Catholic Insight Magazine Endorses FCP

A popular Canadian Catholic magazine has endorsed the Family Coalition Party. The FCP has often been considered a fringe party that has had trouble fielding candidates, has never won a seat in the Ontario Legislature, and generally has a percentage of the popular vote that ranks well into the single digits.

In recent elections there's been little reason for anyone except the most passionate family values voters to cast their vote in their direction. Strategic voters may have voted for Mike Harris' Conservative party or for a strong local candidate from another party. The upcoming election is different, no other party holds the slightest promise of advancing family values or offering any protection at all for life or those that are most vulnerable. Father Alphonse de Valk explains:

. . . for the upcoming October 10 election, Catholic Insight sees no choice but to abandon the policy of supporting worthy candidates in all parties. Instead, we will support only the candidates of the small, centrist, pro-people Family Coalition Party. The situation is so bad that it would be inexcusable for us to do otherwise.

As readers know, and as we have explained before, the NDP and the Greens are constitutionally committed to a pro-death, anti-human philosophy. Therefore, they are disqualified from holding office.

The leaders of the Ontario Liberal and the Progressive Conservative parties have now also made it impossible for family-minded Canadians to vote for them.

Since 1967, the federal Liberal Party, from Pierre Trudeau (1968-1984) to Paul Martin (2004-2006), mocked human Reason, Tradition and Religion with anti-family policies sanctioning contraception, divorce, pornography and same-sex 'marriage,' matched only by their pro-death abortion and embryonic stem-cell legislation. More recently, its provincial counterpart, ruling in Ontario again under a renegade Catholic, has adopted the same stand.

The Ontario Conservatives, meanwhile, have been in opposition since 2003. They are still dominated by the so-called Red Tories, to the public acclaim of the Ontario media . . . In February 2005, Ontario’s McGuinty Liberals changed some 70 Ontario statutes in three readings, lasting a total of less than three hours, to conform them to the Ontario Court of Appeal command of June 2003 that from then on, the age-old federal definition of marriage would be unconstitutional. The Ontario PC’s co-operated by refusing to even call for a recorded vote.

Clearly the alternatives are grim with John Tory as perhaps the most disappointing leader of all. Next election it's time to support the FCP with votes, money and hard work. The party's not perfect and they've endorsed the dangerous proposals to move to proportional representation, however, it's run by a core of hard working, sensible and moderate volunteers. Now's the time to lend them our support!

Conrad Will Walk

According to Black's lawyers, the Conrad Black trial will end tomorrow. With the jury deadlocked, it seems increasingly likely that Conrad Black will be a free man. This would be a very good thing for the rule of law and the validity of contracts. It's been disgusting how the prosecution relied on a completely dishonest schmuck like David Radler or others who were bought with plea bargains or other side deals with the prosecution. It simply doesn't appear that prosecutors would have had any case whatsoever without their side deals with witnesses. Essentially if Conrad is found guilty traditional burden of proof justice will be replaced by Survivor justice where the defendant is simply voted off the island by ex company employees or directors whose sole motivation is protecting themselves.

Before you mistake this for an informed opinion you should know that I'm certainly not getting 'fair and balanced' coverage. I've been following Mark Steyn's coverage of the trial on Maclean's, but given Mr. Black's one time dominance of the world newspaper industry I doubt there's a single 'unbiased' reporter covering the case.

Shameless

Stephan Dion and Jack Layton are shameless in their attempt to capitalize on the death of six Canadian soldiers. I sincerely hope that they tone down their rhetoric and take the advice of the soldiers' officers:

Senior commanders at CFB Edmonton have called for quiet reflection on the recent deaths of six Canadian soldiers, rather than political debate on the mission. Four of the slain men were based in Edmonton.

"I would encourage all of you that at this point in time, that the focus must be on repatriating these valiant soldiers and ensuring their families hear a clarion call of love and support from Canada," said Col. Jon Vance.

"The families are well aware that there is debate on this mission. Nonetheless, at this particular point in time, the most sensitive and, I think, mature approach, would be to show them ... love and support. These soldiers died in a mission that they believed in, and saw progress occurring."

Brave men and women are fighting to keep Afghanistan free, and by extension to keep the world free. Shame on anyone who would use their death as an opportunity to score political points. Make your arguments - you're entitled to your opinion, but show some common decency.

