31 December, 2016
Astronomical highlights of 2016
http://www.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=1026434&playlistId=1.3223200&binId=1.810401&playlistPageNum=1&binPageNum=1
7 New Year's Eve traditions from around the world
I pray and wish for a happy and blessed New Year to all who visit 'Where the Rubber Hits the Road'!
7 New Year's Eve traditions from around the world – For Her
Before & After: 13 Beautiful Sanctuary Renovations Worth Celebrating
While these examples are spectacular, the transformation we underwent in our little country parish of St. Joseph on Allumette Island sure touched the hearts of parishioners.
In the wake of the liturgical renewal of Vatican II, the high altar was stripped out of the sanctuary and destroyed. It was a wound that people carried in their hearts for decades. Thanks to the power of the internet and the generosity of parishioners, we were able to find an identical one that was being removed from a church in the USA that was being torn down. It took some doing and lots of repairs, sweat, and paint, but eventually we installed it in our little church to the appreciation of all concerned. Now when you walk through the front doors, you know you've entered into a Catholic Church once again!
Before & After: 13 Beautiful Sanctuary Renovations Worth Celebrating | The Christian Review
In the wake of the liturgical renewal of Vatican II, the high altar was stripped out of the sanctuary and destroyed. It was a wound that people carried in their hearts for decades. Thanks to the power of the internet and the generosity of parishioners, we were able to find an identical one that was being removed from a church in the USA that was being torn down. It took some doing and lots of repairs, sweat, and paint, but eventually we installed it in our little church to the appreciation of all concerned. Now when you walk through the front doors, you know you've entered into a Catholic Church once again!
Before & After: 13 Beautiful Sanctuary Renovations Worth Celebrating | The Christian Review
When Christians Turn Against Freedom - An essay on the relationship of Christianity to culture, capitalism, and freedom
When Christians Turn Against Freedom | The Stream: Christians who oppose economic, political, or religious freedom in the name of the Gospel are betraying it, and imitating Dostoevsky's Grand Inquisitor.
30 December, 2016
The 'Shawshank Redemption' and its real-world version
The 'Shawshank Redemption' and its real-world version: Breaking news, headlines and analysis from around the world.
29 December, 2016
28 December, 2016
A “Merciless Assault on Human Dignity” by George Weigel
The archbishop of Toronto is given to deprecating himself as “just a simple country cardinal.” In my experience, though, Cardinal Thomas Collins is one of the premier leaders of the Catholic Church today. He’s a bishop of the New Evangelization who does a lot of his evangelical work retail: like treating potential seminarians to early morning pancakes at a greasy spoon—“but it’s a good greasy spoon”—a couple of blocks from his residence. Now that retail approach is being applied to another urgent matter, as Cardinal Collins works one-by-one with members of the Ontario Provincial Parliament to ensure that the conscience rights of Catholic health care providers are not compromised by Canada’s recent embrace of euthanasia.
Click on the link below to read entire article on the First Things blog:
A “Merciless Assault on Human Dignity” | George Weigel | First Things
A “Merciless Assault on Human Dignity” | George Weigel | First Things
26 December, 2016
RNC denies intentionally comparing Trump to Jesus in holiday memo
Just when you think that American politics can't get any weirder, the RNC proclaims the arrival of 'The Donald' as America's new king. Didn't they go to war with the British back in 1776 to get rid of that position? If they want to bring it back, let them permit us to take them over. We never gave up our ties to the monarchy, and even if we did, we sure as hell wouldn't pick Trump as the start of a new dynastic line.
RNC denies intentionally comparing Trump to Jesus in holiday memo - NY Daily News
RNC denies intentionally comparing Trump to Jesus in holiday memo - NY Daily News
25 December, 2016
24 December, 2016
23 December, 2016
22 December, 2016
21 December, 2016
20 December, 2016
19 December, 2016
18 December, 2016
17 December, 2016
16 December, 2016
15 December, 2016
Not all Canadian bishops take a liberal approach to Euthanasia
As a balance to the previous two articles criticising the Atlantic Canadian Bishops on their approach to offering the sacraments to those intending to be euthanised, check out this letter posted earlier on this blog by our local Pembroke Bishop (+Michael Mulhall) to the priests and laity of our diocese. It strikes a far more 'Catholic' approach.
http://frtimmoyle.blogspot.ca/2016/10/a-letter-from-bishop-michael-mulhall.html
http://frtimmoyle.blogspot.ca/2016/10/a-letter-from-bishop-michael-mulhall.html
Atlantic Canadian Bishops Baptize Euthanasia
Canadian Bishops Baptize Euthanasia | The Stream: Catholic bishops in Canada have green-lighted priests blessing euthanasia. Is this the 'Francis effect' in action? The crisis in church teaching worsens.
