When I was 18 years old, we had a Stocking Family reunion in England. It was the first time I met many of my numerous relatives. My father is one of eleven children, spread throughout England, the U.S., and Canada. That was the last time all of them were together in person. Gathered with them were approximately one hundred of their direct descendants. It was a very formative experience for me as a young man. I was recently reading a journal entry I wrote shortly after the reunion ended,

The journey toward reconciliation between Canadian churches and Indigenous people continues. Not surprisingly, the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 did not end that journey. 

“I am busy with other things, mainly running the household for me and my 90-year-old sister plus a young working man who came to stay three years ago and doesn't look like leaving any time soon,” a friend wrote me recently. I had asked about her retirement and she said she wanted to find time to write. Before retirement, she had been a journalist. 

I always admire people who seem to be able to come up with a Scripture quotation for every occasion. You know, when you are working away quietly at home and your spouse calls out, “As it says in John 16:16, ‘In a short time you will no longer see me, and in a short time you will see me again.’” 

“For crying out loud,” you shout back, “Could you just go out and buy the bread and milk?” 

Do not interrupt the music.

Sirach 32: 3

I don’t like to brag, but I was a member of my school’s award-winning choir when I was young. I sang alto and bass though admittedly, because of puberty, it was usually during the same note. Sr. Thibeault, our choir director, begged me to join … any other club but hers. I thought she was only playing hard to get. She had famously claimed she could teach anyone to sing, and tearfully admitted she was wrong after she heard me.

The word ‘impossible’ does not exist in Natale Giangioppo’s vocabulary. 

Blind from birth, Giangioppo’s many barrier-shattering accomplishments most recently include participating as a choir member at Our Lady of Sorrows (OLS) parish in Etobicoke, Ontario.

What is a Catholic teacher to do in the current climate? I know I am not alone when, especially in the month of June, I feel bombarded by Rainbow banners, stickers and lanyards; I resent the pressure from our “Catholic” union to display Pride rainbows, and even march in the Pride parade. 

One of the Correctional Service of Canada’s (CSC) top priorities is ensuring that those who are incarcerated in Canada’s federal institutions have access to quality, safe, patient-centred and culturally-responsive care. This is underscored by CSC’s legislative mandate and the Corrections and Conditional Release Act (CCRA), which includes providing essential health care and reasonable access to non-essential health care to federal inmates, in keeping with professional standards. As part of this, CSC is responsive to the needs of offenders, including quality and compassionate palliative and end-of-life care.

Flaws will be found, objections raised, and nits picked with the Sacred Covenant made between Catholic and Indigenous leaders regarding the Indian Residential School in Kamloops, B.C.

I am back to the basic I was raised with: to know, to love and to serve the Lord supported by the grace received from the sacraments. I have grown in my faith these past 10 years with learning how to have a quiet meditative and reflective time in the morning, which allows me to be more aware of those around me and of their needs. In my Church family, my awareness has increased with 52 years of Catholic Women’s League involvement and five years of assisting with the RCIA program at Transfiguration. It’s being part of a community, you pray for and with others in times of joy and sorrow. I believe that I am living my faith each and every day as a Christian Catholic.