I Feel All Warm and Fuzzy

There's no shortage of stories that highlight the heroism of our troops. But you just gotta love this one:

A Canadian warship freed a humpback whale that was entangled in fishing gear on the Grand Banks off Newfoundland on Wednesday. HMCS St. John's was on a routine fisheries patrol when it received a radio message from a nearby fishing boat that a whale was in distress.

The 10-metre animal was thrashing on the surface as it tried to free itself from ropes and a large orange buoy snagged in its tail.

. . .

"We were a little concerned about letting the boat get close, let alone letting divers get in."For more than an hour, sailors in one of the boats tried to free the whale by cutting some of the lines that were attached to the buoy and about 20 heavy crab pots below the surface.

The sailors had to keep a safe distance as the humpback dove to the bottom and then surfaced in a futile attempt to get loose of the lines. Santarpia eventually dispatched two navy divers without tanks into the water to try to save the animal before it drowned.

. . .

Once free, the whale swam away slowly as two other humpbacks stayed nearby and a few dolphins looked on.

I'm no environmentalist, but I think this story demonstrates a basic truth that it's in our nature to be good stewards of the environment. Thumbs up to the crew who participated in the mission. Now there's no excuse, even left wingers have to Support Our Troops!

But That's What They're For!

Quebec looks to ban cellphone use by motorists.

h/t Bourque.org

Right Signals on the Day of Action

Julian Fantino is saying the right things in advance of the day of action:

If there is any lawlessness, police are prepared to take a "measured response," he added.

Fantino also responded to statements made by Mohawk protester Shawn Brant, a hard-liner who suggested to The Canadian Press that he and others will be carrying weapons to defend themselves.

"The only lawful authorized force that should carry firearms and use firearms is not Mr. Brant or his followers, it's the law enforcement officers," he said.

"Mr. Brant had better realize that because no matter what he thinks, at the end of the day, there will be consequences and they will be severe. And hopefully they will be those that will deter others like him from this kind of anarchy."

That's right. Natives can protest like anyone else, but this country has laws and they must be enforced.

A Faint Glimmer of Hope for the Anglican Church

Last Sunday's decision by Canadian Anglican Bishop's not to bless gay marriage has narrowly averted a crisis that would have led to the Canadian Church's expulsion from the Anglican Communion, a mass exodus of members and the closure of countless parishes. It is clearly a victory for reason and the church as a whole. It was also a surprise victory given the church's relentless march to irrelevance.

It's a rare moment for Anglicans faithful to scripture such as Anglican Essentials to claim any victory in the battles for theological purity. Instead they focused on the short comings of the synod with these two quotes from the Edmonton Sun:

Cheryl Chang, a spokeswoman for Anglican Essentials, a group lobbying against same sex blessings, said she believes confused and frustrated parishioners will start finding other churches immediately.

"People (will) leave to go to the Catholic Church, the Baptist church, the Pentecostal church. That's going to happen starting next Sunday, or next Monday even," Chang said.

"These are decisions that are very confusing for the church, and ultimately, very divisive."

And

"To do what they've done is to step apart from the worldwide Anglican communion," said The Rev. Canon Charlie Masters, the head of Anglican Essentials.

"This is a very sad day for Anglicans."

Come on guys. What would you have said if the Church had decided to bless same-sex unions? It very nearly did. Instead, you won the key vote. You worked hard for this victory claim it.

What Canon Masters and Mrs Chang are focusing on is a decision by the Synod that blessing same-sex unions “not in conflict with the core doctrine” of the church. OK, it's a set back, but it doesn't have any bearing on the actual practices of the church. Advocates for same sex blessings such as Bishop Michael Ingham will have a hard time continuing to go against the expressed wishes of the Synod.

My bigger concern is with the incoming Primate (head) of the Anglican Church in Canada:

“There is disappointment – a lot of pain. Some people will be saying ‘How long, O Lord, how long?’” said Bishop Fred Hiltz of Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island, who is the incoming primate or national archbishop. When asked how he might maintain discipline among clergy and bishops who want to move forward, he said, “My sense is that, as painful as these realities are, we do have a responsibility to respect the decisions of General Synod. It’s not the last time this will come up.”

