Where the Rubber Hits the Road

" Not controversial ?" I doubt that very much. The die is not yet cast when it comes to people's opinion on this issue, especially in light of recent statements reported by some in the mainstream media by some medical ethicists. They advocate that after reaching a certain age (75 Yrs was proposed) citizens should no longer have access to medications or procedures that are aimed to extend their life. Be kept pain-free and comfortable? Yes. But their argument asserts that once you hit a state established age you will be deemed to be no longer a "productive member" of that society. Thus, you should be denied any procedure or medication that would extend a life past that point.  The simple act of permitting what had been considered to be a major crime (the taking of a human life by another person) to now become accepted, state-sanctioned law will soon lead to it being declared mandatory for citizens down the road. It is wrong to give the government the power t...

Each Christmas sets me ruminating through memories of friends and family I've loved and lost. Here's a video about my mentor and friend Fr. Richard John Neuhaus. It stands as a singular honour that he asked me to participate in this project when its producer requested a Canadian friend to represent him in this CBC documentary piece. I miss him a great deal but am eager to great him again in the great convivium of the Parousia to come!

St. Alphonsus Parish, Chapeau, Qc. Just back in the office from a morning of peeling potatoes & carrots as well as chopping onions for our Parish Supper tomorrow in Chapeau, Qc. If you're in the area drop in and share in a GREAT turkey supper with all the trimmings... and home-made pies for dessert! Meals are served from noon to 6 pm. in the Chapeau arena. Come one... come all and join in the festivities!

Secularism: How the PQ have it all wrong At the recent meeting of the youth wing of the Parti Quebecois, Mme. Pauline Marois announced her government's intention to introduce a ‘Charter of Quebec Values’ intended to enshrine into law the concepts and value around which Quebec will prosper and unite in the 21st century. Prominent among these values is ‘secularism’, a foundational principle of all Western democracies which mandates the separation of church and state. Unfortunately for all concerned, this initiative is rooted in a non-democratic and oppressive understanding of this concept which will serve to weaken the very sense of cultural and political identity that Marois is trying to stimulate. Secularism is founded upon three essential elements: a) freedom of conscience and belief, b) equality of religious choice, and c) the neutrality of public authorities in religious convictions. Nations traditionally express this in two different ways. Canada, as with most Western democra...

Bishop Michael Mulhall, Bishop of Pembroke announced on Monday that I'm being transferred from my current assignment as pastor of St. Anne's Parish in Mattawa, Ontario to take up the same position on the Quebec side of the Diocese... in Chapeau (St. Alphonsus), Sheenboro (St. Paul the Hermit), and St. Joseph's (St. Joseph's) effective September 12th, 2013. This will be a bit of a home coming for me as I have twice before served in Chapeau (as both assistant and pastor) and already love the people and place. I look forward to renewing many old acquaintances there just as I do with those good folk I know from Sheen and St. Joseph's. Moving is the reality of life for all parish priests and this is far from St. Anne's Church - Mattawa being the first time I've changed parishes over the past 25 years. Still as much as I look forward to returning to the Upper Pontiac, it is always sad to say good-bye to a place such as Mattawa. Typical of communities in ...

I've been receiving some passionate if misguided comments lately about the types of stories I've post to this blog and it seemed appropriate to address their concerns. First off, please remember that this blog was developed as a spot where a variety of issues could be discussed. This means that it is not my intention to only post material that promotes the Catholic faith, but rather it requires linking to articles that promote a variety of positions and attitudes about what I refer to as 'life question' issues. For example, if I post a piece that promotes something like euthanasia its purpose is to provoke thought and discussion. It does not indicate that I support such immoral acts. To put it succinctly, it's not a blog intended to preach to the choir! It's intended to promote and foster reflection and conversation on any given topic. Others have commented that I am falsely claiming to be an 'evangelical Catholic' as evidenced by the type of article...

Ontario's embattled Minister of Education, Laurel Broten Laurel Broten, the Education Minister of Ontario,  — a professing Catholic who sends her children to Catholic schools — declared October 10th that the province’s publicly funded Catholic schools may not teach students that abortion is wrong because such teaching amounts to “misogyny,” which is prohibited in schools under a controversial anti-bullying law. “Taking away a woman’s right to choose could arguably be considered one of the most misogynistic actions that one could take,”  Broten said during a press conference. “Bill 13,” (The Accepting Schools Act) she asserted, “is about tackling misogyny.” Passed in June, Bill 13 was formulated in response to a series of teen suicides by students who were victims of bullying from their peers. It requires schools to provide “a positive school climate that is inclusive and accepting, regardless of race, ancestry, place of origin, colour, ethnic origin, citizenship, creed, se...

