Stranded on the Mainland: Inner Pilgrimage and Living Alone as a Spiritual Path:

This Canada Day reflection is dedicated to Indigenous People's and to my Irish Catholic /Protestant family and friends. "Forgive them Father they know not what they do".  (Luke 23:34). The residential school news exploding across Canada is causing many to consider not celebrating Canada Day.  On a personal note, I think Canadian kids have had enough cancelled this past year and a half to last them a lifetime.  So don't cancel fireworks on them. Continuing. I was moved by what Chief Bobby Cameron said in a TV interview about the remains of Indigenous children being found in unmarked graves in Kamloops.  "Listen, and hear a small child's voice saying thank you-- thank you, you found us!" Chief Cameron's words mirrored my first reaction when I heard about the 215 children's bodies found in Kamloops.  In a previous post I wrote, "Help me (us) to see these children as little saints once lost but now found."   His words make me think of child...

It is tough to decide how to celebrate Canada Day this year with all that is going on in the news.   I am working on a reflection I hope to post for July 1st.  But for now I share the novena invitation and link below. "In keeping with celebrating the Year of St. Joseph announced by Pope Francis in December 2020, the Canadian faithful are invited to pray a Novena in honour of the guardian of the Holy Family. The Novena begins on 22 June and ends on 30 June, and it is followed by an Act of Entrustment on 1 July which is also the annual commemoration of Canada Day." (St. Basil's Parish Toronto e-bulletin).   https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/devotions/novena-to-st-joseph-304 P.S.  To my American friends, if you want you can start the novena to St. Joseph on Friday, June 25 to coincide with your Fourth of July Celebrations in the United States!    ST. JOSEPH PRAY FOR US:   St. Joseph you protected Mary and Jesus in difficult political times P...

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. Since we are still under Covid-19 restrictions in Ontario, the check-out lines are long. The line confronting me (and others) stretched almost to the rear of the store. My grocery basket is heavy, my hands are sore. It is then an old Muslim man in front of me begins to complain about how badly the store is run and the long lines. I could see he only had a few items in his big cart and was very frustrated.  Wanting to help, I said-- "I bet the line will move fast, sir."   "If your gift is to encourage , then give encouragement..."   Romans 12:6-8). He didn't seem encouraged. He left his big cart (with just the few items) saying, "I'll be right back." He had forgotten something. I said, "take your time, I will watch your cart until you return."  He was gone long enough for the line to start moving.  So I push his cart ahead with one hand, and my basket on the floor ahead with my foot.  I do this ...

Something happened recently that tempted me to give up blogging.  I had just finished my 40th post. The temptation to quit made me think of Jesus being tempted in the desert for 40 days (Matthew 4:1-11).   Then some days pass. I find another scripture passage that gives me hope to keep blogging. Actually, it brings me full-circle right back to my first blog introduction (Hosea 2:14-- "I will bring her into the wilderness") . Me-forty posts. Jesus-forty days. The Jews-forty years.  Amazing. Next. If I continue blogging, I may take a detour into political territory. See video below on "Sustainable Democracy?" We'll see what more God has to say and reveal in the coming days as I keep (Isaiah 30:21) in mind . Here is the Sustainable Democracy talk:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bd24iO8axg Next. Quotes and thought to ponder: Deuteronomy 8:2 1 Corinthians 2:9 And one of my own quotes:   "Hope, God!  No hope, not god!" God's ways are all about hope. T...

Today is Corpus Christi Sunday.  The body and blood of Christ.  My post today follows one I wrote about the 215 Indigenous children's bodies found in an unmarked grave at a residential school in Kamloops B.C. "These children" who died in residential schools make me think also of all the children lost to abortion.  How many thousands do they number?  Can we even bare to think about where their unmarked graves are? NO.  It is too much to bear.  But God gives us the perfect people and communities to help us in due time.  On this Corpus Christi Sunday I want to thank two special communities who helped me find closure for an abortion I had in my early 20's. The Salvation Army and The Sisters of Life. "Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted and consoled" (Matthew 4:5).   Do more people need to grieve their private losses together across faiths and cultures in order for us to have any hope of peace.  In order to achieve tru...

I have been thinking about the 215 children found in a mass unmarked grave outside a residential school in Kamloops B.C.  Canada is understandably scrambling to find someone to blame--we are human. The horror, the pain, the guilt, the anger, are too much for us to bear ourselves. That said, we need a person and place to carry the above. And that person and place to carry it is not to be found on this earth. In my faith, Jesus came for exactly this reason-- to be the person and place to carry our unbearable histories. Next. Lord, help me to see "these children"  as little saints, once abused and lost, now cherished and found? Lord, let me not be tempted to horror and hate when I think of how these children were treated, but tempted instead to love. Continuing. I'm thinking of,  "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." (Matthew 5:9).  I  have a choice within Truth and Reconciliation. I can be seduced into letting the media, poli...