Sir - there should be no more waiting, the Synod has spoken. This is the problem with the Anglican Church, the idea that doctrine and church teaching can change every few years and that liberals in the church believe they can use the same strategy as Quebec separatists, keep on voting until you get the result you want.

For those scriptural christians patient enough to stay in the Anglican Church I say fight the good fight. You still have a long uphill battle, but you won a victory on Sunday, enjoy it.

Support Lebanon

There was good news out of Lebanon today:

The Lebanese army has destroyed all Fatah Islam positions,” [Defence Minister Elias Murr] declared on the private Lebanese Broadcasting Television. “The army is combing the area. This terrorist organization has been uprooted.”

He said “the military operation is over. The Lebanese army has crushed those terrorists.” A few hours before he spoke, sporadic battles could be heard in the camp.

“What is happening now is some cleanup that the army's heroes are carrying out, and dismantling some mines,” he said.

Mr. Murr said the camp would remain “a theatre of operations and under siege until they (remaining fighters) surrender.”

As we learned last summer Islamic Terrorist groups pose a serious threat to the stability of Lebanon and the surrounding area. This six week battle has tested the government's resolve, but it has also made the country and indirectly the rest of the world safer.

I haven't read very much about aid to Lebanon, but I hope that it's flowing freely. Lebanon is a truly remarkable democracy in a crazy region. We need to put as much effort into supporting it as Iran and Syria put into destabilizing it.

Pope Benedict Greets President Bush

Pope Benedict welcomed President Bush to the Vatican on Saturday. By most accounts it seems that the Pope was very effective at bringing his concerns forward about the plight of Christians in Iraq. The president clearly recognized the problem as reported by the Age:

US President George W Bush today sought to reassure Pope Benedict XVI over the plight of war-torn Iraq's minority Christians, while later an otherwise peaceful protest against the US leader's visit turned violent.

The Pope "did express deep concern about the Christians inside Iraq", Bush told a news conference in Rome less than a week after a Chaldean priest and three deacons were murdered.

"I assured him we were working hard to make sure that people lived up to the constitution" calling for religious tolerance and honouring "people from different walks of life", Bush said.

The murders last Sunday in northern Iraq were followed three days later by the kidnapping of another priest and five of his parishioners belonging to the Chaldean Catholic church, an autonomous Eastern rite church with upwards of 700,000 followers.

Bush said of his first audience with the Pontiff who was chosen in April 2005: "I was talking to a very smart, loving man. I was in awe, and it was a moving experience for me."

Seeing the Pope and President together is a very powerful image. And I can't help but be more optimistic about the situation for Iraqi Christians. The meeting also makes it clear that the Pope is very effective at making his concerns known:

Bush was spared the more public rebuke he received three years ago when Pope John Paul II, after receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Bush, began a condemnation of the "deplorable" abuses of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison.

True to his personality and style of governance, Benedict did not use Bush's presence to make public remarks of substance, and instead chose to deliver his message in private. Bush emerged from the Vatican palace seemingly more subdued.

The only drawback of the meeting is the President's failure to observe protocol calling the Pope "sir" rather than "your Holiness." The White House may still have an opportunity to correct the misstep by referring to the Pope with his proper title on when they post a news brief.

Coren and Gifford-Jones Debate Life

There was a revealing debate in the Toronto Sun Thursday aboout the fate of cojoined twins Tatiana and Krista Hogan-Simms. Michael Coren and Dr Kathy Gifford-Jones both answer the question "Do they deserve to be born?" Gifford-Jones says No, arguing the pro-choice?/euthanasia?/eugenics?/death? position that they should never have been born using a basic quality of life argument:

Reports claim that Felicia Hogan-Simms [the mother] was advised by doctors that her pregnancy could be terminated, but she refused. I assume that she considers life of any kind sacred, and abortion never an option.

What a tragic life awaits the twins. For as long as they live they will be unable to care for themselves or lead a normal active life. It's hard to comprehend a parent who would want such a tragic pregnancy to continue. Nature in this case has created a catastrophe. Why compound the mistake by subjecting these twins to this fate?

[...]

