{mosimage}Lent started early in February and Easter has arrived even as Canada, at least in Toronto enivrons, is still struggling to shake off winter. The crocuses and snowbells have only just begun to do their annual teasing that warm weather is finally on its way, and suddenly, it’s Easter.

{mosimage}It is hardly news that the environmental crisis has become accepted as one of the greatest challenges facing the Earth. As such, it is not just a political, scientific or even economic issue. It is a moral question of the first magnitude.

{mosimage}The announcement in mid-February by Fidel Castro that, at long last, he was relinquishing all claim to power in Cuba represents a watershed moment for international relations.

{mosimage}It’s actually kind of surprising that the Ontario legislature’s practice of starting off the day with the Lord’s Prayer had escaped notice for so long. Most legislatures in Canada changed the custom some years back, adopting non-sectarian prayers, or moments of reflection, or something similar to reflect Canada’s evolving religious diversity.

{mosimage}Until Liberal MP Keith Martin tabled a private members’ motion in the House of Commons on Jan. 30, the problem of human rights commissions dabbling in censorship of free speech had really not hit the political radar screens. Now, however, the politicians have been forced to take note and, predictably, they wonder what the fuss is all about.

{mosimage}In his 2008 Message for Lent, Pope Benedict XVI refers to the “spiritual battle” of the Lenten season, a time when we use the tools of almsgiving, fasting and prayer to strengthen our inner selves against those forces, internal and external, which prey on our human foibles.

{mosimage}Canada recently “celebrated” — “mourned” would be more appropriate if not, unfortunately, accurate — the 20th anniversary of the Morgentaler decision by the Supreme Court of Canada, which demolished our laws restricting abortion. Away from the main events of public marches, protests and university symposia, there were several sideshows that revealed how threatened mainstream opinion makers are by the fact that the subject refuses to die.

It’s not a date we see marked on our calendars. There are no pink, blue, red or white ribbon campaigns lavishly publicized by daily newspapers and TV newscasts. No memorials on Parliament Hill in Ottawa either. Yet Jan. 28, 1988, should live on in Canadian history as a day of tragic infamy.

{mosimage}This year's theme for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity (Jan. 20-26) uses Paul's words “Pray without ceasing” from his letter to the Thessalonians (5:13b-18). This is sage advice, not only in the cause of Christian unity, but for life in general.

{mosimage}The report released Jan. 8 by the National Roundtable on the Environment and the Economy is no more or less gloomy than the many other reports being issued these days by organizations given the task of assessing how real the crisis over greenhouse gases actually is and what should be done about it. Unfortunately, few political parties in Canada, with the possible exception of the tiny Green Party, appear ready to really grasp the nettle.