With the kids well into their teenage years, I was looking for an Easter tradition to replace the old Easter egg hunt that evaporated some years ago.

Palm Sunday this year began with the fundamental question being asked in Matthew 21: “And when He entered Jerusalem the whole city was shaken and asked, ‘Who is this?’ ”

Easter, said Pope Francis, reminds us that God’s love is stronger than evil and stronger even than death itself.

The front cover of this week’s paper was originally going to feature three priests who were ordained within minutes of each other 40 years ago and now serve in neighbouring Belleville, Ont., parishes. They were intended to represent the thousands of men and women, ordained and laity, who faithfully serve the Church and whom we celebrate each year in our popular Call to Service feature section.

When in Rome for the 2013 conclave, one heard frequently enough the quip that Latin America had had its best week in history. On March 5, Hugo Chavez, Venezuela’s thuggish dictator, died, having reduced his petro-rich country to a barter economy suffering from acute toilet paper shortages.

Trust an atheist cell biologist turned journalist turned activist turned best-selling author to pinpoint the damage of pushing faith from public life.

It’s sad to think of a church in ruins.

Land and Sea, the entertaining CBC television documentary show that chronicles the joys and struggles of Atlantic Canadians, recently had an interesting feature on churches in the region that have fallen into disrepair.

Like most Canadians, the thought of travelling to the Caribbean during the dead cold of winter has always had magical appeal. That appeal has been reinforced by two teenagers who have done a pretty good job over the years of reminding me that almost “everyone we know” had taken one of those all-inclusive trips to the sun.

I am nearing the end of an interesting project — helping Mississauga Mayor Hazel McCallion with her memoirs — and one of the most enjoyable parts of it is something I never expected.

April 2 was the ninth anniversary of the death of Blessed John Paul II and the first “Pope John Paul II Day” in the province of Ontario. A private member’s bill passed by the Ontario legislature last month designated April 2 as a day to honour the soon to be saint. It’s a worthy initiative and a timely reminder to remember the late pontiff’s teachings.