Do Wives Have to Be Submissive?
“Wives, be subject to your husbands, as to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:22)
Woah! Come again? On the list of controversial and misunderstood Bible verses, this is near the top.
When it swings through in the cycle of Mass readings, folks are often left in the pew looking at each other like, “Did anyone else just hear what St. Paul said?”
If you’ll let Fr. Mike explain this scripture passage, it will transform the way you understand Christian marriage (for the better).
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Posted on May 26, 2026… Read more “Do Wives Have to Be Submissive?”
Letters: Mary’s motherly support
Re “Behold your mother” in the May 12 B.C. Catholic:
For me, praying the Rosary deepens my relationship with Mary. Mary and the Rosary are inseparable in my spiritual life as I grow in holiness and closeness to our Lord. Mary’s love for me calls me to respond to her invitation to draw closer to her Son. I do not believe I could draw closer to the Son without the support of the Mother.
When I was young, I found the Rosary a bore, because the Rosary without Mary felt empty to me. She brings us closer to Jesus and, in doing so, truly offers us her motherly support.
May the month of May remind us that each day can be like a flower offered into the loving arms of Mary, ever ready to receive us and present us to her Son.
Rita Castillo
St. Jude Parish, Vancouver
The framing of Alan Charlton’s May 11 column around “proving Timothée wrong” is very bizarre if you take the time to research and understand his words in context.
He clearly did not literally mean “no one cares,” and frankly, he was not even speaking about the merit or quality of ballet and opera whatsoever. His comment was about not wanting moviegoing to become niche in the way those art forms have, which should not be controversial to admit.
I suppose the point of using his name was to get clicks, but misrepresenting what he said and meant is unfortunate.
Gilly Moore
Toronto
Did you know that British Columbia has a Catholic Physicians’ Guild, a community of doctors who support one another in living out their Catholic faith within the medical profession?
The guild is led by Dr. Tim Kostamo, a deacon at Christ the Redeemer Parish, and brings together physicians from across the Archdiocese for fellowship, ethical formation, prayer, and mutual support. It is a place where Catholic doctors can connect with peers who understand the unique challenges and responsibilities of practicing medicine today.
If you are a physician in B.C., we warmly encourage you to consider joining the Catholic Physicians’ Guild. Your presence strengthens the witness of Catholic health care in our province, and the guild offers a meaningful way to integrate faith and professional life.
This year, the Canadian Catholic Physicians’ Guild conference is being hosted by our local Vancouver chapter.
“Restoring Medicine Through the Sacred Heart of Jesus” will take place May 28–31 at the Pinnacle Hotel in North Vancouver.
More information about the guild and conference can be found through the Catholic Physicians’ Guild of Vancouver and Canadian Catholic Physicians’ websites.
Lizette Bell
On behalf of the Catholic Physicians’ Guild of Vancouver
Bill C-9 is now before the Senate, and if it passes further review and a final vote, it will become law.
Anima Christi: the perfect prayer for Corpus Christi
One of my favourite prayers is the Anima Christi. I love it in both Latin and English. I find myself returning to it every time I receive Holy Communion and when I attend adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. It seems especially appropriate as we get closer to the annual Solemnity of the Body and Blood of Christ, or Corpus Christi, on June 7.
This prayer is a cry from the heart. It uses intimate, pleading language and the tangible images of Christ’s Body and Blood to draw us closer to Jesus.
The first half of the prayer reads: “Anima Christi, salva me. Corpus Christi, sanctifica me. Sanguis Christi, inebria me. Aqua lateris Christi, lava me. Passio Christi, conforta me.” In English: “Soul of Christ, sanctify me. Body of Christ, save me. Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me. Passion of Christ, strengthen me.”
The imagery used in this appeal to Christ is powerful. The plea of the penitent to the divine should remind us that we ought always to desire intimacy with Christ. he has poured out his lifeblood for us, which we receive every time we receive the Eucharist. But how often do we take this intimate act for granted? This prayer emphasizes that we do not merely receive Christ, but should yearn to be saved, inebriated, washed, and strengthened by him.
The idea of being “inebriated” by the blood of Christ is striking. We tend to associate inebriation with drunkenness and therefore see the word in a negative light. However, to be inebriated with the blood of Christ is to be filled with him, absorbed in his grace and love, even joyful in it. One might say we should hunger for the blood of Christ as an endless source of love and mercy.
