, young people need a special awareness and have special responsibilities in those areas. “We are passing through a very particular period of history,” he told them. “Technical advances have given us unprecedented possibilities for interaction between peoples and nations. But the globalization of these relationships will be positive and help the world to grow in humanity only if it is founded on love rather than on materialism.” “Love is the only thing that can fill hearts and bring people together,” he said. While asking the young to bring their Christian values to their social media networks and other online activities, he also cautioned them to use the media wisely. “Be aware of the hidden dangers they contain, especially the risk of addiction, of confusing the real world with the virtual, and of replacing direct and personal encounters and dialogue with Internet contacts,” he said. Pope Benedict also told the young people that the responsibility to share the faith flows from their baptism into the Church, is sustained by prayer, nourished by receiving the Eucharist, purified through confession and strengthened by confirmation. “If you are to remain firm in professing the Christian faith wherever you are sent, you need the Church,” he said. “No one can bear witness to the Gospel alone.”

St. Vincent de Paul recruits youth

November 23, 2012

The Society of St. Vincent de Paul is reaching out to Ontario’s Catholic youth with the launch of the Year of the Young Vincentian. The campaign begins Dec. 1 with the goal of encouraging those under age 35 to join the society and to start their own projects to help those in need. “We’re getting older and if we don’t start attracting younger people, we’re not going to be able to continue what we do,” said Jim Paddon, president of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul Ontario Regional Council. The society is a global organization dedicated to helping the less fortunate. It was founded by a 20- year-old French student, Frederic Ozanam, and a group of his friends who sought to be better Catholics by emulating Jesus and aiding the poor. According to Paddon, they had the dual mission of deepening their faith while helping people living in poverty. “Next year, 2013 is very appropriate,” he said on the timing of the campaign. “It’ll mark the 200th anniversary of the birth of Frederic Ozanam.” Paddon also notes that 2013 is significant for other reasons. Some of the society’s younger members will attend World Youth Day in Brazil. And Paddon hopes Ozanam will be canonized, some 15 years since his beatification. “Those factors certainly for me makes it the right time to... make contacts with areas and organizations like Catholic school boards, high schools, elementary schools,” Paddon said. The Ontario council’s goal of developing and implementing a program that will educate students about the society is meant to attract youth. “How do we attract them?” Paddon asks. “We provide them the opportunity to be part of a worldwide organization whose goal is to live the faith in service to Christ as we find Him in the poor.” This includes focusing on local communities and addressing the root cause of poverty. “Education we feel is the key to breaking the cycle of poverty,” Paddon said, adding the Ontario council is running an Ozanam Education Fund to provide students with $2,000-$3,000 towards tuition or other needs, and to stay in contact and work with the family in the long run. Another program assists youth through a Registered Education Savings Plan project. With the Canada Learning Bond, the federal government will match up to a certain amount of the money parents place into an RESP for their child. “So we’re starting the project down in the Burlington-Oakville area where we’re going to families we know from assistance that we’ve given them and encouraging them to open such an account,” said Paddon, so that the society will match (up to a certain amount) what the parents provide, and in turn the government will match those combined funds. As for youth participation, the society is planning a video contest for school-age kids to talk about the society’s work or an SSVP-related topic like Ozanam. It will also host a Giant Sleep Out on May 24 to raise awareness of and funds to alleviate poverty.

Student writing contest promotes Christian unity

November 23, 2012

Calling all high school students, Fr. Damian MacPherson and the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement-Graymoor are teaming up again with The Catholic Register to present their annual student writing award during the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity. "This initiative is intended to get to the very grass roots of young people thinking about the scandal of the division of the Christian church," said MacPherson, the Director of Ecumenical and Interfaith Affairs at the Archdiocese of Toronto. The contest has been running for the 12 years. This year's theme, "What does God require of us," (Micah 6:6-8) was chosen by the Student Christian Movement of India. Contestants must be 14 to 18 years of age and enrolled in an Ontario secondary school or equivalent. They are asked to carefully reflect on the Scripture passage and submit a 500-word essay that addresses the theme. Next year, Canada has the privilege of choosing the topic. The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity was founded by Fr. Paul Wattson and Lurana Mary White in 1898. They are the founders of the Society of the Atonement, of which MacPherson is a member. It is a religious community that began in the Anglican Church in 1908 and was later received into the Roman Catholic Church. The week of prayer was eventually accepted by the Vatican and consequently became a world-wide practice. In 2013, it runs from January 18-25. "I'm always hopeful and confident that, especially in this youth outreach contest, there would be a new awareness and new sense of responsibility," said MacPherson, who hopes the contest will continue to engage more young Catholics. "They have a responsibility to acknowledge, work and pray for the unity of the church," he said. "We collectively and globally have that responsibility." The deadline for entries is Jan. 18, 2013. Essays are to be submitted to The Catholic Register, 1155 Yonge St., Toronto, ON, M4T 1W2. See www.catholicregister.org/writingaward for further details. (Florez, 17, is a Grade 12 student at St. Basil-The-Great College School.)

