Speaking Out

My college roommate collects movies from a prestigious home-video distribution company called The Criterion Collection. The company licenses, restores and distributes films it deems worthy of its collection.

For all Catholics, the Lenten season holds a particular significance. For schoolchildren, the season was perhaps marked by pancakes in the school gym on Shrove Tuesday and worksheets on what kind of candy we wouldn’t eat for the next month and a half.

I once sat in a room at a table with a small group of people doing homework. Except for myself, each person wore earbuds listening to music. I caught snippets of various styles: chords of some rock punk and the melody of a heartfelt ballad … my mind mused what it might be like as I imagined all of the music playing simultaneously without the earbuds. I pondered that everyone would likely be irritated and annoyed as they worked to turn down the music, perhaps allowing one reigning speaker to continue playing. 

Midnight Mass is a recent Netflix miniseries about a predominantly Catholic small island town whose parish priest came back from a pilgrimage changed.

Are young people, particularly those aged 18-30, still interested in religion?

The history of African-Canadians is vast, and there is so much information to unpack. We must seek to expand our minds and learn continuously. These are practical steps that we can all take to commemorate African-Canadian Heritage Month, celebrated during February.

Below-zero February temperatures, red roses, sweetheart candies galore and the timely advent of romantically-saturated Hallmark movies are the tell-tale signsof an impending, and often dreaded, culturally memorialized feast: Valentine’s Day.

Feb. 1 marks the beginning of Black History Month. Schools will host special programs, workplaces may invite guest speakers and you may find more content on your Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds discussing Black history.

This past week, I had the pleasure of interviewing Leanne Timko. She is the director of learning services for the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) and an instrumental builder of the school board’s new human trafficking awareness education program. 

Many young people seem ecstatic to ‘“remember their death.” But this notion is not as dark and grueling as it looks. Instead, it is an invitation to live wholly.