Speaking Out

It sometimes is interesting as to why God gave humans speech. I recently came across two YouTube videos from Ascension Presents, a Catholic apostolate, which tackles the issue of using obscenities, an area of improvement for myself. Like all of our gifts, we are called to use the virtue of modesty with this one as well. 

I volunteer as a catechist at our parish, so believe me when I tell you that teaching elementary aged children is not the easiest, especially when talking about difficult topics like understanding Church teaching. 

I have been thinking a lot about the future lately. Maybe it’s because I am graduating soon and like many in their last term of university a question I often get asked is this (dreaded) one: What are your plans for when you are done?

According to the International Epidemiological Association, mental illness and depression are increasing. More people are feeling depressed and lonely and some, especially millennials, are turning to astrology. 

Reading the accounts of my great-grandfather’s memories of the First World War, I am given a glimpse into the truly brutal horror of the war field. Yet in the midst of the tales of the ugliness of war, I found one remarkable incident that stayed in my memory.

The Catholic youth are the future leaders of the Catholic community, but how do we get youth involved? At some parishes that may be a problem, but not at St. Timothy’s Catholic Church in north Toronto. 

Once upon a Sunday in Ordinary Time, I happened upon a church in Toronto. It was a pleasant — and all too rare — inconvenience to find the pews so packed that people had to stand outside the front doors just to hear the words of the Mass. At the time, it was a scene so unfamiliar to me that it made me reflect more deeply on how precious the Mass truly is.

January 1 is right around the corner — to some, that means New Year’s Day. A time for clean slates, a fresh start and all the goal-setting. To the Catholic man or woman, it’s all that and the Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God.

The year is about to end and as we begin to sit down and think about our New Year’s resolution we can recall and reflect over the events of the past year to help guide us along. 

Going through grade school, Christmas was always my favourite time of the year.