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.

Third Sunday of Advent (Year C) Dec. 16 (Zephaniah 3:14-18a; Psalm Isaiah 12; Philippians 4:4-7; Luke 3:10-18)

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.

Last summer, Ottawa constitutional lawyer Albertos Polizogopoulos and I were on Ottawa’s Sparks Street when we encountered a sign warning we were entering an abortion safe-access zone.

I love making lists. It is how I fall asleep at night. Sometimes I try to name every baseball club and at least one player from each team, or think of 10 music albums I would bring with me should I ever be sent to an offshore penal colony or to the opera.

I have become used to the cacophony which inhabits the downtown of the city and usually treat it as background noise as I walk around. 

The other day, I went to pay my respects to the widow and two children of a friend and neighbor whom I played pick-up hockey with for several years. He was only 55.