I was trying to decide if I wanted ice cream when I got a text from my sister: “Call mom or I when you can.” It was one of those moments where time stops and the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach knows that my world will never be the same. Someone I love lost their life to suicide. I had the honour of presiding at the Celebration of Life. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. And we need to talk more about this crushing weight – and a never-ending love.

Take in your hand this staff, with which you shall perform the signs.

Exodus: 14: 17

There is nothing quite so spectacular as a well-executed ceremony, replete with fanfare and ritual. This is arguably why we marvel at coronations even if we aren’t royalists and watch starry-eyed at award ceremonies even if we secretly feel they are testaments to vanity. Ceremonial rituals, however, sometimes point to moments of deep historical importance, and at such times we do well to pause and pay homage. A flag at half-mast, an award of valour, the sign of the Cross. So it is with symbolic objects that capture not just the splendour of the moment, but a long-term history that gives meaning to what they represents. The mace is one such object.

How big a role do women’s fears about losing their identity play in low fertility rates? 

Louise Perry, author of The Case Against the Sexual Revolution and host of the excellent Maiden, Mother, Matriarch podcast, raised the question on a recent episode. Hearing women on TikTok and other social media talk about the issue of identity as a barrier to motherhood, she said, “I don’t get it. I can’t interpret what it means.” 

What does it mean to be a Catholic? The realities of the Church in the world today make it unfortunately quite complicated to answer this question.

Throughout the month of May, we have been responding to the call from Palestinian Christians to pray and walk in solidarity with them by making a “Ceasefire Pilgrimage” for peace. The idea is that people walk 42 km, either on their own or in combination with others, the distance it takes to traverse the entire length of Gaza. It is an ecumenical effort coordinated in Canada by KAIROS.

Do you feel helpless in the face of spreading global Communism? Fear not, Our Lord has already given us a spiritual gift to defeat Communism’s anti-God and therefore anti-human evils. This gift is His own Sacred Face. 

Anniversaries are for reminiscing, and “The Church on the Street” reached its 18th anniversary this month. 

Patriarch Kirill of the Russian Orthodox Church is espousing heresy. His views are heretical because he has enlisted God in a campaign of violence, declaring that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is a holy war. 

Wacko. Liar. Cheater. Predator.

Recent headlines shine the spotlight on a growing trend polluting our public spaces: name-calling, accusations, put-downs, swearing and other forms of abusive language hurled at those we think are wrong or have failed us.

Growing up, my Aunt Louise was at our house for every major holiday. My sister and I slept over at her house when my parents were moving. To this day I get nostalgic about Dr. Pepper for the simple reason that she let me drink it.