There is a freedom in walking the streets, following my instincts and seeing where the Spirit will lead. On this particular evening I was unexpectedly led back 14 years to a cold evening on Jan. 11, 2007, but I was taken there by a circuitous route.

Last year Pope Francis delivered his traditional Christmas message from the Hall of Benediction of St. Peter’s Basilica, rather than from the usual window where popes more traditionally appear before tens of thousands of the faithful. Just as his place of delivery reflected the grim reality of COVID, so too did his message focus on the responsibilities we — and the wealthier nations especially — have towards those in need.

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.

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

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.

Interrupting is a bad habit I have been working to break for a long time, with some success and more work yet to do. And every struggle has a flip-side strength: While I need to stop speaking over people, the weakness is driven by a persistent perseverance that can also be a strength. God has been asking me lately to interrupt some of the patterns in my life that are not serving me well.

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

Jonathan Castillo is a cartonero in Argentina — a collector of discarded recyclables.

It was a shocking revelation. A recent CBC investigation revealed that Dr. Carrie Bourassa, one of Canada’s leading Indigenous health researchers, is actually of Eastern European descent.

Some people like to think of life as a journey, an adventure, a pilgrimage, a blank slate, a beach, a work of art … a box of chocolates. But life isn’t always that neutral, is it? Sometimes we are dealt a rough hand from the earliest moments of our existence. Sometimes life is filled with pain and obstacles. We are free to look at life however we want, but one thing is for sure: Life is a battle, and no one gets to sit on the sidelines.