As we approach the Solemnity of Corpus Christi, the Church asks us to focus especially on the Body and Blood of Christ. Even though we have just reflected on Christ’s bodily sacrifice during Holy Week and have recently concluded the Easter season, the Church brings us full circle with Corpus Christi, renewing our focus on the Eucharistic body and blood.
According to The Story Behind the Feast of Corpus Christi by Gretchen Filz at catholiccompany.com, the Church has celebrated this solemnity since 1264, when Pope Urban IV established it following a Eucharistic miracle in Bolsena the year before. A German priest, struggling with belief in the real presence, stopped in the small Italian town to celebrate Mass. As he spoke the words of consecration, the host began to bleed, dripping onto the altar and the corporal.
World Cup trafficking fears spur safeguards in Vancouver and Toronto
Prestige, patriotism, and spectacle are coming to Canada with the 2026 FIFA World Cup starting June 11, but history shows a seedy underbelly will accompany the world’s biggest single-sport competition: a significant surge in human trafficking.
That concern carries particular relevance for Vancouver and Toronto, the two Canadian host cities that will stage 13 of the tournament’s 104 matches, seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto.
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking says major sporting events can create conditions that increase the risk of labour exploitation and sex trafficking, as infrastructure projects, temporary service-sector jobs and large influxes of tourists create opportunities for abuse.
Nearly three years ago, the Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking developed recommendations to curb exploitation and abuse, particularly labour exploitation, that it disseminated to the federal government, the Ontario and B.C. provincial governments, and the municipal leadership of Toronto and Vancouver.
Ashley Franssen-Tingley, director of partnerships for the centre, said conversations have already taken place with Vancouver’s frontline responders as officials prepare for the crowds expected during the tournament.
“We were thinking about all the training that all the staff, volunteers and police have had (about detecting trafficking),” said Franssen-Tingley. “Do the paramedics who are going to be responding in the crowds and fan zones have the proper training? Are we ensuring that the Canadian Human Trafficking Hotline number is included in the training?”
Franssen-Tingley said governments and law enforcement will not be alone in raising awareness and disrupting trafficking, as non-governmental organizations are also stepping up.
The Canadian Centre to End Human Trafficking has urged policymakers to “apply an anti-human trafficking lens when designing processes and contracts to ensure that safeguards are put in place at every step.” Recommendations include proactively informing workers of their rights and streamlining reporting systems so abuse and exploitation can be reported more easily.
Catholic organizations are also stepping up awareness efforts ahead of the tournament. The Mary Ward Centre, a ministry of the Loretto Sisters in Toronto, recently participated in an international webinar examining trafficking risks connected to the World Cup and lessons learned from previous tournaments, including the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Eva Rodriguez-Diaz, the Mary Ward Centre’s program manager of trafficking, migrants and refugees, said churches, schools and community organizations all have a role to play in educating the public about trafficking risks and warning signs.
“It is up to us, as civil society, through our organizations, churches, schools, projects, activities and community spaces, to promote education, raise awareness and discuss the risks — how to identify them and how to prevent them,” said Rodriguez-Diaz.
Sister Sandra Ede of the Adrian Dominican Sisters said Brazil’s “A Cry for Life” network of 100 religious congregations launched a “Play in Favor of Life” campaign ahead of the 2014 World Cup, distributing educational materials in airports, hotels, bus terminals, schools and community centres, and holding public marches, prayer gatherings and prevention training.
How I Found Friends Through Faith: Trusting God to Bring Meaningful Connections
After college, there was a period in my life when I dreaded the weekends.
I anxiously awaited the long hours of unstructured time I would spend trying to distract myself from my loneliness. It wasn’t that I lacked friends, it was the physical distance between us that left me without plans on the weekends. As I adjusted to moving back home while working full-time as a college librarian and not having connections at my fingertips like I had when I was a student, I hungered for community with peers.
My instinct during this time of loneliness was to take advantage of as many opportunities as possible to foster social connection. I joined a women’s group at a parish in Chicago and volunteered as a literacy tutor. I invested in hobbies that would sustain my body and mind – I went to exercise classes and rollerbladed, I started a gratitude journal and listened to audiobooks.
LISTEN: How Can I Be Strong in Faith While Missing Community?
