All Too Human Saints and Prophets
A blessed Sunday to all our readers, on which we always commemorate Christ’s resurrection and triumph over decay and destruction, trampling death for all eternity. The readings speak of the cleansing of the lepers, Naaman, by the prophet Elisha, and the ten, by Christ Himself. All for doing something simple – like asking – and all they must do in return, is to give thanks and praise to God.
Fitting, then, that we celebrate and offer our own gratitude for the canonization of John Henry Cardinal Newman this morning in Rome, man who who carried his own burdens, a melancholic disposition, at times a great distaste for his own work and station, disappointment with his dreams and aspirations – one wonders what he suffered in Ireland – and even perhaps, a dissatisfaction with his own chosen vocation.
On that note, as we peruse accolades and encomia on Newman on this day, all quite dulce et decorum, we might also read over what Father Jonathan Robinson, the founder and head of the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri in Toronto, had to say on Newman, who was also an Oratorian, years ago.
It seems we can all become saints, warts, wobbles and all.
A final thought: Last night, President Trump’s speech was on the background on the telly. Yes, he has his own ‘warts and wobbles’, but I was amazed at his forthrightness on the defense of life, of religious rights and freedom, of the limits of governmental power, of the need for a nation to defend its borders and maintain its identity, its culture, its whole raison d’etre. And, what is more, he was – on national television – ‘prayed over’ by pastor Andrew Brunson, whom the President had helped to free from incarceration in Turkey.
Almost none of this has this writer heard from our own professed conservative, Andrew Scheer, a lifelong politician whose primary aim seems, from the surface, just to be Prime Minister, for whom many of good conscience feel they must vote, simply since he’s not Trudeau, or even Singh or May. Perhaps that is enough for this beleaguered nation. Desperate times and all that. But would that Mr. Scheer, who himself seems to live a Catholic life, sounded even one note of a trumpet as certain as Trump’s, more would be willing to follow his lead. As it is, his little muted dimpled piccolo leads few, and inspires even fewer.
Is this what we have come to in poor milquetoast Canada, once a great and proud and courageous nation, carved out of rock, wilderness and scrub? Ah, well…Then again, perhaps we like Esau have sold our birthright for a bowl of pottage, and, who knows, our only recourse will be to join the fifty States, once our economy, finally kissing the brick wall of our ungovernable debt – which at least Scheer is willing to raise – crashes and burns. In the interim, we lumber around with our own rather advanced spiritual leprosy, rotting our very core.
This is also the 102nd anniversary of the final vision at Fatima, with the incredible dancing, kaleidoscopic Sun, whirling in the heavens, before tens of thousands of onlookers. What this ultimately portends, well, we will find out, perhaps sooner than we think.
So maintain your hope and joy, dear readers, in the midst of the apparent darkness and chaos. As the readings today proclaim quite clearly, God, who holds all the firmament and the cosmos in a span, can do much with but a word, especially when things seem most desperate and impossible.
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→
Remembering Father Alphonse de Valk
(Today marks the sixth anniversary of the death of Father Alphonse de Valk, C.S.B., a faithful, courageous and indefatigable Basilian priest, pro-life-and-family apostle, and the founder of Catholic Insight magazine. Here is what we wrote those on his entering into eternity five years ago, as we continue to remember him in our prayers and thoughts)[…]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→
Canonizing Sister Faustina and Divine Mercy
HOMILY OF THE HOLY FATHER MASS IN ST PETER’S SQUARE FOR THE CANONIZATION OF SR MARY FAUSTINA KOWALSKA Sunday, 30 April 2000 1. “Confitemini Domino quoniam bonus, quoniam in saeculum misericordia eius”; “Give thanks to the Lord for he is good; his steadfast love endures for ever” (Ps 118: 1). So the Church sings on the Octave of[…]Continue reading→