The flag was unremarkable. It had red-and-white lettering on a grey background and read simply: National March for Life Ottawa.

In a recent Toronto Sun column, John Snobelen had four wise, albeit chilling, watch words for those in the not-for-profit world. They are: “The atrophy of purpose.”

This being Mother’s Day weekend, an editor asked if I’d like to write about it. Initially, I decided to pass because I’ve written about my wonderful late mother many times.

Students at St. Augustine School in Regina were abuzz in the fall of 1960 when we learned a priest was coming who would reveal a secret message from the Virgin Mary.

Canada Summer Jobs is a worthy federal program that subsidizes employment for thousands of high school and university students. Ottawa trumpets that “all small business, not-for-profit organizations and public-sector employers are encouraged to apply for funding” and hire summer students.

In mid-April The Globe & Mail gave two days of coverage to the suicide of Adam Maier-Clayton, just 27 years old. He lived for years with a variety of psychiatric disorders and unremitting pain. There is no doubt he knew suffering.

Bravo for Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, who has emerged as a white knight for Catholic education.

As the Ontario bishops completed their ad limina visit to Rome last week, I couldn’t help but recall one of my favourite stories about one of Ontario’s favourite bishops.

Whether opening a free laundromat for the homeless in Rome or shunning the palatial papal apartments in the Vatican, Pope Francis knows the power of symbolic messages.

Just 19 days after two Palm Sunday terrorist bombings killed more than 45 Christian worshippers and injured a hundred more in Egypt, Pope Francis will personally take a message of peace and solidarity to that volatile nation.