A venerable guide for gracious living in all walks of life is the reminder that the graveyards of the world are filled with irreplaceable people.

The third anniversary of the May 27, 2021 announcement by B.C.������Ƶapp Kamloops Indian Band that the unmarked graves of 215 children were found on the site of its Indian residential school has come and gone but its claims are very much alive.

The Commitments to Action in the Sacred Covenant signed by the Archdiocese of Vancouver, the Diocese of Kamloops and the Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc.

When I was 18 years old, we had a Stocking Family reunion in England. It was the first time I met many of my numerous relatives. My father is one of eleven children, spread throughout England, the U.S., and Canada. That was the last time all of them were together in person. Gathered with them were approximately one hundred of their direct descendants. It was a very formative experience for me as a young man. I was recently reading a journal entry I wrote shortly after the reunion ended,

The journey toward reconciliation between Canadian churches and Indigenous people continues. Not surprisingly, the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 did not end that journey. 

“I am busy with other things, mainly running the household for me and my 90-year-old sister plus a young working man who came to stay three years ago and doesn't look like leaving any time soon,” a friend wrote me recently. I had asked about her retirement and she said she wanted to find time to write. Before retirement, she had been a journalist. 

I always admire people who seem to be able to come up with a Scripture quotation for every occasion. You know, when you are working away quietly at home and your spouse calls out, “As it says in John 16:16, ‘In a short time you will no longer see me, and in a short time you will see me again.’” 

“For crying out loud,” you shout back, “Could you just go out and buy the bread and milk?” 

Do not interrupt the music.

Sirach 32: 3

I don’t like to brag, but I was a member of my school������Ƶapp award-winning choir when I was young. I sang alto and bass though admittedly, because of puberty, it was usually during the same note. Sr. Thibeault, our choir director, begged me to join … any other club but hers. I thought she was only playing hard to get. She had famously claimed she could teach anyone to sing, and tearfully admitted she was wrong after she heard me.

The word ‘impossible’ does not exist in Natale Giangioppo������Ƶapp vocabulary. 

Blind from birth, Giangioppo������Ƶapp many barrier-shattering accomplishments most recently include participating as a choir member at Our Lady of Sorrows (OLS) parish in Etobicoke, Ontario.

What is a Catholic teacher to do in the current climate? I know I am not alone when, especially in the month of June, I feel bombarded by Rainbow banners, stickers and lanyards; I resent the pressure from our “Catholic” union to display Pride rainbows, and even march in the Pride parade.