I have often prayed for others to join the ministry of “The Church on the Street.” However, even though many have come to look and see, none has chosen to follow. My offer of “franchises available” has failed to convince. Unfortunately, the front-page news this week of two murders in the area dampened any enthusiasm there might have been.

The best sermon I ever heard was delivered by Fr. Philip Merdinger, the founder of the Brotherhood of Hope, a religious community dedicated to campus ministry. Father preached a retreat for us Daughters of St. Paul, and the gist of his sermon was: “You are not the most important thing in the world. God is.”

As a child, I was fishing off a wooden dock at the small lake near the town in B.C. where I grew up when a farmer from Saskatchewan and his son appeared  as if out of a dream I didn’t know I was having.

I have indulged in a passion for puns throughout my career. Despite feeling gleeful about this on one level, I also remember an army of English literature professors intoning that puns were the lowest form of wit. While there are legions of people who deeply oppose puns on principle, there is an equally vast array of fans that believe in them at all costs.

Blocking transparency

I find the Oct. 2 editorial “Rebuild trust” mind boggling.

Canadian Cardinal Michael Czerny deployed a recent lecture in Chicago to drive home the vital point that “pro-life” commitment does not — must not — be limited to opinion and activism around abortion and euthanasia.

It’s the new buzzword, popularized by a recent TikTok video, to describe the strategy a significant chunk of the workforce is now pursuing: “quiet quitting.”

My daughter started taking Gaelic lessons more than a year ago and it’s opened my eyes to the story language tells about a people. 

In his recent homily at the National Eucharistic Congress in Matera, Pope Francis described the dangers of this world. “The abuses perpetrated by the powerful against the weak, indifference to the cry of the poor, the abyss we dig every day, generating marginalization… all these things cannot leave us indifferent,” Francis said. 

Shrine on

Michael Swan’s Sept. 24 article on the Martyrs’ Shrine tells us the community is making efforts to be more welcoming to all Indigenous peoples, including giving them free access to the site. It’s a commendable approach that genuinely helps promote reconciliation and solidarity.