When I saw the news on Saturday morning I was stunned. Jean Vanier? THE Jean Vanier had sexually abused multiple women? Jean Vanier, the founder of L’Arche, an apostolate that cares for so many people with disabilities. Jean Vanier, the spiritual writer who has influenced so many Catholics and people in general. Jean Vanier, the guy who was sometimes likened to Mother Teresa. THAT Jean Vanier? I texted the article to a friend and he responded: “I thought that man was a saint.” So did I. In fact if last week I were to try to come up with someone of recent memory who might be least likely to ev ..read more

There is one piece of conventional wisdom that I have heard again and again from parish pastors: no big changes for at least the first year. I don’t know the origin of this guideline, but it seems to omnipresent in its reach and almost omnipotent in its influence. I have two big problems with this guideline. The first is this: what is defined as a “big change?” Like, are we talking about structural changes to the church? Or additions or removals of parish staff? Or are we talking about starting any new programs at all? I had a discussion a while back with a pastor who was taking it to mean th ..read more

I love showing up late to parties, and in this post I am showing up quite late to the party that was the Catholic Twitterverse debating kids at Mass. Fr. Michael White, pastor and author of Rebuilt (of which I am a big fan) several weeks ago made comments critical of small children making a fuss at Mass and of the parents who seat them at the front of the church and feed them cheerios, making a distraction for the pastor and liturgical ministers. “I cannot begin to tell you how incredibly difficult it is to try and preach over a crying baby,” he said. He also questioned whether small kids are ..read more

It seems to be a season of scandals in the Church lately and it makes me really mad. Reading on the McCarrick scandal one day and the layers of ambivalence that made it possible the next, it makes you want to wretch. Ralph Martin has a letter to discouraged Catholics worth reading. Among his recommendations are prayer for our pope and bishops, fidelity to Christ in our daily lives, and remembering that the Church is founded on him. It’s great advice. I think another thing to remember is to not turn our eyes away from scandal. It is so ugly and enraging, but maybe our hearts need to break for ..read more

We continue to wade through so much filth in these days. Yesterday the Pennsylvania Supreme Court report came out, a 2- year grand jury investigation into sex abuse by priests in 6 dioceses since 1950. It contained revelations of abuse by 301 priests on over a thousand victims (they expect the actual number of victims to be much higher, but these are the victims who have come forward). The details are pure evil. Satanic. Twisted. They contain stories of priests who raped children and then proscribed them penance. Who marked preferred target altar boys with special golden crucifixes. In some c ..read more

This post may bother some readers.  I don't expect that everyone who reads Canadian Catholic votes exactly the way I do. And when I write articles on politics it often ruffles a few feathers. But I think it's important to be civically-minded and to discuss the performance of our political leaders at election time but also year round.  Recently, our prime minister did something that I thought was really sad and deplorable concerning an elected MP named Rachael Harder. But as I reflected upon this sad behavior it made me think of a number other things he has done that I haven't writte ..read more

Is your faith a furnace, running at extreme temperatures at all times? Or does it sometimes feel like it is a low heat, running on embers? Or worse, flickering like a pilot light, not quite going out, but... I think there are questions we can ask ourselves when our faith feels more fickle than normal. Here are some that I think of when my fire is burning a little low. 1. Have I forgotten that God’s love came first, without me doing anything to earn or achieve it? It’s so easy to get disoriented in reference to God. We might feel like we got into his good graces through our good behaviour, or ..read more

I came across a recent article called Why the Church Doesn’t Need Anymore Starbucks. In it the author tells a deeply personal story of pain and loss. Her husband died after a long and difficult battle with cancer, leaving behind 2 young children, and she opens up about how arduous the whole experience was. And in that time of great trial and suffering, she relays how their faith in Jesus was all the comfort and strength she could ask for. Praise God. What a gift it is to know him! But for some reason she frames this experience against the trend of churches today putting a premium on great hos ..read more

I wrote an article recently arguing for the need for parishes dedicated to evangelization and discipleship of young adults. You can catch that article here. It drew some really interesting responses, positive and negative, prompting one of my friends to ask if I just enjoy lobbing grenades intro Catholic discussion groups. (Maybe I do?) Maybe the most intriguing responses were from Catholic young adults who gave a sort of aching “AMEN!” to the post. I heard from faithful young Catholics how hard it can be to feel connected to their parish even when they desperately want to. How it can really ..read more

Do you ever feel like you’ve lost the narrative thread of your life? My family and I made a trip to Martyrs Shrine on the weekend. It was the first time back in a few years, and as my wife and I approach our 10th anniversary I felt like we were due. Martyrs Shrine commemorates the lives of the first missionaries to North America, Jesuits Sts. Jean Brebeuf, Gabriel Lalemant, Isaac Jogues & companions. These valiant and holy men paid the ultimate price in order to bring Native Canadians the message of the Gospel. It’s also the place where God entered back into my life in a most surprising a ..read more