In 2011, a book by a young writer, Bieke Vandekerckhove, won the award as Spiritual Book of the Year in her native Belgium.

Towards the end of the summer, I met my friend John for coffee. A recurring event, not nearly frequent enough, but invariably enriching to heart and mind.

32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Nov. 6 (2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 7, 9-14; Psalm 17; 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5; Luke 20:27-38

How should we react when negative events shake us to our core and raise doubts?

Thirty-four years ago when I launched this column, I would never have said this: restlessness is not something to be cultivated, no matter how romantic that might seem.

The geese are flying. The leaves are changing. The nights are cooler. The days are growing shorter. Fall is here.

31st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Oct. 30 (Wisdom 11:23-12:2; Psalm 145; 2 Thessalonians 1:11-2:2; Luke 19:1-10)

It is easy to feel insignificant while gazing up at a starry night or looking at photos of countless galaxies taken from the Hubble telescope. We could come away with the feeling that we don’t count for much.

Contemplative prayer, as it is classically defined and popularly practised, is subject today to considerable skepticism in a number of circles. For example, the method of prayer, commonly called Centreing Prayer, popularized by persons like Thomas Keating, Basil Bennington, John Main and Laurence Freeman, is viewed with suspicion by many people who identify it with anything from “New Age” to Buddhism to “Self-Seeking” to atheism.

30th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year C) Oct. 23 (Sirach 35:15-17, 20-22; Psalm 34; 2 Timothy 4:6-8, 16-18; Luke 18:9-14)

The world is not always a fair place. So often justice eludes us, especially when greed, special interests and prejudice enter the picture. Human beings often make poor judges, swayed as they are by so many things. Even on a personal level, people frequently pass judgment on others.

On a rainy Saturday, I joined a unique gathering. In Grimsby Museum, an exhibition long in the making opened — “Sweat Equity: Grimsby Co-operative Homebuilders 1953-1956.” It documents and displays the story of 80 families who co-operatively financed and built their homes. Sixty years later, those houses still grace several lakeside blocks in this Ontario town in the Niagara Peninsula.