Hogan-Simms also believes "the girls were born for a purpose to teach people about tolerance; that it's OK to be different." But the point is, how much different? Unless there's a cataclysmic change in human nature, she has destined her girls to be stared at as a freak of nature as long as they live.

They will never walk, joined at the head in such an abnormal position. Physically they are destined for ill health, lying on their backs forever. They will become obese and develop the myriad of diseases that accompany this problem. Their lives will be a living hell.

[...]

Is there anyone among us who would want to be born this way or willing to trade places with these conjoined twins? Hogan-Simms should not have been allowed to make the ultimate decision. I have in the past always cast a jaundiced eye on committee decisions, but I like to believe in this instance an ethics committee would have seen the logic of terminating this pregnancy.

In summary, Ms. Gifford doesn't believe their lives meet her standards ('their lives will be a living hell'), so they should have been done away with either inutero or shortly after they were born. But her article includes two serious warnings about what can happen when you use a quality of life yardstick.


She says their life is not worth living in part because, "They will become obese and develop the myriad of diseases that accompany this problem." I wonder if my life still qualifies as livable after the few extra pounds I put on over the winter! Quality of life is a very subjective yardstick that can be used to eliminate almost anyone deemed undesirable.


Gifford also said the mother should not have been allowed to make the decision about wether or not to abort her child. I'm going to hope that most 'pro-choice' people will disagree with her position advocating forced abortions. Still her position reveals a lot about the upcoming euthanasia debate, the right to die will quickly become an obligation to die for those deemed unworthy.


Coren argues that the children had a fundamental right to be born because human life is inherently valuable:

And this surely is the point. Objective quality. If we are subjective and make our own value judgments we might as well wipe out all sorts of people. Or we could simply grow up, develop our compassion and intelligence and realize that existence is a sufficient contribution in itself.

There is an absolute that we have to tackle. Life is either sacred or it is not. If it is, preserve it at all costs. If it is not, we might as well destroy it at will. It is terribly expensive to keep the sick alive and wholly impractical to prolong the life of an ill person who will die anyway.

No civilized person or society, however, considers expense and practicality to be more important than goodness and humanity. If it did, it would immediately wipe out, for example, drug addicts, the homeless and people with AIDS.

Tatiana and Krista will be loved and, important this, will love back. They will smile, laugh, cry, be sad and happy, sometimes frightened, sometimes excited. Just be. Which is quite enough. And God forgive anyone who awards themselves the right to decide who may be and who may not.

So that's the debate in a nutshell. One group of people believes life is valued based on society's subjective standards, the other group believes life is valuable because it is sacred and that every human life matters simply by virtue of its existence. Both sides will use the language of compassion, but only the pro-life arguments avoids the danger of letting society make an arbitrary choice about which lives have value and which don't.

Warning: Signs of Conservative Drift

Toronto Star Columnist Chantal Hebert says that Stephen Harper's Conservatives need new ideas. It's a short readable article and by and large she's right. With weak opposition leaders Stephen Harper has a potentially stable government but his last budget was a hodge podge of new spending initiatives without a really coherent theme. Chantal says:

At this point, the government is basically killing time, an exercise it cannot sustain for more than a few weeks, let alone the months or even years between now and an election.

...

Something more substantial is needed to both re-launch the government and give Harper something inspiring to campaign on in the next election.

Behind a business-as-usual facade, a search for new ideas is ongoing. It involves the top strategists of the government as well as the upper levels of the civil service. It will stretch into the summer and could result in the presentation of a throne speech in the fall.

The larger question is whether the Prime Minister should go the route of another set of unconnected but populist nuts-and-bolts initiatives or opt for a grander design.

The former may offer the least risky path to the government, but what if it leads to another dead end? Harper needs a more ambitious agenda for both defensive and
proactive reasons.

Yep. I can't say I often agree with Chantal, but government simply works best when there's an overarching coherent agenda that will make policies fit together. There's an enormous amount of pressure especially on a minority government to focus on uncontroversial policies to stay in power. Stephen Harper must resist this temptation or risk being a mere caretaker of a short lived government. I hope this summer a bold new strategy is developed.

My advice to those developing the strategy: Do not ignore your base, especially social conservatives and democratic conservatives, there's enough support for truly conservative principles to give the Conservatives a healthy majority. Also use your back benches, there's a lot of energy, passion and principle that can drive your agenda forward. An unambitious agenda will suck that energy away from your government and your supporters, myself included.

