Speaking Out

With the bizarreness that has been 2021 to date, the shortest campaign for an election season we’ve ever experienced seems par for the course.

One Sunday last month, I stood in my home church in Barrie, Ont., that was overflowing with visitors. It was truly a great sight to see and reminded me of pre-COVID days when churches were often full like this.

In light of the unmarked graves found at residential school sites across Canada this spring and summer, different groups have sought apologies and atonement from the Catholic Church for its contribution to residential schools.

Everyone stumbles in aspects of their life, but some individuals are called to weather more arduous day-to-day challenges than others.

Take a moment and reflect on the last three conversations you had. Was COVID-19 the subject of any of them? If not, give yourself a pat on the back. Clearly, you’ve been making an effort to avoid the topic. But if you’re like myself and many others, pandemic conversation has become a serious problem.

Long before Jesus walked this Earth and died for our sins, the Ancient Greeks ran, threw and wrestled their way to glory in the first iterations of the Olympic Games.

As the economic successes of the Industrial Age gave way to grandiose advancements of the modern technological era, society was presumed to be a great beacon of civilization. Humans see ourselves as formidable and intelligent as we learn more and more.

Congratulations on navigating another year of school burdened with COVID-19 adversity. I cannot understate that kids, teens, young adults and mature students alike all deserve to bask in the glow of summer vacation.

Over the past few weeks, social media has exploded with anger, sadness and shock as the bodies of hundreds of Indigenous children have been found buried at several former residential schools across Canada.

We can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.