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November 2021

November 19

Francis Campbell: Rising to the challenge of giving until it hurts

November 19, 2021

Give until it hurts. That famous phrase was uttered by Mother Teresa of Calcutta at a national prayer breakfast in Washington 50 years ago.

November 20

Younger Canadians embrace religious authenticity: study

November 20, 2021

While 70 per cent of participants in a recent survey believe God and religion should be completely kept out of public life, a data point suggests a Canada more open to public figures speaking and acting based on their religious beliefs is a possibility.

Peter Stockland: Commandments set path for journalists

November 20, 2021

What was surprising about the Hindustan Times being the first source I was offered on Google for reports of Pope Francis’ weekend message to journalists was how unsurprising it was.

November 21

Healing, reconciliation focus of Cardinal’s Dinner

November 21, 2021

Reconciliation will be the major theme for the annual Cardinal’s Dinner in the Archdiocese of Toronto on Nov. 23.

God's Word on Sunday: God will always accompany us

November 21, 2021

First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 28 (Year C) Jeremiah 33:14-16; Psalm 25; 1 Thessalonians 3:12-4:2; Luke 21:25-28, 34-36 “The days are surely coming” is a phrase often repeated in prophetic texts of the Old Testament. It is usually followed by a detailed description of what God is going to do for Israel — most often, it will be a glorious and prosperous future.

November 23

Wisconsin parishes pray for victims after SUV plows through parade crowd

November 23, 2021

WAUKESHA, Wis. -- Church leaders and parishes offered prayers for the five people who died and dozens more who were injured, including a Catholic priest, church parishioners and Catholic school students, when an SUV plowed through spectators watching a Christmas parade.

November 24

Healing demands prayer, action

November 24, 2021

While the upcoming delegation of Indigenous leaders and Canadian bishops travelling to Rome next month to meet the Pope in Rome is an “important, outward and public sign of a commitment to healing and reconciliation,” Catholics must look inward to answer the call to true healing, said Cardinal Thomas Collins.

Delegates to get unprecedented access to Pope Francis

November 24, 2021

Indigenous delegates to Rome will have at least three hours of direct, face-to-face conversation with Pope Francis spread over four days, topped off with their presence at an hour-long general audience.

Mass to mark 500 years of Filipino Christianity

November 24, 2021

A Filipino Fiesta can go on a long time, and then into overtime. But given that Filipinos have been Christian for 500 years, it’s no surprise that the quincentennial celebrations in Toronto have stretched out longer than the original plan.

Speaking Out: Promising step to reconciliation

November 24, 2021

One month ago, Pope Francis and the Vatican announced an upcoming papal visit to Canada to foster reconciliation with the country’s Indigenous populations in the aftermath of children being found in unmarked, residential school graves.

St. Joseph’s students embrace Christmas spirit

November 24, 2021

The spirit of Christmas giving arrived early this year in Edmonton, with the St. Joseph’s College Catholic Students’ Association at the University of Alberta collecting clothing to keep dozens of homeless people a little warmer this winter.

Sr. Helena Burns: It’s your duty to parent media for kids

November 24, 2021

With all that today’s parents have to do, how is it possible to go about the mammoth task of parenting the media?

Faith and the B.C. floods

November 24, 2021

VANCOUVER -- When Fr. Francis Galvan left Sacred Heart Church in Delta, B.C., for a priests’ study week in Harrison Hot Springs, he didn’t expect to find himself at the centre of a catastrophic flood as British Columbia found itself facing what is being called the storm of the century.

November 25

Migration in spotlight for Pope’s Greek trip

November 25, 2021

VATICAN CITY -- Pope Francis will draw the world’s attention to migration once again as he visits Cyprus and Greece in early December.

Editorial: ‘Come, Lord Jesus’

November 25, 2021

Life looks pretty promising at dawn. The sun is rising, the air a little crisper, the day ahead of us full of possibilities — a chance to start anew, hope for the best, maybe even fix yesterday’s problems or at least see them in a new light.

Readers Speak Out: November 28, 2021

November 25, 2021

Truth exposed We take pride in our belief that we are a welcoming and inclusive society. If we examine our language deeper we are faced with the truth that we are not. We were not welcoming or inclusive to the people who are here already before we arrived. The phrase “we are a nation of immigrants” exposes the exclusion of the Indigenous people. The phrase summarized why we are in this tender spot. Their being out of our consciousness resulted in their being out of our society.

More people, less food for food banks

November 25, 2021

At 9 a.m. the line up for the St. Ann’s Church Food Bank in downtown Toronto stretches around the corner and back up to Gerrard Street. At 9:30 they’ve run out of milk and yogurt. At 10 more bags of pre-packed groceries are headed upstairs from the basement to restock tables where food bank patrons pick up their allotment for the week.

Glen Argan: We have options, choose yours well

November 25, 2021

Omar El Akkad begins his novel, What Strange Paradise, with this sentence: “The child lies on the shore.” That beginning calls to mind the photo of the dead three-year-old refugee Alan Kurdi whose body was washed ashore on a Mediterranean island in September 2015. The photo sparked heightened global concern for Syrian refugees and an upsurge in donations to help migrants and refugees.

November 26

Advent on the home front

November 26, 2021

Are we ready for Christ? After almost two years of living through this pandemic, we might feel like we are ready for anything and everything or maybe you are feeling like Charlie Brown just before Lucy pulls the football away.

Canadians urged to make spiritual journey with Indigenous

November 26, 2021

As Indigenous elders, youth, knowledge keepers and residential school survivors prepare for their historic meetings with Pope Francis Dec. 17-20, Regina Archbishop Don Bolen is inviting Canadians to journey with them spiritually.