Forty days in the desert — that’s our usual starting point for Lent. But we would prefer to choose our desert, and most years we do. We decide what we will give up for Lent. We choose spiritual reading, take on volunteering and charitable acts, memorize a new prayer, set aside time for meditation. Diligent Catholics like to plan our desert experience.
Initial spark still burns after 72 years
By Quinton Amundson, The Catholic Register“Love at first sight” as a concept probably finds itself with an even split between advocates and detractors.
A different look to Ash Wednesday
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterCOVID has not cancelled Lent, nor Ash Wednesday, though a few things will feel a little different.
Looking for Catholic love in a locked down world
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterOnline dating as a Catholic has always been tough for Lisa van der Wilt and the global pandemic hasn’t made it any easier.
Jean Augustine sees future in the past
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterAt this pivotal moment in the conversation around anti-Black racism in North America and beyond, Jean Augustine is reminded of the Sankofa — a bird associated with a west African proverb used to express the importance of reaching back for knowledge gained from the past.
Malta shares its faith with Toronto, world
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterFr. Mario Micallef recalls the general feeling of pride and excitement experienced within Toronto’s Maltese community on the morning of Nov. 28.
The time is now for Camilleri
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterFr. Ivan Camilleri’s moment has arrived — not that he was waiting for it or hoping for it or dreading it. But it’s here now and that’s fine with him.
St. Joseph the model in a world in need of fathers
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterFor 65 years, Sr. Sue Mosteller has been a Sister of St. Joseph, but her relationship with St. Joseph himself reaches back even further. As a 17-year-old boarding student at the congregation’s Toronto girls’ school (up from the United States, and an Anglican to boot), Mosteller and her sister were called into the office and given a piece of devastating news — far away in Ohio, their father had died.
2020: Looking for hope amid the grief
By Michael Swan, The Catholic RegisterThis unforgettable year, this annus horribilis, is mercifully drawing to the end, but the virus that has so consumed our lives is not.
‘Christmas Star’ arrives at solstice
By Dennis Sadowski, Catholic News ServiceCLEVELAND -- A once-every-two-decade conjunction involving the solar system’s two gas giants will give earthbound observers a look at a so-called “Christmas Star” on the winter solstice.
No limit to giving for Thomas Shura
By Wendy-Ann Clarke, The Catholic RegisterA spruce tree donated by a retired Catholic teacher is helping to make Christmas in Kenora in northern Ontario a little merrier.