H/T Unambiguously Ambidextrous

Avoid Depression: Stay Married!

Statistics Canada has once again affirmed the importance of lasting marriages to our society. In its Study on Marital Breakdown and Subsquent Depression Stats Canada found:

• Men aged 20 to 64 who had divorced or separated were 6 times more likely to report an episode of depression than were men who remained married.
• Loss of custody or a change in parental responsibilities is one of the most stressful aspects of post-divorce life for men.
• Women who had undergone a marital break-up were 3.5 times more likely to have had a bout of depression than were their counterparts who were still in a relationship.
• 43% of women who went through a break-up had a substantial drop in their household income.
• Even when taking other related factors into account, the end of a relationship was independently associated with the risk of depression among both sexes.
• The study found that most people who experienced depression in the post-relationship period were no longer depressed four years after the break-up. But for a sizeable minority, depression remained a problem.

The study focussed on married couples, but it would make sense that the same negative factors would be in play with long term unmarried relationships. The only difference is that those unmarried relationships are considerably less stable so the risk of depression is that much greater.

The bottom line is long term stable marriages are good for everyone. If you're married stay that way. If you're a law maker stop messing with marriage it's way too important to our society.

Putting the Brakes on Human Trafficking

The federal Conservatives deserve credit for their efforts to stop human trafficking. Young women in poor countries are often kidnapped and brought into wealthy countries to work in the sex trade against their will. In other cases they are fooled into coming based on promises of a better life that turn out to be entirely empty. The former government of Canada sadly legitimized this process by issuing temporary work permits to strippers because of an apparent shortage in Canada. CTV reports that Canada's New Government will make it illegal for immigrants or refugees to work in the sex trade:

The federal government is set to bring in a new law that will ban immigrants who
come to Canada as exotic dancers.

The change to the Immigration and Refugee Act is expected to be announced Wednesday by Immigration Minister Diane Finley, who told the House of Commons that the move will protect "vulnerable foreign workers," such as strippers.

Under the current laws, the onus is on strip club owners to prove there is a shortage of Canadian dancers each time they apply to bring in a foreign exotic dancer.

The new law will take the restriction one step further, and is based on the government's concern that foreign dancers are in some cases forced into the illegal sex trade.

"This is actually going to make it illegal for them to be able to do that," said CTV's Ottawa Bureau Chief Robert Fife, who first reported the news. "In other words, there's not even going to be an opportunity to persuade the government that you need those foreign workers...that's out."

Many strip clubs rely on dancers from Asia and Eastern Europe to fill their rosters, but Fife said the government believes the practice exploits women.

This is something concrete that will offer help for the most vulnerable. I hope that feminist groups are quick to praise this decision.

I'm an Uncle!

My baby sister had a baby! Charles Wayde Zelch was born around 10:00 last night. Just call me uncle Patrick!

Moderate Muslims?

I was very encouraged by Daniel Pipes article, A Million Moderate Muslims on the March. I'll admit to a deep suspition of "Moderate Muslims" many of those who are prominent in the television media strike me as athiests who used to be Muslim. But some of what Pipes says is just really encouraging:

Recent events in Pakistan and Turkey, however, prove that moderate Muslims are no myth.

In Pakistan, an estimated 100,000 people demonstrated on April 15 in Karachi, the country's largest city, to protest the plans of a powerful mosque in Islamabad, the Lal Masjid, to establish a parallel court system based on Islamic law, the Shari‘a. "No to extremism," roared the crowd. "We will strongly resist religious terrorism and religious extremism," exhorted Altaf Hussain, leader of the Mutahida Qaumi Movement, at the rally.

In Turkey, more than a million moderate Muslims in five marches protested the bid of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) to take over the presidency of the republic, giving it control over the two top government offices (the other being the prime ministry, currently filled by Recep Tayyip Erdoğan).

I assume that these crowds of people included devout Muslims who have a strong faith, but are also close enough to know the danger of radical Islam first hand. I definitely have some more reading to do, Daniel Pipes has written extensively about moderate Muslims.

