We are living in a time of deep mistrust. It’s not the first time in history that has happened but it’s happening now, so we must deal with it or at least try to understand it. It is especially rampant under the cloud of COVID and the issues surrounding the vaccine.

Around Christmas we often hear about the miracle of God coming to us as a baby. To think of God, the being who is being itself, of whom nothing that exists is higher, made Himself vulnerable and poor. Many scholars think He was born in a cave. It must have been cold as hell.

At the risk of being sentimental I want to talk about the greatest gift we receive at Christmas. That gift is Christ … and our faith in Him.

I’ve had the luxury of having a voice over the past 40 years. It’s a privilege to have had my words read. I hope at times those words have moved readers and perhaps moved them enough to act or at least think more deeply about the important issues of our times.

The month of a November has become a time of darkness and confusion for me.

I appear to be depressing readers. Over the past few months, some have mentioned that I seem down, depressed and sad and it comes through in my copy.

In Judeo-Christian terms we speak about the notion of abetting evil. A Catholic doctor will not only refuse to perform euthanasia but will not refer the patient to someone who will. The referral is a form of abetting evil; paving the way for the act to happen.

Nothing really happened in the election of 2021. Except for one thing that you might have missed if you happened to yawn or blink during the English leaders debate on Sept. 9.

I now know of two people who ended their lives through euthanasia. They died in August and September.

A priest friend of mine was recently talking about the current state of affairs as it relates to religious freedom in Canada.