This spring, I got an itch for change, and I cut my hair. Sixteen inches of curls lay on the floor. I instantly felt so much lighter. And as I went about my life, it was a big enough change that I didn’t recognize my own reflection. I walked by the microwave in the kitchen or a window on the street and did a double take to see myself clearly. And then I realized that this was also happening inside myself.
You will know them by their fruits.
Matthew 7: 16
I have often been fascinated by iconic pairings — how one person or one thing can be inextricably linked to another. Batman and Robin roll off the tongue, a pairing as natural as brie and crackers. Pisa and the leaning tower, Rome and the Vatican, are equally symbiotic. Advertising often depends on this or works hard to create the pairing, so that, for a time, Nike and Michael Jordan were synonymous, and Air Jordans were everywhere.
When I first heard rumblings about a documentary titled Jesus Thirsts: The Miracle of the Eucharist I had mixed feelings. While other recent programming such as this year’s Mother Cabrini film and the ongoing series The Chosen had drawn me in along with sizeable audiences sharing a hunger for Catholic representation in media, I found a sense of skepticism about a documentary tackling something as important to the faith as the Eucharist.
The Bride and I are quickly approaching a milestone anniversary. On September 1, we will have been married 40 years. I sometimes wonder, how did that happen, and am I really that old?
A quote dubiously attributed to Oscar Wilde defines a gentleman as someone who never gives offence unintentionally.
As a former competitive amateur athlete in multiple sports, I watched with childlike anticipation the opening ceremonies of the Paris Summer Olympics. However, my natural appreciation of sports, its celebrities, and the beautiful Paris skyline quickly turned to disgust and horror as the ceremony continued to unfold.
Verbatim: An excerpt from a letter of Pope Francis on the fourth centenary of the birth of Blaise Pascal
An excerpt from The Apostolic Letter of Pope Francis on the fourth centenary of the birth of Blaise Pascal delivered in Rome on June 19, 2024.
Since President Joe Biden has abandoned his quest for a second term “running the world” as he framed it, perhaps he can get work as a mascot for the Church’s World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly.
To tip or not to tip? And, if so, to tip 10 per cent or 25 per cent?
These are choices many Canadians are making as they strive to continue dining out on increasingly tight budgets. Sadly, they appear to be leaning towards the “not” side.
In April 2019, when Notre Dame Cathedral was afire in Paris, I was on a cross-country drive. I had decided not to listen to the news, but rather to pray and think, so I was oblivious to the conflagration. As the kilometres sailed by, I became strangely obsessed with the thought that Western Catholics were starving for good religious art. I suddenly knew I was.
The number 8 bus travels down Main Street in Mount Pleasant, a neighbourhood in Vancouver known for its trendy shops, trendier cafes, and urbane urban dwellers. As the bus passes the numbered avenues running west and east off Main it eventually makes its turn onto East Hastings Street. The last time I was at the corner of Main and Hastings was in 2004 when I worked as a federal public servant. My colleague and I were making a cross-country tour in aid of the Government of Canada’s desire to understand the federal role in cities better.