The 17th-century polymath Blaise Pascal wrote that the eternal silence of the heavens’ infinite spaces terrified him.

“Healing” is a hot topic today. Humanity seems to feel a keen need of healing today, but are we getting to the root cause of our maladies? Are we utilizing the proper remedies? Since human beings are a composite of body and soul, we can’t talk about healing one without healing the other.

We care. Human beings care about an enormous range of things. We are swept up with love for our families, both the families that nurtured us through our younger years and the families to whom we have given life and in whom we have invested our hopes for the future. We care about our nation, a much larger clan from which we have drawn our thought patterns, our culture with its hints of the eternal.

When is a vote an act of love? This is an important question for Ontario Catholics voting on June 2, called by Christ to “love one another as I have loved you” (John 15:12) .

Listening is often referred to as an art. Reams of books have been dedicated to defining “how” to listen, and even define “types” — deep listening, full listening, critical listening, therapeutic listening etc.

Non-contentious

On May 18, the publisher of The Catholic Register, Peter Stockland, was going to moderate a debate, organized by the Archdiocese of Toronto, intended to help Catholic voters with their choice in the Ontario provincial election. To prepare considered answers, candidates would have received the questions in advance.

The World Health Organization released in March data showing an astounding 25-per-cent global increase in mental health disorders such as anxiety and depression correlated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

In mid-December, my doctor confirmed I had cancer. I was told I’d require surgery. Major surgery! ASAP! Not the sort of thing one wants to hear just before Christmas. Not with a pandemic raging. In the weeks that followed I underwent umpteen tests to determine how and when the Beast would be tackled. 

The apparent defeat of Roe v. Wade in the United States Supreme Court has unleashed a wave of optimism for pro-life activists. It is a battle that’s been waged for nearly half a century in the U.S. and so for its opponents this is a sparkling moment.

Trust wasn’t the lesson I was expecting when my partner planned a surprise anniversary weekend away. Seventeen years later, we returned to the Cypress Hills where we stayed as newlyweds. The lodgepole pines appear not to have changed as much as we have.