14 December, 2016
13 December, 2016
12 December, 2016
11 December, 2016
10 December, 2016
09 December, 2016
08 December, 2016
07 December, 2016
‘Arrival’ and the Unique Manner of God's Speech: By Bishop Robert Barron
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| 'Arrival' now playing in cinemas across the country! |
Books for Christmas 2016: A list from George Weigel
Notwithstanding George's Luddite anti-digital book bias, he's compiled an excellent list for consideration for the bibliophiles in your life for the Christmas season. Personally, I think they're great suggestions no matter what format you choose to read them in.
Books for Christmas 2016 | George Weigel | First Things
Books for Christmas 2016 | George Weigel | First Things
06 December, 2016
An interview with Dr. Colin Kerr, publisher of 'The Catholic Review of Books'
Where The Rubber Hits the Road recently had the opportunity to interview Dr. Colin Kerr, PhD (theology) on his recent project, The Catholic Review of Books. It is a high gloss publication published from his home office in Barry’s Bay and stands as another tremendous resource emanating from the dynamic Catholic community built around Our Lady Seat of Wisdom Academy where he worked as a professor until 2011.
WTRHTR: What inspired you to start the CBR?
I have long thought about this. I never thought I would be able to bring something like this to fruition. I didn’t know anything about printing and had no money. But I wanted to share my love of books. Books had done so much for me; I thought they could do things just as ideal for others. Books taught me about Jesus and His Church and the world that God has always been a part of. They fed and directed my questioning. Books by Plato and Tolstoy got me thinking about the bigger questions of life when I was in high school. Books brought me into the Catholic Church when I was just seventeen years old. And it was books like Augustine’s Confessions, The Little Flowers of St. Francis, and St. Gregory’s Life of St. Benedict that started to make me thirst for holiness. In time I came to see that God could not be figured out, but that the whole mystery of life was meant to lead us to Him. The whole world is about God and literature has a privileged place in that. Literature is the record of the world’s greatest minds and hearts thinking about the bigger picture. I wanted to share this insight with others, that it could be a blessing to them as it was for me. Now, so many years later, I have a PhD in theology and think that I have a duty to share what I’ve learned with others.
WTRHTR: How do you see the CRB as an example of lay ecclesial leadership/involvement in the model of Pope Francis?
My papal model is Pope Benedict. He loves truth for its own sake, and so do I. He realised that all truth is from and can draw us back to Christ. His life is proof to me that bookworms have a role to play in the Church too. However, I have had to learn the hard way that lay leadership in the Church is not a given and is not all that it’s cracked up to be. You have to find your path, not presume that there is any slot prepared for you to fit into. Pope Francis gives some credibility to this. Everything in the Church doesn’t have to be clerical. “Being in the Church” means being the way God wants you to be a Christian. Pope Francis has certainly wanted us to learn this.
WTRHTR: How do you get the reviews that are published in the CRB?
So far, I am the author of far too many of them! I love writing, but I don’t want the Review to be about me, but, as I said, the “perspectives of Catholics.” Besides those written by me, some old friends, some new friends that I made precisely through the magazine itself, and people who have only just heard of it and reached out to me, have shared their love of books in our pages. I have had scholars write reviews, stay-at-home moms, grandmas, journalists, authors and students write reviews. So far writers from Canada, the US and England have had reviews published in the CRB. I am always looking for contributions! I have only two requirements in a prospective author: they are Catholic in the broadest sense of the word and love books. You don’t have to be primarily intellectual or schooled. We talk about every kind of books – Catholic classics, new Catholic books, world literature, fiction, non-fiction, books for teens and kids. Any one, any one at all, interested in sharing their love of a certain book, series, or author should send me an email!
WTRHTR: How does one go about obtaining a subscription and what does it cost?
You can get a subscription by going to our website: www.catholicreviewofbooks.com/subscribe. You can subscribe online, or you can mail me, or you can email me. It costs $40 for a year’s subscription (4 issues). I am hoping that the Review will become available in Catholic bookstore – please ask your favourite one to start carrying it!
