It’s easy to look around and be pessimistic. Public and household debt levels are alarmingly high in Canada. The Church is roiling from one abuse scandal to another. So many parts of the world seem in chaos with rampant corruption, wars and terrorism.

At St. Mary’s University here in Calgary, we open all our meetings with a reflection. Sometimes it is the university prayer, but often it is a meditation on a relevant issue, meant to support, comfort and uplift. 

I often admonish my brother for labeling too many things he dislikes as “stupid.” That word should be reserved for that which goes beyond the merely foolish or inane to the really, really stupid.

We all have a longing for a place to call “home.” For people who spend many aimless years living on the streets, “homelessness” is more than a condition of the body, it is a condition of the soul. 

Should doctors start prescribing a leisurely walk in the forest to improve health and well-being? According to researchers from Japan, the answer is a resounding yes. 

The televised funeral of George Herbert Walker Bush at the Washington National Cathedral was a reminder of times when the office of the U.S. President worked for bipartisanship, decency and decorum.

It’s a huge blow to the more than 2,500 workers, their families, the city of Oshawa and communities across Ontario. The closure of General Motors by the end of 2019 rips at the heart of generations of families with ties to the province’s auto manufacturing glory days.

An alumna of our Newman House chaplaincy at Queen’s University offers an inspiring model of reading — of actual books. 

Dwelling is a strange concept. It’s a place and it sounds like an action: the relevance to Advent is both. 

Thomas Merton, the most influential Catholic spiritual writer of the 20th century, spent the last period of his life trying to find points of common ground between Catholic mysticism and the mysticism of the East. Some might argue that Merton’s efforts were folly, but one cannot deny his influence.