Women should be credited with earning the 'equivalent' of the average of their last five years of employment - with the 'salary' being paid in a dollar for dollar deduction off of the other parents salary until the child is 18 or the mother chooses to return to full time work. The government should also put into the CPP the equivalent or matching contributions to the plan so that women who choose to stay at home to raise children will not be at an economic disadvantage when it's time to collect a pension. Then the government could eliminate huge social welfare departments that currently manage maternity issues: day care (we're paying you to stay home. If you want to work then use your resources for child care. Public services would be reserved only for those who fail a means test (single mothers if they choose to work for example). Home cooked meals. Mom available to tend to home and raise her children without working outside the house and witho...

When I was lucky enough to visit the Holy Land 10+ years ago, most of the Jewish men I met would wince when they heard my name. That's when I discovered that 'Moyle' (my family name) is pronounced the same as 'Mohel', the title of the Jewish Rabbi who performed ritual circumcisions. Ouch!  Nevertheless, this is an issue of religious and parental rights. Circumcisions are performed for both health and religious reasons and should not be banned by the state. All of this makes me wonder: why is it OK to pierce the bodies of small children with earrings and various studs but it is not OK to for parents to decide to have their sons circumcised? Makes no sense to me! Movement to ban circumcision reignites debate - CTV News

Is an orgasm the most important thing in life? By connecting celibacy with pedophilia, people are saying that they believe that, denied the opportunity for an orgasm, they would likely violate the moral imperative not to harm innocents. This is the logical conclusion of those who claim that life would not be worth living if they were to be denied this physical pleasure. That one would be unable to sustain a growing and mutually beneficial relationship with a partner if they were unable to have their sexual needs serviced is another conclusion that flows from this flawed premise. If someone could violate as deeply an ingrained prohibition as for adults to abstain from sexual activity with children rather than be deprived a regular orgasm, is it be hard to believe that a spouse would also violate their marital obligations to their ‘life partner’ under similar situations? If celibacy deforms priests, then surely those married individuals who find themselves in denied sex with a part...

Fr. Michael Smith, a brother priest of the Diocese of Pembroke and my 'next door neighbor', even though he is an hours drive away on the other side of the Ottawa River. He posted this morning that there was a commotion during one of his masses. When the mass came to an end and he inquired about the source of agitation, he was told that a groundhog had wondered in the door and decided to partake in the liturgy, much to the consternation of the denizen's of those precious pews closest to the exit. He mused that there was probably a joke in there someplace and someone on Facebook gave it a shot. A groundhog walks into a church on Ash Wednesday. " How long until Easter, Father ?" he asks the Priest. " After six weeks of Lent ," says the Priest. " And if you had seen your shadow ?" asks the groundhog. It reminded me of the last mass I celebrated as the assistant at our Diocesan cathedral. A bat had awoken in the dead of winter and made his w...

Viktor Frankl, M.D. Ph.D, in his seminal work, 'Man's Search for Meaning' shines a light onto the role of human suffering as a path to discover the meaning of anyone's life. He was certainly  qualified to write on the field as he wrote the book soon after being liberated from a WWII German concentration camp. As well as being a Holocaust survivor, he was the founder of logotherapy, which is a form of Existential Analysis, the "Third Viennese School of Psychotherapy". His best-selling book, chronicles his experiences as a concentration camp inmate and describes his psychotherapeutic method of finding meaning in all forms of existence, even the most sordid ones, and thus a reason to continue living. Frankl was one of the key figures in existential therapy and a prominent source of inspiration for humanistic psychologists. He wrote: “If there is a meaning in life at all, then there must be a meaning in suffering. Suffering is an ineradicable part of life, even...

There continues to be an enlightening and educational exchange of ecclesiology between 'Small Town Guy', 'Paul' and 'Cliff', the latest in a recent cross-post (Scripture Sola). Cliff posted the following today: "There is one thing that is quite evident amongst all our disagreements, and that is we need to strengthen, clarify and unify the Christian position. The Church, both Protestant and Catholic is under siege by the enemy. We cannot let our emotions run rampant and abandon reason. We need to remember there are faithful, dedicated, sanctified believers in every tradition. Respect and understanding of each other must be priority. After all it is "love" that will prevail. 1 cor 13."    I was moved by his comment when taken in light of some recent posts and cross posts here about the slaughter of Christians in various corners of the Muslim world to offer the following. I would be most interested in your thoughts on the topic. Cliff: You...

Fr. Richard John Neuhaus (RJN) often shared his hope that the sign he would see over the gates of heaven would read... “From the Wonderful People who Brought You New York: The New Jerusalem”. As a resident of Manhattan, he was all too aware of the role of expressways and collector lanes to move souls from one destination or another within that earthly city. It is not a great leap of imagination that this traffic imagery could easily indicate how he would expect the inner workings of the New Jerusalem and the unfolding of the coming prolepsis at the end of time. To put this more familiar biblical imagery:  will there be different ‘off ramps’, ‘collector’ and ‘express’ lanes which will carry the ‘sheep’ and ‘goats’ to their different end. (Matthew 25:31) Meditating upon this imagery can be instructive for us in our daily lives. If we know that death is the fundamental destiny that no man, woman or child can avoid, then it is not advisable (if one believes that life is not extinguis...