The I’s of July

It was on this day in 2007 that the i-phone was first introduced to the world, and things have never been the same since. Hard to believe it was just fifteen years ago that Jobs’ invention, or, more properly, innovation (for cell phones existed before then) changed the world, and our perception of the world. The i-phone turned mobile telephones from clunky bricks to sleek, ergonomic devices that people wanted to hold, that slipped easily into pockets and purses, that connected us with each other in ways we couldn’t imagine. And it’s difficult for those who grew up in the pre-‘smartphone’ era to have a notion of what it was really like. Payphones? No texting? No scrolling? Times when you simply could not be gotten a hold of? (And pardon my grammar) Books? Newspapers? Conversation and asking directions? Radio, and CD’s? Daydreaming and musing? Contemplation? Privacy, as the eyes – or i-‘s – are always upon us?

I’m not sure of the providential coincidence of this anniversary. One can scarcely imagine Peter and Paul evangelizing with i-phones, tweeting out inspired exhortations. There is a reason, as Malcolm Muggeridge wrote in his brief treatise ‘Christ and the Media‘ why the Word came to Earth before modern media, during the pax Romana and verbal communication. And Mr. Muggeridge was writing in the age of plain old television.

As we wrote recently of nukes, no technology is intrinsically evil, and it all may, in theory at least, be put to some good use. One could ponder such for i-phones, and their mimics of the android variety. They make fine advanced walkie-talkies for military purposes, or as paperweights in homes. Other than that, the world would likely be a better place without them, especially for young people, opening a portal into all sorts of spiritual mayhem, even if many of us are drawn into the mobile milieu by dint of necessity.

If we must have a phone – and we should all ponder that ‘must’ – strive to minimize their use. Resist the allure of the screen. Pick up that book we’ve been meaning to read. Meet someone in person for coffee or a glass of vino. There is a benefit to keeping in touch with relatives and friends separated by distance – technology does have its place – but might we call instead of text?

For an ‘I’ is not a phone, but a person, made in God’s image, Who Himself lives in an eternal ‘I-Thou’ relationship as a Trinitarian communion of love.

And love, always, is personal and incarnational. As the old Bell commercial had it, ‘reach out and touch someone’. No, not in some creepy sense (why is everything so tinged nowadays?) but rather as Cardinal Newman’s motto exhorted, cor ad cor loquitur, ‘heart speaking to heart’, a conversation – literally, ‘turning towards the other’ – that’s best done unpixellated.

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→