The news that parishes have taken a financial punch to the gut during the pandemic is not surprising. What can’t happen is allowing them to wallow in financial uncertainty, threatening the services that have defined Catholic values and, in so many ways, our lives. 

Whether or not you’ve heard the term “cancel culture,” you’ve undoubtedly been observing it just about everywhere, gaining more and more traction.

Near the end of June, I pulled into our parish parking lot full of gumption at the resumption of Masses after four months of COVID-forced church closures.

Persistence pays off.

Falling is on my list of least favourite things.

A new low

Re: Wanton destruction of religious art:

The standard dictionary definition for an iconoclast is one who attacks cherished beliefs and institutions and a destroyer of images used in religious worship.  

In the darkest days of “The Troubles,” when Northern Ireland was torn by sectarian violence and bitter political divisions, John Hume dared to see a future built on peace.

We need to stop from time to time to contemplate what it means to be Catholic in this aggressively secular society of ours. It is easy for our beliefs to be swamped by the detritus of a powerful popular culture that looks upon us with bare tolerance at best and derision at worst.

When I was growing up it was popular to mock a film made in the 1950s to prepare children to survive a nuclear war. Older folks will remember this odd cross between animated and live action footage featuring a bow-tied Bert the Turtle who could “duck and cover” at the sign of danger.

O, the irony! The historical figures lionized in the smash Broadway musical, Hamilton, are now having their statues torn down (or attempts to that effect) across the U.S.