True-dope-ia

I had to wait a few days before writing on the election of Justin Trudeau as our new Prime-Minister-in-waiting, not least for the emotion...

Boring Sermons: A Thomistic Take

Why Sermons are Boring   Daniel Callam, C.S.B. In moving offices recently I found, between my copies of Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings, a long-lost...

Till We Have Faces: To Niqab, or Not?

In an interesting turn of events, the niqab, the face-covering veil worn by certain Muslim women, has become a defining election issue in Canada. ...

Festival and Ferial, by Anna Rist: A Review

Festival and Ferial Anna Rist Kaufmann Publishing, St. Simon’s Island , 2014 ISBN : 978-0-9905329-3-4   In one of his Odes (IV.2) Horace describes the danger of trying to...

Primal Rage

This morning, as I begin this column, ten people at a community college in Oregon were killed by yet-another loner gunman, seeking some kind...

Of Romans and Mustard Seeds

If an early Christian had been asked to speculate where the centre of the Catholic Church on earth would end up, it's not inconceivable...

The Refugee Question

The lifeless body of the 2 year old Aylan Kurdi lying face down on a beach has caused outrage around the world (I have...

Smiley Miley

The Gospel on the memorial of the beheading of Saint John the Baptist, which we celebrated last week, recounts the story Herod, Herodias, his...

Laudato Si: A Commentary on Magisterial Ecology

In light of Pope Francis' call for September 1st to be a day dedicated to prayer for the environment and ecology, here is a...

A Catholic Parent’s Back to School Guide for Sexual Education in the Home

There are not as many parents jumping for joy this year as they get their children ready for going back to school. The new...