31 December, 2014
Seeking silence | Crux: Boy, can I relate with this column!
You wouldn't have guessed it if you were around me as a kid, but I've come to appreciate the true value in silence in my life. (I talked so much as a kid that my siblings thought I had been vaccinated with a phonograph needle!) One of the greatest gifts of my life as a priest is that silence is rarely hard to find at various points in my daily routines. It's always close at hand whenever I need some time of private reflection or quiet prayer to re-connect and re-orient myself with God's will in my ministry and life and to listen for his guidance and direction.
What role does silence play in your daily routines and prayer life? If you want help in answering that question in your life, this might be the article for you.
Seeking silence | Crux
What role does silence play in your daily routines and prayer life? If you want help in answering that question in your life, this might be the article for you.
Seeking silence | Crux
New Year, New Laws: Everything you need to know about this year's big bills in Canada| CTV News
From immigration to abortion and smoking to euthanasia, there are a by number of big issues that our country will confront in 2015. Here's a summary from CTV news that looks at many topics that Canadians will have to deal with in the coming months.
New Year, new laws: Everything you need to know about this year's big bills | CTV News
30 December, 2014
29 December, 2014
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26 December, 2014
25 December, 2014
24 December, 2014
23 December, 2014
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21 December, 2014
Faith in the Public Square | Faith engaging culture..
A new website worth checking out that's produced by the Archdiocese of Toronto and St. Augustine's Seminary.
Faith in the Public Square | Faith engaging culture..
Faith in the Public Square | Faith engaging culture..
20 December, 2014
19 December, 2014
18 December, 2014
17 December, 2014
16 December, 2014
‘Not a controversial issue in Canada anymore': Majority support assisted suicide, poll finds | National Post
"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 to decide that someone should die and terminate their life. It's wrong when used as capital punishment. It's wrong when used to justify assisted-suicides. Once we permit the state to end our life as an expression of our personal autonomy, we will not be able to take it back. We will rue the day we gave the state such power and authority over its own citizens.
It may sound bizarre and extreme to some to conclude that we could arrive at such a perilous state simply by legalizing doctor-assisted suicide. Yet it was only a few years back when a clear majority of people claimed that we should never permit a doctor to violate their Hippocratic Oath and kill their patients. We compared such acts as being barbaric as the atrocities inflicted by evil characters as Dr. Mengele in German concentration camps. Now, if this article is to be believed we've changed to the point that we are practically begging the state to empower doctors to 'take us out mercifully' at the first sign that decay and age has begun to set in.
I know that people will say that there will be conditions that have to be met before someone can be euthanized and they will state that this will keep the procedure safe. But these same types of conditions (therapeutic abortion committees, approval of two doctors, written consent, etc.) were all put in place when abortions were legalized to ensure that it was 'necessary' so as to protect unborn children in the womb. Pro-life advocates who said they would prove to be insufficient to protect these children were labeled as being irrational. How well did those protections work out? Where are they now? Gone... Each and every one of them, gone in under 15 years!! Legal conditions designed to assuage us that our rights will be protected if we voluntarily violate the sanctity of life at its end won't work any better when the state decides that someone no longer merits living at the other end of life's spectrum either.
Want to kill yourself? Be my guest. It's entirely your prerogative. No one has the right to stop you. Suicide may be a terrible idea (IMHO), but you possess the legal right to choose such an option for yourself. Want the State (and by extension, all your fellow citizens) to participate in the process and kill you? I don't think so. To say the least, that will be controversial among many of your fellow national compatriots - starting with me!
‘Not a controversial issue in Canada anymore': Majority support assisted suicide, poll finds | National Post
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 to decide that someone should die and terminate their life. It's wrong when used as capital punishment. It's wrong when used to justify assisted-suicides. Once we permit the state to end our life as an expression of our personal autonomy, we will not be able to take it back. We will rue the day we gave the state such power and authority over its own citizens.
It may sound bizarre and extreme to some to conclude that we could arrive at such a perilous state simply by legalizing doctor-assisted suicide. Yet it was only a few years back when a clear majority of people claimed that we should never permit a doctor to violate their Hippocratic Oath and kill their patients. We compared such acts as being barbaric as the atrocities inflicted by evil characters as Dr. Mengele in German concentration camps. Now, if this article is to be believed we've changed to the point that we are practically begging the state to empower doctors to 'take us out mercifully' at the first sign that decay and age has begun to set in.
I know that people will say that there will be conditions that have to be met before someone can be euthanized and they will state that this will keep the procedure safe. But these same types of conditions (therapeutic abortion committees, approval of two doctors, written consent, etc.) were all put in place when abortions were legalized to ensure that it was 'necessary' so as to protect unborn children in the womb. Pro-life advocates who said they would prove to be insufficient to protect these children were labeled as being irrational. How well did those protections work out? Where are they now? Gone... Each and every one of them, gone in under 15 years!! Legal conditions designed to assuage us that our rights will be protected if we voluntarily violate the sanctity of life at its end won't work any better when the state decides that someone no longer merits living at the other end of life's spectrum either.
Want to kill yourself? Be my guest. It's entirely your prerogative. No one has the right to stop you. Suicide may be a terrible idea (IMHO), but you possess the legal right to choose such an option for yourself. Want the State (and by extension, all your fellow citizens) to participate in the process and kill you? I don't think so. To say the least, that will be controversial among many of your fellow national compatriots - starting with me!
