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November 2013

November 28

God will deliver a world of justice

November 28, 2013

Second Sunday of Advent (Year A) Dec. 8 (Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-9) When things get really tough and out of control, most people look for a superhero or saviour. Human efforts can seem futile and doomed to failure; sometimes the mess is so great that it calls for help from an outside super-human source. This intervention comes in many guises: political, economic or religious ideologies are near the top of the list. Most of them also fall far short and many demand too great a price — usually freedom and human dignity.

A word filled with reality and truth

November 28, 2013

Faith is not something you achieve. If you try to nail it down, it gets up and walks away with the nail.

Combat emptiness with Advent

November 28, 2013

Do you ever get that empty feeling? For me, it often happens in grocery stores — nowadays so big you could easily get your day’s exercise there — crammed with foods, tastes, colours.

D&P sticking to tried and true aid plan

November 28, 2013

Twenty-million dollars in matching funds from Ottawa for Philippines typhoon relief have so far gone to a familiar list of United Nations agencies and heavyweight non-governmental organizations with experience in emergency relief and development.

Program to acclimatize foreign clergy in Toronto graduates its first class

November 28, 2013

TORONTO - Shortly after arriving in Canada this summer from Hungary, Fr. Jeno Rigo pulled into a self-serve gas station to fill up his car. He studied the pump but, perplexed, was soon inside the station asking the attendant for help. When you are new to a country even the most mundane tasks can be challenging.

November 29

No apartheid in Israel, says South African pastor

November 29, 2013

TORONTO - Since it was launched in Toronto in 2005, Israel Apartheid Weeks have spread across university campuses in North America. In recent years there have been events claiming Israel is “an apartheid state” at New York University, Cambridge University in England, in Johannesburg, South Africa and in Jerusalem.

Bling brings no true happiness

November 29, 2013

The Pope recently had to deal with a scandal caused by the “Bishop of Bling” and, as I look around my school cafeteria, I notice several similarities to the corruption scandal involving the bishop of Limburg, Germany.

Children’s day calls attention to the vulnerability of kids

November 29, 2013

TORONTO - On the 20th anniversary of National Child Day in Canada, representatives from the Abrahamic religions reminded members of Toronto’s interfaith community that children have the right to practise their religion and receive religious teaching, according to the United Nations 1989 Convention on the Rights of a Child.

Packing up family memories

November 29, 2013

Emptying the house I grew up in, after the passing of my mom, has been one of the most difficult, rewarding, surprising, touching and inspiring times of my life. It was so fitting that this emptying culminated in November, the month that starts with us remembering those who have died and ends on the eve of Advent.

Students celebrate Bullying Awareness Week

November 29, 2013

TORONTO - Students across Ontario participated in Bullying Awareness Week, with those in the Toronto Catholic District School Board joining in this year’s campaign “Stand Up! (to bullying),” which ran from Nov. 17-23.

Christianity requires a relationship with Jesus

November 29, 2013

OTTAWA - The West’s crisis of faith has “morphed” into a crisis of hope that requires anchoring people in the great Christian story, said Montreal Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Dowd.

New chair for Toronto Catholic

November 29, 2013

TORONTO - Jo-Ann Davis woke up on Nov. 29 both excited and the new chair of the Toronto Catholic District School Board.

November 30

A Catholic writer’s take on pop culture

November 30, 2013

As Dorothy Cummings McLean’s new novel Ceremony of Innocence hit bookshelves in North America, we interviewed The Catholic Register columnist via a video call about pop culture, Catholic literature and the lives of her characters. Below is an edited and abridged transcript of our chat with Dorothy.

Christian art opens doors to our heritage

November 30, 2013

The first thing the Bible tells us about being human is that humans are an image. “Then God said, ‘Let us make humankind in our image, according to our likeness.’ ” We are a picture of God made by God.

How the Holy Land hit me

November 30, 2013

During a recent six-day assignment to the Holy Land I often referred to the landscape as being 50 shades of beige. But despite the vistas being stuck on one small section of the colour wheel, I couldn’t stop pressing the shutter on my camera. I took more than 1,700 photos despite attempts to be selective.

The ‘childfree life’ is a trap of private desires

November 30, 2013

A recent cover story in Time magazine titled “The Childfree Life” generated a good deal of controversy and commentary. The photo that graced the cover pretty much sums up the argument: a young, fit couple lounge languidly on a beach and gaze up at the camera with blissful smiles — with no child anywhere in sight.