Keep up the Good Fight of the Faith

A blessed Sunday to all our readers, the Sixteenth in Ordinary Time, or the Sixth Sunday after Pentecost in the usus antiquior. Either way, we celebrate the resurrection, which gives us joy and hope.

In that light we should read Paul Suski’s dire – but still hopeful – on Europe, and Poland in particular. Pope John Paul II warned his beloved country years ago – and I paraphrase – that, in casting off the shackles of Communism, they should not replace with those of hedonistic consumerism. Alas, but there is something rotten even in the heart of Catholic Poland, where the spiritus mundi has crept in, and which now has one of the lowest birthrates in the world, with ‘careers’ – a word I am tending to dislike more and more – over families, especially for the young kobieta. According to the Church’s own sources, less than 40% of Poles attend Sunday Mass, which may sound far better than neo-pagan Canada, but should make us pause, for not long ago it was far above that. Although the Faith is still vibrant and strong in many parts, I have heard stories of its weakness, even its entire loss, amongst the younger demographic, upon whom the great Pope placed such hope – see the quotation from his World Youth Day homily at Downsview Park in Toronto in 2002. I was there all those years ago, and remember not much of the homily, in fact, I’m not sure I heard much of it, with our group about two miles from the altar, and the giant television monitors on the blink. (The whole liturgical question of such million-man-Masses is one upon which we have touched before, and to which we will return soon enough).

The rain began to fall in the early morning, and kept up as Mass commenced, a veritable diminutive deluge, and droves of young people started to pack up and leave in a mass exodus, pardon the pun. I recall wondering if they were going to get to Mass somewhere – it was a Sunday, after all. If they had stayed a few minutes more, the Sun came out, and all was more or less well. A parable for life, methinks.

We must keep our Faith – hold on to it for dear life, for it is the only thing that will give us life, and all the other virtues are useless – not really virtues at all – without this anchor to our final end – God – and the assent to Christ and His authority through the Church, in some way. Certainly to cast off the Faith once given to us is a tragedy of eschatological proportions.

Here is the post-Apostolic bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch (+110), on his way to his own witness in Rome, from today’s Matins, we would do well to ponder:

All things have an end, and two things, life and death, are side by side set before us, and each man will go to his own place. Just as there are two coinages, one of God and the other of the world, each with its own image, so unbelievers bear the image of this world, and those who have faith with love bear the image of God the Father through Jesus Christ. Unless we are ready through his power to die in the likeness of his passion, his life is not in us.

Carney’s Amoral Majority

After five defections – euphemistically described as ‘crossing the floor’ – and three by-elections, Mark Carney and his Liberals how have their coveted majority. One wonders what bowls of pottage were offered in back-room deals. In the archaic monarchical system that is the Dominion of Canada, this majority allows the newly-minted Prime Minister to rule[…]Continue reading→

Saint Kateri , Canada’s Protectress

This was the title given to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha, by Pope Benedict XVI, when he canonized her on October 28th, 2012, along with six others, in Saint Peter’ Square (she had been beatified by Pope John Paul II back in 1980). With Saint Joseph as our protector, along with the Canadian martyrs, we seem to[…]Continue reading→

A Closed, Unsustainable, Descending Loop

As a follow-up to my thoughts on Payette’s payout, here be a stark image of where are here in Canada. As the graph shows in, well, graphic terms, since 2025, the public sector has contributed to 95.5% of economic growth. The private sector – which funds the public sector, or is supposed to – has[…]Continue reading→

A Tale of Two Benedicts

A grace-filled Holy Week to all our readers! As we await and prepare for the Resurrection about to dawn upon us, we might keep in mind two Benedicts: Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, requiescat in pace, elected on this day in 2005; and today’s commemoration of the mystic pilgrim, Benedict Joseph Labre, who died on this[…]Continue reading→

My Name is Bernadette

April 16th is a propitious day, for besides the anniversary of Father de Valk’s death, who founded Catholic Insight in its print form decades ago, and the commemoration of the ‘two Benedicts’, mentioned in accompanying posts, today we also recall Saint Bernadette Soubirous, the young visionary to whom the Virgin Mary appeared numerous times at[…]Continue reading→

Presidential Pardon of Weronika Krawczyk

As a good news, follow-up to our story from Poland, of the persecution of Weronika Krawczyk for her pro-life views, we heard that she has been granted a presidential pardon. One might still wonder why one needs a presidential pardon for simply holding the long-held belief that the child within the womb is a child,[…]Continue reading→

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam and Suffering Joyfully

Saint Lydwina of Schiedam (1380 – 1433) was one of the countless and glorious ‘victim souls’ in the history of the Church, those whose lives are filled with suffering, often of an unimaginable intensity, but who suffer joyfully. She was a fifteen-year old Dutch girl, out skating one day, when she fell and broke one[…]Continue reading→

The Glorious Martyrdoms of Martin and Maximus

As we enter into Eastertide, we recall on this 13th of April Pope Saint Martin I (+655), one of the noblest, if most tragic, of the successors of Saint Peter. Born in Umbria, Italy, he was of noble lineage, with great intelligence combined with charity and love of the poor and the Church. While still[…]Continue reading→

Pope Leo and a Rosary for Peace

Pope Leo XIV has asked Catholics across the world to join him in a Rosary for peace today, at 18:00 Rome time (6 pm), which would be noon from where I write (EST). If you are able, whether at that time or another, and in whatever way you pray, to join in intercession with the[…]Continue reading→

Payette’s Payout

I was glancing through some headlines, and noticed a mention of Julie Payette – engineer and astronaut and sometime the Queen’s representative in Canada – which brought back vague memories. She was appointed Governor-General by Justin Trudeau in 2017. Ms. Payette resigned in 2021, amidst claims that she created a ‘toxic work environment’, with allegations[…]Continue reading→