Most everyone has read an editorial or an opinion piece attacking the federal government’s summer jobs program for excluding organizations that are pro-life — like the Roman Catholic Church. It has caused outrage in many quarters. We should be grateful that it is more than the usual orthodox suspects who see the injustice in this warped decision.

Spending more time with family, making forgiveness a habit and being less judgmental could help you make good on one of the most popular 2018 New Year’s resolutions.

Earlier this month I attended the funeral of Msgr. Gregory Haddock, a priest of Opus Dei. The homilist at St. Michael’s Cathedral said pain had been Fr. Greg’s constant companion, but he never complained. Parkinson’s disease slowly ended his life.

The visit of the relic of St. Francis Xavier to the Mississauga, Ont., parish named after him will likely be the largest Catholic event of the year in Canada. Numbers are not the most important part of any pilgrimage, but they do tell part of the story. And the 13,000-plus pilgrims that came to St. Francis Xavier parish to honour their patron is an important story about the state of the Church in Canada.

Canada’s former ambassador for religious freedom sees recent punitive changes to Ottawa’s Canada Summer Jobs program as the epitome of anti-faith hostility.

The relic of St. Francis Xavier is making a Canada-wide visit this month. It began with stops in Quebec City, St. John’s, Nfld., Halifax and Kingston, and visits the Toronto area before heading to the four Western provinces.

Some years ago, I would refer a particular fussbudget friend to a spoof self-help group called Over Thinkers Anonymous.