Often when a particular friend of mine says certain things, I don’t react right away. In fact, it might require days. Or impose a prudent pause until the 12th of Never.

When I first started thinking about what I would do for Lent this year, the last thing I imagined was a fast that would encompass 54 Fridays, running until Easter of next year.

TORONTO - He’s been on the Toronto hip-hop scene for more than 10 years, innovatively blending R&B, jazz and alternative vocals and rhythms with his self-professed ability to “spit sick.” He’s rapped about a whole host of controversial issues, from pre-marital sex to drugs to abuse to the nature of success.

Body and Blood of Christ (Year B) June 7 (Exodus 24:3-8; Psalm 116; Hebrews 9:11-15; Mark 14:12-16, 22-26)

When we want to stress the seriousness and solemnity of an agreement or contract, we say that it is “written in blood.”

“Are you an engineer?” I ask, pointing to the slim, shiny ring on his pinky finger.

“No,” he replies. “This is my promise ring.”

Is it just by coincidence that at the beginning and the end of the Bible there appears a rainbow?