Big Ego Politics

Stephen Harper must be smiling today. The opposition is in total disarray. Stephan Dion and Justin Trudeau have made headlines because they cannot agree on Official Bilingualism, an article of faith in the Liberal party. Bloc Leader Gilles Duceppe is likely to leave federal politics after today's announcement that André Boisclair has resigned as leader of the provincial Parti Quebecois.

It's satisfying to watch the troubles that both Dion and Boisclair have faced. Both leaders were praised by the country's media elite as being intelligent and progressive. Both leaders have also been a huge disappointment to their respective parties. When the knives come out there are abundant examples of big ego politics where it's not about the ideas, just the personalities. Two quick examples:

Big Ego Politics in the PQ:

Bloc Quebecois Leader Gilles Duceppe has been rumoured to be interested in moving into provincial politics as a possible replacement for Boisclair.

In a television interview last weekend, Boisclair attacked Duceppe, saying he went
to bed dressed up as the PQ leader.

Duceppe responded Sunday, saying he was "flabbergasted" by the comments.

Big Ego Politics in the Liberal Party:

The Liberal leader put his high-profile candidate in line with the hint of a smile, saying it was a rookie mistake and Trudeau should have been more careful with his remarks.

"He's new," Dion told reporters. "He will, without a doubt, have to provide more clarification of his thoughts."

There has been a chill between Dion and Trudeau since Trudeau successfully challenged Dion's preferred candidate in the Montreal riding of Papineau.

I enjoy politics and it is great fun when the other side gets egg on their face. Still I far prefer the politics of ideas to big ego politics.

National Post's Honest Discussion on Abortion

There's a very encouraging article about the abortion debate in this Saturday's National Post. It's a feature article in the mainstream media that directly debunks the myth that there is any consensus in favour of abortion on demand. This excerpt shows that in reality only a third of Canadians support having no legal restrictions to abortion:

"Abortion is not on the agenda in Canada for the mainstream in Canada and has
not been for a very long time," said Darrell Bricker, president and chief operating officer of public affairs for Ipsos-Reid. But he says this sense that the majority do not want to reopen the issue is often incorrectly taken to mean that there is consensus on the issue in Canada.

"Is there consensus? No, the opinions are all over the map. And you'd be wrong to see this as a consensus in favour of abortion under any circumstances."

His organization has not done any specific polling on abortion since 2000. The issue has been raised in other surveys, such as the one in February, 2006, shortly before Stephen Harper became Prime Minister, to assess what issues might bring down the minority government.

In that survey, 50% of Canadians said they would not support bringing down the government if they tried to pass a law that limits a woman's access to abortion; but 45% said they would be in favour of bringing down the government on such an issue.

The polling done in 1988 and 2000 compares attitudes about when abortion should be permitted: only when a woman's life is in danger, only in certain circumstances, or whenever a woman wants one. It showed slight increases in support for abortion on demand (from 36% in 1988 to 41% in 2000) and for abortion in certain circumstances (39% to 41%) and a slight decrease in the percentage who support abortion only in the most extreme, life-saving circumstances (23% in 1988 and 17% in 2000.)

When Environics surveyed Canadians about their attitudes toward abortion last fall, they found that about a third each of Canadians supported the view on one end of the spectrum that human life should be legally protected from conception on and, on the other end, that it should be protected only from birth on. Another third think it should be protected prior to birth, but some months after conception.

According to the survey, conducted for the anti-abortion group LifeSite, 31% said protection should begin from conception on, 23% said after three months of pregnancy, and 10% said after six months of pregnancy; another 30% think human life should receive legal protection only from the point of birth.

What is most compelling about all of these numbers, and most surprising considering the way the abortion issue is typically framed in Canada, is that they are not at all conclusive. As Mr. Bricker says, "it's not like 100% are in favour of abortion on demand ? There are a lot of lines being drawn on this issue."

Hat's off to the National Post for having the courage to feature an honest discussion of what Canadians actually believe on a subject that's usually considered taboo in Canada!

French Election Coming Soon

I'm encouraged by the coverage of the French election that I've been reading lately. I'm starting to believe that Nicolas Sarkozy may actually win the election coming up on Sunday. Sarkozy has real potential to help the French begin to fix their economy, to integrate muslims while remaining tough on terrorists, to repair relations with the United States, and maybe just maybe soften the militant secularism that has tried to push the Church to the edges of society. Exciting times!

