Feature

MONTREAL -- Unlikely as it might seem, the Irish are once again in the eye of a controversy storm, this time over the naming of a Montreal commuter rail station in historic Griffintown neighbourhood.

Changing the world an inch at a time with nothing but a word, a prayer, a hope or an intuition isn’t the sort of thing we very often notice, let alone celebrate.

For sheer numbers, there has never been a decade like the 2010s for saint-making. That’s because Pope Francis canonized over 800 in one go when he declared St. Antonio Primaldo and his 812 companions (martyred in 1480 by an invading Ottoman army in Oranto, southern Italy) saints on May 12, 2013.

The crisis, the kairos moment, the crux of the matter, the hinge of history — none of these are easily discernible, usually. But for Catholics, this last decade has been unusual.

When The Catholic Register launched its annual children’s Christmas contest in 2011 there was some concern about receiving enough entries to make it a real competition. Nine contests and thousands of entries later, it’s obvious those worries were unfounded.

A vicious circle of disasters and unresolved injustices are feeding one another and starving the citizens of Haiti. But the crisis is widely unknown.

Victoria Filibus and her nine children have suffered the terrorism of Boko Haram and seen their lives upended as displaced persons living in a camp.

As the calendar flips to December and we enter the Advent season, thoughts naturally turn to Christmas.

Christmas dreams come in all shapes and sizes. Some of them go from pianissimo to fortissimo and hit every note from bass to soprano.

If good things come to those who wait, we’re in trouble. In the age of smart phones, Netflix, instant noodles and instant gratification, who waits?