Though these pursuits were healthy and helped me discover what fulfills me, I could not stay present and enjoy them when my focus remained on what I lacked. I stayed in motion but hadn’t found my place, becoming bitter and cynical when these activities did not produce the community I craved. Rather than reframing this period of loneliness as an opportunity to try new experiences and reevaluate my priorities, I saw it as a burden that I didn’t deserve to carry. I concentrated too much on what I wanted to gain from these activities rather than on what I could give to God and others through them.
As this period continued, I knew I needed help. While I received support through mental health counseling, I also brought this ache to my spiritual life, turning to saints who had both experienced pain and found profound peace in trusting God. I asked our Blessed Mother Mary for help finding good and holy friendships. I prayed a novena to St. Therese the Little Flower, asking for the courage to pursue true friendships. On the last day of the novena, I joined a woman whom I had briefly met at Mass for a drink. It was the first new friend I had made in a long time, and the conversation we had affirmed me that a new, meaningful connection was possible.
RELATED: Three Female Saints and Mystics Who Guide Me to Freedom
As I struggled to let go of my need for control and rely on the saints’ intercession, opportunities for friendship and community began to present themselves more naturally, but without the same sense of pressure. I was invited to volunteer with an organization that hosts afterschool programs for girls, and I met other like-minded women who also volunteered there.
Building Spiritual Bonds: How Holy Friendships Have Shaped My Life
I never knew that I needed holy friendships until I found them. Or maybe I should say, until God sent me some wonderful women as friends. As we leave the innocence of youth and grow into adults who start to develop more lasting relationships, we realize just how important it is to create and foster friendships with people who truly care about the well-being of our souls, who lead us closer to Christ, and who help strengthen our faith. These holy friendships are marked by a mutual desire to see the other person reach their God-given potential, challenge us to think outside of our own little world, and give us the opportunity to grow as children of God.
Two events in my life have given me wonderful holy friendships. After the birth of my first child, I joined a breastfeeding support group through the hospital where I gave birth. There were several other women there, and we became close. To make room for new members, the hospital only allowed moms to stay in the group for three months, but we didn’t want to give up our newfound camaraderie, so we began meeting at each other’s houses. We did this each week for nearly five years, until I moved away.
READ: How I Found Friends Through Faith: Trusting God to Bring Meaningful Connections
But the amazing thing is that what started as casual friendships soon became something more; they turned into holy friendships. Of the eight women in the group, seven were Christian and lived their faith proudly. Our years together afforded us many opportunities to talk about faith, to celebrate holy days together, and to simply live our faith openly and proudly.
To this day, nearly 30 years later, several of us are still close, and one woman is one of my best friends. We text nearly every day and talk frequently. We pray for each other’s children. We talk about our spirituality, the books we are reading, and the podcasts we are listening to. And because of this friendship, we grow in faith together.
Her presence in my life has not only strengthened my faith and given me courage, but it has also strengthened me. I don’t know where I would be if I hadn’t had her support throughout the years.
Today, I am in a group of moms at my church. We meet weekly to discuss a Catholic book, and we all benefit from each other’s wisdom and thoughts about family, the Church, and other faith-based topics. Each woman has something to offer as we nurture our faith and learn together.
RELATED: Pursuing Holy Friendships and Relationships with Dr.
Your Story Can Change The World – Immaculée Ilibagiza
Immaculée Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide, shares how through her suffering she learned what it means to truly forgive someone and the new life that comes from that forgiveness.
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Posted on May 19, 2026… Read more “Your Story Can Change The World – Immaculée Ilibagiza”
Yet more scams… this time it’s the bank inspector!
We’ve been covering scams in this column for more than two decades. Thank goodness for the opportunity to be able to cover them in this paper, whether they are electronic, based on emails, text messages, or fake websites, or whether they depend on the old-fashioned landline phone call.
Fortunately, as we covered in a recent column involving a reader who unwittingly permitted their webmail account to become compromised, many of us are quick to recognize a scam and brush aside emails, text messages, or phone calls seeking to perpetrate harm. However, there clearly remain enough potential victims for these schemes to remain profitable.
Recently, the Vancouver Police Department put out an alert on the “fake bank employee – fake police officer” scam in which victims are duped into believing they are aiding their bank to combat some sort of suspicious activity involving their account. Variants of this scam have existed for years.
Let’s take a look at the entire VPD release on this. Read it carefully.
#VPDNews: Vancouver Police are warning the public to be cautious of an ongoing scam involving fake bank employees and fake police officers working together.
