Speaking Out

These are stressful times. Hospitals are full, shops shut down, schools closed and Masses suspended indefinitely. All around the world, we’re urged to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 by practising social distancing and self-isolation.

A year ago, I decided to take on a position at St. Michael’s Cathedral Basilica in Toronto as a part-time sacristan. I knew this role would present new priorities, but while on the job I aimed to maintain my involvement in youth ministry at my home parish, Vietnamese Martyrs, to the best of my abilities. At that time, I was a Grade 12 student, completing high school.

“Just as an artist, using his brush as an instrument, paints a beautiful picture, so God through the sacraments draws His own image on the soul of man.”

As February rolls into March, one of the biggest academic hurdles for high school and university students will be long gone: first semester.

I had always thought that having a spiritual director was for the elite of souls. For those who were practically saints, or those who had lived long, dramatic, faithful lives and were now looking for further advancement in their spiritual journey during their later years.

It sometimes is interesting as to why God gave humans speech. I recently came across two YouTube videos from Ascension Presents, a Catholic apostolate, which tackles the issue of using obscenities, an area of improvement for myself. Like all of our gifts, we are called to use the virtue of modesty with this one as well. 

I volunteer as a catechist at our parish, so believe me when I tell you that teaching elementary aged children is not the easiest, especially when talking about difficult topics like understanding Church teaching. 

I have been thinking a lot about the future lately. Maybe it’s because I am graduating soon and like many in their last term of university a question I often get asked is this (dreaded) one: What are your plans for when you are done?

According to the International Epidemiological Association, mental illness and depression are increasing. More people are feeling depressed and lonely and some, especially millennials, are turning to astrology. 

Reading the accounts of my great-grandfather’s memories of the First World War, I am given a glimpse into the truly brutal horror of the war field. Yet in the midst of the tales of the ugliness of war, I found one remarkable incident that stayed in my memory.