Arts and Culture

Retelling of nativity lags behind Gibson's blockbuster

December 18, 2006

[images/stories/movies/nativity.jpg]Hollywood movies often generate all sorts of movie paraphernalia, from McDonald's action figure trinkets to coffee mugs and posters, but knock off items for this year's Christmas release The Nativity Story are sparse.

Governor General's Awards - Shortlist coincides with troubles of the day

December 1, 2006

As always, five English-language books were shortlisted for this year's Governor General's prize for fiction. The majority deal with war. As Canadians struggle with the tragedy of Afghanistan and our military's foggy role in it, this is not likely a coincidence.

A donkey's-eye view on Christ's birth

December 1, 2006

Ruben The Donkey books [images/stories/books/ruben.jpg]BRANTFORD, Ont. - Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, meet Ruben the Donkey. This Christmas season some radio stations in Ontario will be adding a new Christmas jingle to their play list: "Ruben" sung by Belle River, Ont. country singer Gabe Gagnon.

Angels guide this poetic journey

November 24, 2006

Accompanied by Angels [images/stories/books/0802829872.gif]Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation, by Luci Shaw (Eerdmans Publishing, 110 pages, softcover, $18.99). Accompanied by Angels, subtitled Poems of the Incarnation, grew out of poet Luci Shaw's childhood collection of Advent poems. At the age of 11, and anticipating the great festivities of the season, Shaw determined to make her own Christmas cards. To go with the pictures and illustrations on the cards, she composed short greetings to evoke the message of this holy season.

Germans pushed church ecumenical commitment

November 20, 2006

[images/stories/books/080282885.jpg]"Because He Was a German!": Cardinal Bea and the Origin of Roman Catholic Engagement in the Ecumenical Movement, by Jerome-Michael Verab, C.P. (Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, 332 pages, hardcover, $29.03 at amazon.ca). This book tells part of the story of how Pope John XXIII came to create the Secretariat for Promoting Christian Unity. Prior to the Second Vatican Council, the church regarded the Orthodox Churches as schismatic and the Protestant Churches as heretical, and thought it was those churches' duty to return to the one true church and be obedient to the Pope. Through the new unity secretariat, the Catholic Church now committed itself to work with other churches for the unity willed by Christ. The person who persuaded John XXIII to take this bold step was a German Jesuit — Cardinal Augustine Bea.

Film manifests the divine

November 20, 2006

TORONTO - The media today, whether it be newspapers, radio, TV, the movies or the web, is a pervasive, and, some might add, invasive fact of life in the 21st century. Is the incredible influence that the secular media have on our lives all the more evidence that we are turning our backs on God?

Nativity gets Hollywood treatment

November 10, 2006

nativity [images/stories/movies/nativity.jpg]TORONTO - The latest film in Hollywood's fascination with Christ is about to hit the theatres. The Nativity Story will be released in early December just in time for the Christmas season.

The rising up of nobodies

November 3, 2006

[images/stories/books/all_rise.jpg]Robert Fuller, in his new book All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies and the Politics of Dignity, says that our lever against rankism is the will to dignity. The sentence structure may be awkward, but readers know right away he is saying that will is the fulcrum and dignity the force which can eliminate abuse, discrimination or exploitation based on rank.

Satisfying spiritual hunger

October 30, 2006

Cooking with the Bible [images/stories/books/cookingBible.jpg]The Bible is often looked on as the “good book” or the “holy book.” It is indeed fundamental to one’s spiritual growth. What a surprise it was to be able to connect this essential ingredient in a spiritual life to being physically fed. We often use the Bible for prayer and meditation. Only lately was I able to view it in a different light — a new perspective.

Trudeau's winding faith journey

October 29, 2006

[images/stories/books/citizenoftheworld.jpg]Citizen of the World: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, Vol. 1, 1919-1968, by John English (Alfred A. Knopf Canada, 568 pages, $26.37 hardcover at amazon.ca). Pierre Elliott Trudeau is an iconic figure in Canadian life, a symbol of some of the nation’s greatest cultural divides. For his admirers — and they are legion — he is the father of the Charter of Rights and the Just Society, the totem of modern liberalism. For his detractors — and they, too, are legion — he was the man who destroyed Canada As We Knew It, and replaced our morally certain 1950s world with hippies, hedonism and socialists.