Our BTSW Christmas Card: Lead, Kindly Light — Beyond These Stone Walls : Father Abraham first heard God 21 centuries before a star rose above Bethlehem. We now live in the 21st century after. At the center of all faith, Christ is born.
As we wait for Christmas and for a vaccine, I'm reminded that the most beautiful birth in history happened in a place literally mired in crap. The weary world rejoices
Pope Francis accepts resignation of Ottawa Archbishop Terrence Prendergast at age of 76 : Pope Francis accepted Friday the resignation of 76-year-old Canadian Archbishop Terrence Prendergast, S.J., and confirmed his successor as Archbishop of Ottawa-Cornwall.
Contraception, Abortion, Homosexuality — How the ‘Law of Moral Compromise’ is Eroding Our Foundation| National Catholic Register : What yesterday was considered immoral, and today is treated as moral under limited circumstances, will tomorrow be accepted in all circumstances.
Once feared as Vatican meddling, Catholic ideas could help America move forward : (RNS) — Americans once feared that Catholic politicians would push Rome's agenda. But in divisive times, we could do worse than implementing the Church's principles of reconciliation and multilateralism.
Religious leaders across Canada are making a valiant attempt at slowing down this speeding train called Medical Assistance in Dying, and we can only hope their appeal is not falling on entirely deaf ears. Editorial: Put on the brakes :
Quebec government tightens screws on COVID scofflaws by imposing $1,000 fines | National Post : Police will be allowed to issue tickets similar to the ones they issue on the roads to people in red zones who continue to hold parties and illegal assemblies.
This is a post written by an Office Administrator at a school in Cornwall, Ontario. This is what happened when I got home tonight. I cried. I cried at work yesterday. I also cried 3 different times last night after getting home from work. I am an Office Administrator at an elementary school and this is how my day has gone. I'm crying because the work and expectations that have been put upon us with the added ridiculous time frames are overwhelming. I'm crying because I am having to answer the phone and hear the concerns and frustrations of parents who are upset at the policies put in place to protect their children while they are at school. I'm crying because I have to call home for a child who is sick and risk getting yelled at because I have now inconvenienced a parent who has to get a COVID test for their child. I'm crying because I have been told to get my shit together because a policy has changed and someone doesn't agree (I didn't change the policy, I am
What do Catholic scientists like Vatican Observatory director Brother Guy Consolmagno say about the possibility of life on other planets? Space Creatures and the Catholic Church| National Catholic Register :
Exposition of the Blessed Sacrament with Benediction follows each of our streamed weekday Masses. Why not spend a Holy Hour with your fellow parishioners online and take advantage of this opportunity to pray in the virtual presence of the Blessed Sacrament? This book review outlines just some of the graces and benefits that flow to us from such a spiritual activity. Growing in Reverence of the Blessed Sacrament
Catholic Bioethicist Warns Against Gene-Editing Experiments : Joseph Meaney, PH.D., speaking Friday in an interview on EWTN Pro-Life Weekly, said that the experiment gone wrong was predictable, because “science, as it emerges into new areas, makes a lot of mistakes.”
The promise of bloodshed coming alongside or following shortly after, however, is an historic certainty. The symbols of a people never satisfy. Everywhere Statues Are Torn Down By The Mob, People Are Next :
The Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the Lion can help illustrate three 21st century spiritual maladies that Pope Francis identifies in his Joy of the Gospel. Finding a ‘Wizard of Oz’ lesson in Pope Francis :
Strange... to say the least. NASA may have uncovered evidence of bizarre parallel universe where physics, time operate in reverse – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
The stakes are too high right now not to push back on dangerous misinformation about the pandemic. Everyone has a social responsibility to speak up. Why It’s Important To Push Back On ‘Plandemic’—And How To Do It :
This should disturb those of us who do believe. We cannot authentically argue for our right to believe and worship as we choose if we don’t support the rights of those who have decided not to believe. New report finds nonreligious people face stigma and discrimination :
Plagues have a way of stripping away what is superfluous, revealing the naked truth. In the biblical account of the plagues that decimated Egypt, the plagues exposed the civilization’s false gods and their utter impotence in the face of the one true God (see Exodus 7 through 11). That might not be obvious. How the Plagues of Egypt Exposed False Gods & Revealed the Truth :
Let us pray today for those who offer funeral services. What they do is so painful, so sad. And they experience so deeply the sorrow of this pandemic. Let us pray for them. Pope: Faith is shared with others or it’s not faith :
As hospitals adjust their procedures due to the COVID-19 coronavirus, some Catholic priests are departing from prescribed liturgical practices to administer the anointing of the sick, earning opposition from Church leaders who say the adaptations could invalidate the sacrament. Priests seek ways to anoint the sick during coronavirus pandemic :
A conservative Harvard law professor and Catholic convert proposes ditching originalism in favor of ‘common good constitutionalism.’ A new Catholic legal doctrine :
An evangelical pastor died of COVID-19 just weeks after proudly showing off how packed his Virginia church was -- and vowing to keep preaching "unless I'm in jail or the hospital." Virginia pastor who held packed church service dies of coronavirus :
Pope Francis began the Mass by praying that researchers and political leaders would make the correct choices for those they serve. Pope: Coronavirus Crisis Forces Us to Choose Between Life and Love of Money :
Contingency plans are being made across the country to avoid the fate of places like New York, where mass graves on public land are being considered to accommodate the deceased. ‘Plan for the worst and hope for the best’: Canada’s funeral industry in upheaval as coronavirus deaths mount - The Globe and Mail :
Shortly after assuring of his closeness amid the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak on an Italian television program, Pope Francis on Good Friday yet again appeared in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Square to lead a livestreamed Via Crucis with meditations written by prisoners. Pope leads 'Way of the Cross' service in deserted St. Peter's Square :
This Passover, this Easter is a return home, to where it began. It is not a joyful homecoming, but a painful one, for we cannot gather to worship together. Raymond De Souza: In this time of lament, a prayer for the people | Pembroke Daily Observer :
We are heading into an Easter that stares straight into the eyes of death and empire and still declares love stronger than the grave. After a Holy Week disrupted by death, an honest Easter :
Pope Francis recalled the priests who have lost their lives during the coronavirus crisis as he offered the Mass of the Lord’s Supper in a nearly empty St. Peter’s Basilica. On Holy Thursday, Pope Francis recalls priests dying amid pandemic :