Bye Bye Belinda

So Belinda Stronach is finally quitting Canadian Politics. Almost all Canadians are better off today. The unfortunate exceptions being political satirists, who have lost some easy material, and the staff and shareholders at Magna where she's going to work.

NEWS FLASH FROM BLOOMBERG: "Shares of the Magna fell 2 cents to $78.45 at 4:01 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading."

Apparently it's starting already.

Easter Weekend 2007

I love Easter. There's always a danger it can get routine, but, it's also an opportunity to be inspired by the incredible suffering Christ endured for us and the mind-blowing power of His resurrection. This Easter has been a major blessing.

Holy Thursday:

I haven't always participated in Holy Thursday, but this has been my loss. Here we celebrate the Last Supper, when Jesus gave us the Eucharist saying, "This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me." (Luke 22:19) It's also when Jesus gave one of His greatest examples of servant leadership by washing His disciples' feet.

This year my priest asked me to have my feet washed at the front of the Church along with 5 other men and women. I usually don't mind getting up in front of large groups of people, but I was absolutely terrified. I wanted to skip Mass altogether to avoid any potential embarrassment. Of course, I went and it was a moving experience, allowing a man I deeply respect to humble himself in this way. I was also very pleasantly surprised, that they used warm water to wash our feet, I wonder if the apostles had this luxury.

Of course Thursday was also the night when Jesus was betrayed by Judas, and when he prayed so hard that he sweat blood in the Garden of Gethsemane. Holy Thursday sets the stage perfectly for Good Friday.

Good Friday

Today we remember how Jesus died. We remember the torture he endured, the abandonment and betrayal of so many who had followed him. We remember the cruel, merciless death on the cross, and the sharp pain that must have been felt by those who loved him.

Church liturgy is rich today; we are called to fast and make it a solemn day. In the last few years, we've also made a habit of watching The Passion of the Christ. It's a bloody and gruesome retelling of the story that really makes his sacrifice real.

It's a holiday in Canada (at least here in Ontario), and I'm very thankful because it allows us to observe this day properly. I pray that Americans will also get this day off because it is so important.

Holy Saturday

Easter Vigil, which begins at sundown, is when Catholics begin to celebrate the resurrection. The church is totally dark with a small fire or candle lit at the back, representing the light and life that Jesus has brought into the world. Everyone is given a candle and soon the glow has spread through the entire church. It's a long service, where we remember how often God has saved his people throughout history from Creation to Christ.

It's also the day when new people are brought into the Catholic Church through baptism or the Rite of Christian Initiation. I wonder how many thousands of new Catholics were brought into the church today.

Today's a bit of an anniversary for me; it was Easter Vigil 5 years ago when I was received into the Catholic Church!

Easter Sunday

Always Awesome. The new day and the (usually spring like weather), highlight how truly amazing it is that Jesus rose again after dying. After spending most of the weekend reflecting on Christ's suffering and death, and imagining how his disciples must have been totally crushed. It's a wonderful feeling to imagine the joy and bewilderment they must have felt when they first realized what has happened.

Our Easter joy increased a little when we noticed how much snow was on the ground. We were able to go tobogganing for a couple hours after church. Great fun!

The best part is . . . Easter is not just a weekend. Liturgically it's a season that stretches on for several weeks. More than that, it's the reason Christians celebrate anything at all. Truly it's not too late to wish you a very HAPPY EASTER!

These Kids Have it Together

Kudos to the Youth Team of Our Lady at St. Joseph's in Fergus!

About one dozen teenagers organized and all night Adoration (prayer vigil) last Friday to usher in Holy Week. We've been helping this youth group over the past 4 years, and it's been an honour. This isn't your run of the mill youth group where a bunch of church kids get together to chill, eat pizza, or go bowling. These young people meet to pray, study, and support each other in discerning their vocations. One of the recent Alumni is already in the seminary and will no doubt become an excellent priest.

It's always a pleasure to meet with the group and hear how mature and wise these young people can be, but, this Friday night and Saturday morning was truly special. I'm very thankful that God has blessed my family and our parish with such special kids. If you feel called, please join me in praying for them, and specifically that God will call them deeper into His service.