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Work, family, plans with friends, sports … when do you take time to savor life?One of the problems that constantly comes up in many people’s lives is maintaining balance between work life, family life, and personal time. But in most cases the root of the matter is the inability to prioritize what is really important, especially caring for one’s own life. When something is really important for us, we find the time for it.

We tend to postpone the important things because of what’s urgent so our health and our relationships with others suffer. In fact, it’s the family that usually pays the high price of all the rushing we do. Don’t you think we need to stop from time to time? Could it be that we’ve forgotten the importance of taking breaks in everyday life? Have we forgotten the art of stopping?

We may be doing well in our work and achieving our goals, but on the way we can forget to take care of the life that sustains everything else.

How can we take better care of ourselves and not fall into unbridled busyness? The recommendation, from the ancient philosophers to the experts in occupational medicine, is to learn to take breaks in day-to-day life. It is an old and wise custom to pause in the middle of any activity, and it has great benefits.

Philo of Alexandria (1st century AD) understood rest as an activity without effort, as a creative state of calm. For the Jewish philosopher, only the irrational man is agitated, while the wise man knows how to rest to get in touch with his own creativity.

The art of stopping

The word pause in its Greek origin (anapausis) refers to “repose,” “interruption,” “rest.” In ancient times, the pause was understood as a creative act, as a healing interruption.

Specifically, it is interrupting what one is doing in order to do something totally different. While there are many exercises that can be done to rest psychologically and physically, a true pause must always include the opposite of what we are doing at work.

If we have been sitting in front of a computer, the pause cannot be a video game, but should involve physical activity. If we have been talking a lot, the pause should be silence. If we have been reading a lot, the pause is not to read something else, but to do something different.

The pause for those who work with great physical effort is stillness. For those who are working alone, their pause may require contact with others. And if it is the other way around and you work with many people, the pause will be a time of reparative solitude.

The following editorial appeared in the Jan. 11 issue of The Catholic Register.

The familiar claim that war solves nothing must be balanced off with the acknowledged wisdom that peace is not the mere absence of war. It’s wisdom particularly applicable at the start of 2026 when the prospect of war breaking out somewhere in the world is a far greater, more realistic threat than the achievement of everlasting peace for everyone on Earth.

The U.S. military strike against Venezuela on Jan. 3, while absent an actual declaration of war, showed in the very way it caught global leaders off guard how quickly quasi-peace can flare into unnerving, to say the least, bombing of civilian population centres. At the same time, the precision of the assault debunks the nostrum that violence never achieves anything. (So does one of the avowed intentions of returning democracy to Venezuelans.)

Violence, limited and in the hands of an elite military unit, achieved the goal of bringing a handcuffed tyrant before an American court to face the proverbial arms-length list of charges ranging from drug smuggling to narco-terrorism. It’s a better end by far for strongman Nicolás Maduro than the end hundreds of thousands of his subjects suffered under his oligarchic rule.

Our colleagues at OSV News underscored the point with a story quoting Astrid Liden, a Venezuelan-American communications officer for the Hope Border Institute, which works to apply Catholic social teaching to the U.S.-Mexico border region.

“In recent years, hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have sought protection in the United States, many passing through the U.S.-Mexico border,” Liden told the news service. “Millions of Venezuelans live abroad due to the situation in Venezuela, and we share their hope in the end of the reign of Maduro, whose rule led to the displacement of so many.”

But Liden also stressed the sobering other side of the “successful” raid on Nicolás Maduro’s presidential palace: hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans who remained behind in their country of birth are now at risk from the political, economic and social upheaval that has a high probability of following the U.S. strike.

Civil war, of whatever scope and duration, is not out of the question. Even if it is averted, and we should all pray it will be, the people of Venezuela will be reminded for weeks, months, perhaps years that peace is not the mere absence of war.

It is not, of course, either the place or the competence of a Canadian Catholic newspaper to declaim on the rights and wrongs of the American action under international law or the geopolitical complexities that might ensue. This is not Gaza where the unspeakable evil of Hamas on Oct.

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions, many of us are divided into two distinct camps: the keeners – the same people who love September for the new pencils and the potential – and those of us who, like Catherine Doherty (foundress of the Madonna House apostolate), believe that with God every moment is the moment of beginning again. Catherine doesn’t think we need a new year to change anything. Every day is New Year’s Day.

Whichever side you take, our culture has decided to hang a lot of hopes on January.

Leila Marie Lawler, author of The Little Oratory and writer about all things home, wrote a wonderfully liberating little piece on resolving to improve in baby steps. “I’m not a minimalist except in resolutions,” she writes. Her delightful advice leaves us lots of breathing room.

Lawler’s list includes things like leaving your phone far away from where you sleep and buying an alarm clock. Other resolutions are to pray, from the heart, five minutes a day, to keep the Sabbath holy (this one made another important list way back in the Old Testament), and to plan the family’s menu.

Both of the heavy-hitter Teresas (Therese of Lisieux and Teresa of Avila) wrote that the closer we get to God, the simpler we become. In Psalm 131, we read David’s lament, “I have not gone after things too great…” In the spirit of David’s humility, we recognize our smallness and cling to the generosity and mercy of God.

We recognize our smallness and powerlessness in our reactions and in our close relationships. The new year offers an opportunity to surrender our interactions to the realm of the Holy Spirit, so that love and gratitude can become our main motivators in all that we do instead of fear of abandonment or rejection. May the Holy Spirit reorient our hearts in love “on earth as it is in heaven.”

Indeed, resolutions are little acts of repentance, or to put it in more positive language, to set out for home again. If we saw the dawn of each year as an opportunity for a joyous homecoming instead of something self-focused, the necessary changes would feel more like a relief than a burden.

