{mosimage}The church gives us four Sundays to get ready for the enfleshment of God. Four weeks is just enough to get organized for the office parties, gift exchanges, good cheer with good friends, family gatherings, etc. But it is impossible to be ready for God among us, God here and now, God in history 鈥� God as a concrete, physical reality. There is no strategy, no program, no scheme that will make such a thing easily acceptable or even understandable. Faith is a gift.
The nature of the gift is a clear sense of Christ and profound communion with reality.
The nature of the gift is a clear sense of Christ and profound communion with reality.
{mosimage}TORONTO - The September apocalypse on Wall Street and Bay Street is no surprise to religiously and socially motivated investors, who are now contemplating their place in the post-meltdown economy.
鈥淪ocially responsible investing is going to be very well positioned coming out of this crisis,鈥� said Jantzi Social Index founder Michael Jantzi.
鈥淪ocially responsible investing is going to be very well positioned coming out of this crisis,鈥� said Jantzi Social Index founder Michael Jantzi.
{mosimage}TORONTO - With Christmas approaching, it鱿鱼视频app important not to lose sight of the preparation that should come beforehand 鈥� and this doesn鈥檛 just mean picking out the right presents and decorations.
Fr. Vito Marziliano, pastor at All Saints parish in Toronto鱿鱼视频app west end, has tried to make the Advent season really one of spiritual preparation for his parishioners by offering workshops to help them prepare their spiritual 鈥渋nn鈥� for Christ.
Fr. Vito Marziliano, pastor at All Saints parish in Toronto鱿鱼视频app west end, has tried to make the Advent season really one of spiritual preparation for his parishioners by offering workshops to help them prepare their spiritual 鈥渋nn鈥� for Christ.
{mosimage}Christmas centres on the Nativity, the birth of Christ who came into the world to save us from our sins. There would be no birth, of course, if there were no mother. As the poet Coventry Pattmore has remarked, Mary is 鈥淥ur only Saviour from an abstract Christ.鈥�
If there is a secondary message that Christmas brings, yet one that is still intimately tied to the first, it is the motherhood of Mary which, in turn, serves as the model for all motherhood. This message takes on greater significance in an age in which motherhood, in many instances, is routinely eviscerated into a 鈥渃hoice.鈥�
{mosimage}VATICAN CITY - A new Vatican document warned that certain recent developments in stem-cell research, gene therapy and embryonic experimentation violate moral principles and reflect an attempt by man to 鈥渢ake the place of his Creator.鈥�
The latest advances raise serious questions of moral complicity for researchers and other biotech professionals, who have a duty to refuse to use biological material obtained by unethical means, the document said.
The latest advances raise serious questions of moral complicity for researchers and other biotech professionals, who have a duty to refuse to use biological material obtained by unethical means, the document said.
Loretto Sisters meet needs of their community for 400 years
By Carolyn Girard, The Catholic Register
{mosimage}TORONTO - , commonly known as the Loretto Sisters, continues to serve the needy in a variety of ministries as the worldwide order celebrates its 400th anniversary this year.
While the order鱿鱼视频app early years during the Protestant Reformation were rough at best, its introduction to Canada nearly 250 years later also met with some dramatic obstacles. Five sisters, sent to Toronto from Ireland in 1847 to teach Irish immigrants, landed in the midst of a deadly typhus outbreak which took the life of Toronto鱿鱼视频app Bishop Michael Power just weeks after their arrival. Within the year, a few of the sisters had passed away themselves, unprepared for the harsh Canadian winter. However, the survivors were later joined by more sisters from Ireland, and today the order here still counts as many as 100 religious sisters, mostly based in Toronto and Guelph, but also present in Saskatchewan, who strive to emulate the charisms of their foundress, Mary Ward.
While the order鱿鱼视频app early years during the Protestant Reformation were rough at best, its introduction to Canada nearly 250 years later also met with some dramatic obstacles. Five sisters, sent to Toronto from Ireland in 1847 to teach Irish immigrants, landed in the midst of a deadly typhus outbreak which took the life of Toronto鱿鱼视频app Bishop Michael Power just weeks after their arrival. Within the year, a few of the sisters had passed away themselves, unprepared for the harsh Canadian winter. However, the survivors were later joined by more sisters from Ireland, and today the order here still counts as many as 100 religious sisters, mostly based in Toronto and Guelph, but also present in Saskatchewan, who strive to emulate the charisms of their foundress, Mary Ward.
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{mosimage}WINNIPEG - It is a cold Sunday morning at a small Catholic church in a working-class neighbourhood of Winnipeg.
The Eucharistic Prayer has just ended, and the priest is holding the body and blood of Christ above the altar. When the drum beat begins, it pounds like a human heart. A woman sings in Ojibway.
The Eucharistic Prayer has just ended, and the priest is holding the body and blood of Christ above the altar. When the drum beat begins, it pounds like a human heart. A woman sings in Ojibway.