November 24

David Braid, a faithful performer

November 24, 2012

TORONTO - Pianist David Braid originally got into jazz after developing a deep affinity for one of history’s greatest composers — Mozart. Indeed, it was once said of Braid, by the Halifax Chronicle-Herald, “If Mozart played jazz, he’d be David Braid.” Currently en route to Beijing to perform two concerts, Braid’s resumé boasts two Juno Award wins, Jazz Pianist of the Year in Canada and a SOCAN Composer of the Year award. He has composed more than 80 works for piano, ensembles and orchestras, and has released nine recordings. However, despite his lauded career and whirlwind of performance engagements, Braid cites a much more reflective inspiration for some of his work — one that comes from a Sunday evening student Mass at the St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel at the Newman Centre at the University of Toronto. “The students seemed particularly still in a moment of silent prayer while a particularly beautiful but irregular hymn with an atypical harmonic movement and meter was being performed. The feeling of that particular harmony, rhythm and meter at that particular moment impressed upon me a buoyancy and uplifting feeling which I liked very much,” said Braid. “I wanted to capture that and recreate that feeling in a piece of my own to share with my audiences. Fifteen years later, my composition ‘Say a Silent Prayer’ is one of my most performed and popular pieces.” This inspiration, drawn deeply from a lifelong involvement in the Catholic Church, presents itself in Braid’s prolific body of work — not always in an obvious sense, but subtly colouring his uniquely melodic compositions. “In a general way, when I think about the largest quantity of music I was exposed to throughout my childhood, it must have been church music at Sunday Mass because music was not a big part of my culture at home outside of my piano studies,” said Braid. “In my opinion, the large body of hymns in The Catholic Book of Worship, which I hear every Sunday, never manifest in any of my writing, but I think there is a vocal or lyrical quality in my melodic writing which relates back to those songs.” Born in Hamilton, Ont., Braid attended Regina Mundi Elementary School followed by St. Thomas More High School. After moving to Toronto, where he is a faculty member at the University of Toronto, Braid began attending St. Basil’s parish as well as St. Vincent de Paul, due to an increasing interest in the Tridentine Mass. Despite his accomplishments in jazz, a field that boasts a select number of stars, Braid is quick to highlight the integral role that his faith has played in his overwhelming achievements. “I can not honestly take any ownership of whatever success I might have had. This is because I feel I am just trying my best to live out a vocation with enough sincerity that I can continue to grow,” said Braid. “On another level, I can say that experiencing the Catholic sacraments throughout the weeks and years of my life lead me to understand that my faith does not exist as ‘a role’ but rather intrinsically changes who or what I am fundamentally. In this way, I would say that at my best moments of creating music, I am certainly not the creator but a kind of instrument able to respond to a mysterious inspiration.” Braid is certainly a prolific creator. He writes for solo piano, jazz ensembles, chamber ensembles and symphony orchestras — a well-rounded composition portfolio that certainly augments any pre-conceived notions of jazz composition. “In my opinion, writing traditional jazz music is more like ‘song writing.’ A song becomes interesting when the performer is spontaneous with the melody, harmony and rhythm… good quality song writing, or good quality jazz writing inspires interesting improvisation,” said Braid. “Contemporary jazz composition does essentially the same thing, however the composition’s elements such as melody, harmony, rhythm and form are typically more complex.” Additionally, Braid has found some specific elements of his Catholic practice that work their way into his writing. “Direct inspirations include my composition ‘El Castillo Interior,’ inspired by the book of the same title written by St. Teresa of Avila in 1577,” said Braid. “Another popular piece of mine, ‘Reverence,’ was based on the first four chords of a folk hymn that I heard a lot growing up called ‘Though the Mountains May Fall.’ I am a bit ashamed to admit that I always felt a little embarrassed by a kind of sentimental feeling I felt from that song, but I later used the opening chords to launch a new piece of my own.” Braid’s upcoming performances on Dec. 5 and 6 in Beijing, which he has been doing annually since 2006, will be a solo piano recital at the Forbidden City Concert Hall as well as a premiere of music he has written for string quartet and piano at the Beijing University Centennial Concert Hall with the Peking Sinfonietta String Quartet. Braid has also just released a double CD album of two live recordings for the CBC radio broadcast The Signal. As a man with such a wealth of performance and musical moments under his belt, Braid finds it difficult to pinpoint one particular moment that he cherishes best. “Without trying to be facetious, my favourite performance and moment is definitely the next one. I feel that my work is always on an incline where I am always looking up ahead at where I am going. Whenever I feel like I am looking behind at what I was involved with before, I have stopped growing.”

New program helps make call on vocations

November 24, 2012

An innovative new program being launched in Ontario schools to discuss vocations is founded on a basic premise.