There is one thing necessary for the new year, every year, and that is the awareness of Christ’s presence in our midst.

In the Lorica of St. Patrick, an ancient prayer commonly known as St. Patrick’s Breastplate, St. Patrick knows exactly what he has to do: seal all entry points of the enemy by firmly rooting himself in Christ.

This prayer could very well be the January prayer of the Catholic: “I arise today, through God’s strength to pilot me: God’s might to uphold me, God’s wisdom to guide me, God’s eye to look before me, God’s ear to hear me, God’s word to speak for me, God’s hand to guard me, God’s way to lie before me, God’s shield to protect me, God’s host to secure me.”

Scrupulosity is a psychological disorder primarily characterized by pathological guilt or obsession associated with moral or religious issues. If you’ve ever dealt with it—or know someone who has dealt with it—you know how confusing and difficult it can be. 

Today, Tanner helps you identify it, call it what it is, and turn to the Father’s merciful love for you.

You probably don’t outright lie on a regular basis. But, do you exaggerate? Do you give half truths sometimes, or leave things unclear on purpose? Do you hide some facts in order to smooth things over? 

Today, Fr. Mike shows us the very-human reasons we all struggle with these “white lies”, and how to tell the “full” truth more often. 

“Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” —Jesus in Matthew 5:37

When should you turn to a priest, a mental health professional, or even an exorcist? 

Sr. Josephine Garrett offers practical guidance for navigating struggles, whether they’re mental, physical, spiritual, or emotional. She shares simple but powerful steps for strengthening your spiritual life, including monthly confession, joining a Bible study, and finding a spiritual director.

As the Jubilee Year of Hope draws to a close, Archbishop Richard Smith is calling Catholics to carry the spiritual graces of the Jubilee into the year ahead through renewed prayer, service, and evangelization.

In his New Year’s message dated Jan. 1, 2026, Archbishop Smith said the hope received during the Jubilee must now be lived as he urged Catholics to become “diligent stewards” of that hope in their daily lives.

Looking ahead to 2026, the Archbishop asked for the coming year to be marked by concrete action, including strengthening parish renewal, deepening prayer and discipleship, fostering healing, and accompanying others in returning to the Church.

He emphasized the central role of the Eucharist, noting that the paschal mystery celebrated at Mass provides the strength needed to sustain evangelization and service.

Archbishop Smith encouraged Catholics to enter the new year with confidence in Christ, openness to the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to witness to the hope they have received. He said the hope kindled during the Jubilee should not remain private, but spread outward to transform lives and renew the world through the Church’s shared mission.

The Archbishop ended his message by entrusting the Archdiocese to the intercession of Our Lady of Hope, asking for her to continue guiding parishes, schools, and ministries in the year ahead.

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The Jubilee Year of Hope may have ended on the calendar, but there is every reason to believe its fruits will remain with us for years to come.

When Pope Francis called the Church to a Jubilee focused on hope, the timing proved both prescient and necessary. In a world shaped by war, polarization, and despair, hope was proposed not as a theme, but as a theological virtue to be cultivated and lived. 

He pointed Catholics to Mary as its model. Reflecting on her suffering at the foot of the Cross, he wrote that “in the travail of that sorrow, offered in love, Mary became our Mother, the Mother of Hope.”

Over the past year, the invitation to hope has borne visible fruit, including within the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

The Jubilee did not erase suffering. The Lapu Day tragedy forced the local Church to confront grief and unanswered questions. But in its wake came testimonies of conversion, reconciliation, and renewed faith. 

Across the Archdiocese, Catholics have shared their Year of Hope stories of prayer rediscovered, hearts softened, and communities drawn closer together.

It is clear that hope was never meant to be confined to a single year. What the Jubilee has accomplished is a kind of catechesis, teaching Catholics not only the importance of hope, but how to live it.

In his New Year’s message, Archbishop Richard Smith urges Catholics to carry the Jubilee’s graces forward, stressing that “hope, once received, must be lived,” and calling the faithful to become “diligent stewards of this hope in our daily lives.”

He invites the archdiocese to let “the fire of hope kindled during the Jubilee” spread outward through prayer, the Eucharist, parish renewal, and service, transforming lives and renewing the Church’s shared mission.

The same emphasis has been heard from Rome. Pope Leo XIV, reflecting on the Jubilee Year of Hope in recent days, prayed that its legacy would endure. He has pointed to hope as something that “sprouts” even amid suffering, something that must be protected like a fragile flame.

What emerges from these messages is that hope is not a mere moment for the Church. Of the three theological virtues — faith, hope, and love — hope seems to be acquiring a particular urgency. It reminds us that in a world that can often appear marked by hopelessness, God has not given up on us.

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Archbishop Richard Smith’s 2026 New Year’s message

January 1, 2026

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

As we come to the close of the Jubilee Year of Hope, the Lord now calls us to carry the graces granted to us into the year ahead. Hope, once received, must be lived. Let us, then, become diligent stewards of this hope in our daily lives, drawing from the paschal mystery celebrated in the Eucharist to sustain our efforts in evangelization and service. With this in mind, I look forward to 2026 as a year in which we put the blessing of this Jubilee into action: strengthening initiatives that inspire renewal in our parishes, deepening our life of prayer and discipleship, fostering healing, and accompanying those who seek a way back to Jesus and his Church.

My prayer is that we step into this new year with confidence in Christ, a renewed openness to the Holy Spirit, and a willingness to witness to the hope we ourselves have received. In this way, the fire of hope kindled during the Jubilee will not only warm our own hearts but spread outward, transforming lives and renewing the face of the earth through our shared mission.

May Our Lady of Hope intercede for us and continue to guide our parishes, schools and ministries in this new year.

Yours sincerely in Christ, 

✠ Richard W. Smith
Archbishop of Vancouver

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