{mosimage}OTTAWA - Like incense, the white smoke of smouldering sweetgrass, cedar, sage and tobacco rises from a seashell as a small group of church-goers pray in the four cardinal directions, giving thanks to the Creator. As , celebrates Mass, he does so in front of a wall papered with the view of a forest.
This scene 鈥� where aboriginal Catholics in Ottawa welcomed Prendergast to celebrate Mass at the office 鈥� was certainly not the first time Catholicism and native spirituality have intertwined. But it is a growing reality in cities like Ottawa and Toronto where the population of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people is growing.
This scene 鈥� where aboriginal Catholics in Ottawa welcomed Prendergast to celebrate Mass at the office 鈥� was certainly not the first time Catholicism and native spirituality have intertwined. But it is a growing reality in cities like Ottawa and Toronto where the population of First Nations, Metis and Inuit people is growing.
{mosimage}TORONTO - The world鱿鱼视频app economic crisis hasn鈥檛 caught Catholic hospitals in Toronto unawares.
Although all Ontario hospitals are more than likely to encounter financial struggles this year, health care rationing and budget adjustments are all too familiar to Catholic institutions, said Hazel Markwell, executive director of the in Toronto.
Although all Ontario hospitals are more than likely to encounter financial struggles this year, health care rationing and budget adjustments are all too familiar to Catholic institutions, said Hazel Markwell, executive director of the in Toronto.
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{mosimage}Canada's former foreign minister Lloyd Axworthy wants to re-embrace the moral vision of the nation鱿鱼视频app nuclear weapons policy of 1945.
鈥淭o use nuclear weapons as a symbol of your greatness is not only immoral, it is pure mystique,鈥� Axworthy told The Catholic Register. 鈥淪omehow there鱿鱼视频app a perversion taking place. Rather than saying that one鱿鱼视频app contribution to reducing poverty or changing the environment is to be a demonstration of one鱿鱼视频app greatness, we鈥檙e using nuclear weapons because it is the ultimate weapon.鈥�
鈥淭o use nuclear weapons as a symbol of your greatness is not only immoral, it is pure mystique,鈥� Axworthy told The Catholic Register. 鈥淪omehow there鱿鱼视频app a perversion taking place. Rather than saying that one鱿鱼视频app contribution to reducing poverty or changing the environment is to be a demonstration of one鱿鱼视频app greatness, we鈥檙e using nuclear weapons because it is the ultimate weapon.鈥�
Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, the period of penance, prayer and sacrifice that precedes the celebration of the resurrection of Christ.
Since the earliest days of the church there is evidence of some form of Lenten preparation for Easter; but the duration and nature of this preparation took countless centuries to evolve and is still changing even today.
{mosimage}TORONTO - The fear, suffering and sacrifice on Bay Street are nothing but nicks and cuts compared to the body blows the poor will suffer in this recession, according to church agencies that serve single mothers, the homeless and families in distress.
鈥淩ecession is a really hard time for people on social assistance, obviously,鈥� said Rosalie Hall executive director Alan Nickell. Rosalie Hall helps hundreds of young women every year as they face pregnancy without an adequate place to live, without a job and without prospects.
鈥淩ecession is a really hard time for people on social assistance, obviously,鈥� said Rosalie Hall executive director Alan Nickell. Rosalie Hall helps hundreds of young women every year as they face pregnancy without an adequate place to live, without a job and without prospects.
{mosimage}PAPHOS, Cyprus - When I visited Cyprus recently, St. Paul the Apostle was the furthest thing from my mind. I was looking forward to touring the island mythology claims as the birthplace of Aphrodite, goddess of love. It wasn鈥檛 until I reached the city of Paphos I was reminded Cyprus was Paul鱿鱼视频app first stop on a phenomenal lifetime of evangelism.
Around 47, accompanied by Barnabas and Mark, Paul introduced this beautiful island to a newer understanding of the word 鈥渓ove鈥� in the person of Jesus Christ. That story is succinctly told in Acts of the Apostles: chapter 13:2-12. Barnabas, Paul and Mark are directed by the Holy Spirit to set out for Cyprus, which author H.V. Morton accurately describes as 鈥渁 perfect blend of mountain and plain, of hills that slope to deserted bays half screened by olive trees.鈥� After preaching in Salimas鱿鱼视频app synagogues, they travelled to Paphos on the island鱿鱼视频app luxuriant south coast, again preaching in Jewish synagogues.
Around 47, accompanied by Barnabas and Mark, Paul introduced this beautiful island to a newer understanding of the word 鈥渓ove鈥� in the person of Jesus Christ. That story is succinctly told in Acts of the Apostles: chapter 13:2-12. Barnabas, Paul and Mark are directed by the Holy Spirit to set out for Cyprus, which author H.V. Morton accurately describes as 鈥渁 perfect blend of mountain and plain, of hills that slope to deserted bays half screened by olive trees.鈥� After preaching in Salimas鱿鱼视频app synagogues, they travelled to Paphos on the island鱿鱼视频app luxuriant south coast, again preaching in Jewish synagogues.