05 December, 2016
04 December, 2016
Champlain CCAC rations patients’ personal care in their dying days
I've been predicting that in a time of financial stress to government coffers it's a bad idea to legalise euthanasia because it's cheaper to offer death in lieu of treatment. That process is clearly beginning already in Ontario. Soon we will see the same all across our country. Read Dr. Hacker's article for yourself and decide whether or not you think I'm wrong.
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Champlain CCAC rations patients’ personal care in their dying days
By: Dr. Paul Hacker
I am a General Practitioner practicing in Community Palliative Care in Ottawa. I, and several other physicians working in this field in Ottawa, see patients every day in their homes and at hospice. We care for people in the final stages of illness, to ensure comfort for them and for their families and caregivers. While our services are in constant demand, and sometimes patients have to wait for our care, I have always felt that we in Ottawa and the Champlain region provided a high level of palliative care.
For the last month or two, the Community Care Access Centre, or CCAC, has had to start rationing access to Personal Support Worker, or PSW, services, even to palliative patients. This year, they have seen an unprecedented increase in both the number and complexity of patients being referred for home care services. In order to meet their fixed budget, they have had to reduce access to Personal Support Services, such that most patients are having to be put on a wait list and wait up to weeks or even months to access this service that allows them to maintain their dignity at home by helping them get dressed and undressed, help them prepare a meal, help them bathe and use the toilet. Yet patients are being told there isn’t enough money in the budget to provide this care.
This affects even patients on the palliative caseload. It means that terminally ill patients are being denied assistance with bathing and personal care until they are so weak and unwell that they are essentially bedbound. And even then, some remain on wait lists.
Palliative patients have limited energy to use every day. If they spend it on bathing themselves, dressing themselves, etc, that means they have less energy to be awake and interact with family and friends, less energy to read or watch TV, less energy to enjoy even looking out the window. Often, their caregivers are elderly and have medical or physical issues that prevent them from assisting with personal care. Sometimes these patients live alone. Exceptions have been made, but not frequently enough. Dying patients are suffering because the government will not fund CCAC adequately. And transferring CCAC responsibilities to the Local Health Integration Networks will take these sorts of decisions even further from the patient and the bedside.
Also, hospital inpatients being discharged also join the waitlist, sometimes resulting in dangerous situations at home when patients don’t have the necessary supports. Even patients who already have PSW services may lose these if they are admitted to hospital for more than 14 days. We recently had a patient be discharged too early so that he would not lose access to his PSW, which was absolutely essential for his care.
At the same time, hospices are also stretched to the limit, causing them to tighten admission criteria.
Wait-listing introduces an unpredictable factor into end of life care planning that cannot be allowed to continue. Patients and families need to know that the support is going to be there when they need it. To do otherwise is cruel to patients and families and goes against our commitment to improve palliative care in Canada and Ontario.
The wait-listing is a result of the CCAC being overbudget on PSW services (not just palliative PSW services). This is due to three factors: PSW wages have gone up, and deservedly so; demand for PSW services has increased beyond expectations due to earlier hospital discharge and the general aging of the population; and the complexity of patients being cared for at home has increased dramatically, meaning more people at home need higher level of service to be maintained at home.
So there is currently a two-tier level of care in chronic and palliative home care. One tier for people who can afford to purchase more services to serve their needs, and another tier for people who have no choice but to wait for service, and suffer in the meantime. All because the government continues to increase bureaucracy and limit funding for patient care. Nothing in Bill 41 will alleviate the suffering of patients going without personal care in Champlain region.
My patients deserve to end their lives in comfort, in their own homes if they desire, and with the dignity of having their personal needs met. My patient who looks forward to sitting in her favorite chair, looking out her window at her garden, should not be told to just stay in bed because we can’t afford to get her the help she needs to get into that chair and back into bed. My patient who has always prided himself on getting dressed “like a normal person” each day, should not be told to stay in his pajamas because his dignity is not worth enough to our provincial government. My patient who would rather get assistance to use a bedside commode than use a diaper in bed, should be given that option as long as it remains feasible. My patients should not feel that they are an undue burden on their family by seeing them struggle with providing their care.
If we are serious and honest about improving the care of the dying and terminally ill, we must be serious about funding the personal care that palliative patients require. We must root out the waste that exists in the layers of bureaucracy, not just in the CCAC, but in the LHINs and the Ministry of Health, whose growth has well out-stripped the funding for palliative care in Ontario.