‘Not a controversial issue in Canada anymore': Majority support assisted suicide, poll finds | National Post
15 December, 2014
Russell Saltzman’s Continuing Catholicity | Matthew Schmitz | First Things
My old friend Fr. Richard Neuhaus is stilling winning converts for the Church years after his death! Welcome to the Catholic Church Russell Saltzman. You are walking in the footsteps of a great man!!
Russell Saltzman’s Continuing Catholicity | Matthew Schmitz | First Things
14 December, 2014
A book review from the National Catholic Register on 'Prayer Works' by Matthew Leonard
"Prayer Works! is an essential and comprehensive primer on prayer, which is helpful to both the experienced as well as the novice pray-er. It is an upbeat and joyful way to commune with God and to grow in holiness."Sounds like a good Christmas gift to share within a family! Remember, Jesus told us to only sow the seeds and not worry about if they germinate and grow. Stocking stuffers like these can become real aids later in life when the trials and travails of life grow difficult. Never a bad item to have on the bookshelf to pull down and read in a time of need. I'll wager that's there's more that can be gained with such a gift than just the temporary pleasures that come with the latest electronic toy.
NCRegister | Primer on Prayer
13 December, 2014
12 December, 2014
11 December, 2014
Police can search your cellphone without a warrant, under certain conditions: Supreme Court | CTV News
Sigh...
There goes another chink in Canadian's right to privacy.
Police can search your cellphone without a warrant, under certain conditions: Supreme Court | CTV News
There goes another chink in Canadian's right to privacy.
Police can search your cellphone without a warrant, under certain conditions: Supreme Court | CTV News
A short book review: 'Theophilos' by Michael O'Brien
Book Review: Theophilos by Michael O’Brien
Michael O’Brien is arguably the best English Catholic writer alive today. From contemporary apocalypses and science fiction to historical fiction his erudite exploration of Catholic belief is second to none and ranks him among the greats, Tolkien, Lewis, and Chesterton. ‘Father Elijah’ has become compulsory reading whenever I begin my annual retreat. So illuminating are the spiritual nuggets buried within the story that it functions as a fruitful agenda for my reflections throughout a week of silence and prayer. Theophilos could be just as inspired a choice for my next one.
The protagonist who lends his name to this work of historical fiction is familiar to anyone who has picked up a Bible. He is the person addressed in the Gospel of Luke (Loukas) and subsequently the Book of Acts, who provides “an accurate account” of the life of Christ and the apostolic church. O’Brien sets them together as members of the same family, both physicians, with ‘Loukas’ following in Theophilos’ footsteps after being rescued by him from a plague that killed his parents when he was a child. After receiving Loukas’ gospel, Theophilos sets off in search of his long lost adopted son hoping to convince his to come to his senses and return home to his family on Crete. Instead, he is convinced to accompany Loukas as he journey’s through the Holy Land where he interviews surviving witnesses who shared their stories now compiled in that his son’s first testimonial account of the life of Jesus.
Most difficult for Theophilos to accept are the witness accounts of people who claim to have encountered Christ after his resurrection, Loukas included among them. He continues to discount their testimony as a delusional wish fulfillment to believe that their messiah still lived. He also proscribed the accounts of miracles as illusions or frauds perpetrated on a gullible populace despite receiving the eyewitness testimonies of believers. After all, the Jewish shepherds, fishermen, and their ilk that led this new religion lacked the sophistication and knowledge of Plato, Socrates, and other such philosophers. They could, therefore, be easily deceived since they lacked his experience and education as evidenced by his extensive library of scrolls and papyrus, works that he had read and discussed with Loukas throughout the years. How then could someone as wise and reasonable as Loukas fall into such a cult of religious fanatics? The narrative woven by O'Brien is Theophilos' search for an answer to this question. What begins as a journey taken so that he might save his son finally leads Theophilos to a different kind of salvation entirely.
What makes the Church happy? Seeking lost sheep, Pope says :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
Today I'd need a shovel to find those poor lost sheep given the amount of snow that's blowing around outside!!! Hopefully, others are not suffering such a fate in other places.
What makes the Church happy? Seeking lost sheep, Pope says :: Catholic News Agency (CNA)
Chaplain punished for sharing his faith in suicide prevention class | Fox News
Good Grief!! They brought in a Catholic priest chaplain to address a topic and then punished him for daring to offer a religious response to the question of suicide? What the hell were they expecting?
The world is indeed a stupid place at times....
Chaplain punished for sharing his faith in suicide prevention class | Fox News
The world is indeed a stupid place at times....
Chaplain punished for sharing his faith in suicide prevention class | Fox News
‘The Vatican Museums 3D’ Takes Technology-Enabled Tour to Rome | Daily News | NCRegister.com
Someday, God willing I will get to visit the Vatican in person. Until then, at least I can console myself with visiting it digitally/virtually thanks to sites like this one.
‘The Vatican Museums 3D’ Takes Technology-Enabled Tour to Rome | Daily News | NCRegister.com
‘The Vatican Museums 3D’ Takes Technology-Enabled Tour to Rome | Daily News | NCRegister.com