In these cases, a victim gets a call from someone claiming to be from their bank, saying there’s suspicious activity on their account. The caller asks for the victim’s help with an “investigation,” sometimes mentioning a bank employee.
While still on the call, the victim receives a second call that appears to come from the Vancouver Police Department. The victim switches over, and the caller claims to be a police officer investigating the same issue. The “officer” tells the victim to keep cooperating with the bank and says they’ll follow up later.
The victim then goes back to the “bank” caller, who says money has been deposited into their account. They instruct the victim to go to a bitcoin ATM, buy bitcoin for that same amount, and send it to them.
Days later, they contact police for a follow up and realize they have been scammed. In total, some victims have lost approximately $10,000.
“We want to remind people that no police officer will ever recommend you send money or bitcoin to someone you don’t know,” says Constable Megan Lui. “A bank will not ask you to help them with an investigation, and they will never ask you to send bitcoin. If you receive a call like this, please hang up and contact your bank directly.”
If you believe you have been a victim to this scam, or you know someone who has, please call the VPD non-emergency line at 604-717-3321 to make a report.
Repeat after me: “I will not act on a call from a bank involving the movement of money.
‘God is on the move’: Archbishop Smith at Victoria March for Life
Hundreds of pro-life witnesses gathered in Victoria for the annual March for Life in the provincial capital, marching through downtown streets carrying pro-life signs and banners before rallying at the legislature to hear speakers, including Vancouver Archbishop Richard Smith.
The Victoria event drew families, clergy, students, and supporters from across British Columbia for speeches, prayer, and music focused on the protection of unborn life and care for vulnerable people. Organizers also highlighted concerns surrounding euthanasia and assisted suicide.
In a change from the custom of the Vancouver Archbishop having a pre-march Mass in his own diocese, Archbishop Smith celebrated at St. Andrew’s Cathedral in Victoria.
In his homily, Archbishop Smith acknowledged that many pro-life advocates can feel discouraged by what he described as “a powerful juggernaut moving forward and expanding in a manner that appears irresistible,” pointing to abortion and the expansion of euthanasia in Canada.
But he urged participants not to lose hope, saying, “God is at work, God is on the move, and God is an unstoppable force. His saving will simply cannot be thwarted by human iniquity.”
“This is why we march,” he said. “It is incumbent upon all of us to look for any and every opportunity to witness to the truth of God’s own love for life.”
Speaking later in front of the legislature, Archbishop Smith said the annual March for Life was part of a broader effort to build “a culture of life” through speaking, celebrating, and serving.
“Our march is a very peaceful event, and a great occasion for us to witness to the beauty of all life,” he said, quoting Pope Benedict, that every human being is “willed, loved and necessary.”
He also said society needs “radically transformed human relationships, defined no longer by an extreme individualism and a false notion of freedom, but by a self-giving love that welcomes the other as gift.”
Meanwhile in Ottawa, it took almost 25 minutes for a crowd organizers said numbered in the thousands to inch its way from Parliament Hill down Wellington Street to Elgin Street during the National March for Life .
At a rally before the march, organizer Debbie Duval told the crowd, “We march on a Thursday, in Ottawa, because that’s when our legislators are sitting in the House of Commons. We want them to hear us. We want them to know we’re here.”
Matthew Wojciechoski of Campaign Life Coalition said participants were calling on Parliament to enact legal protections “for all human beings from conception up to natural death.”
Pro-life supporters rally on Parliament Hill at National March for Life
It took almost 25 minutes for a crowd that organizers said was in the thousands to inch its way from Parliament Hill down Wellington Street to Elgin Street during the National March for Life in Ottawa.
Members of every ethnic background, young and elderly, priests, families and church groups carried pro-life signs and walked the streets of the Canadian capital to press for an end to abortion and euthanasia in Canada.
The day began with liturgies celebrated at Notre Dame Cathedral, St. Patrick’s Basilica, and St. Clement. Ottawa-Cornwall Archbishop Marcel Damphousse was the main celebrant at the cathedral, joined by papal nuncio Archbishop Ivan Jurkovič, Ukrainian Catholic Bishop Bryan Bayda, and some 30 priests and deacons.
At a midday rally before the march, organizer Debbie Duval told the crowd, “We march on a Thursday, in Ottawa, because that’s when our legislators are sitting in the House of Commons. We want them to hear us. We want them to know we’re here.”
Matthew Wojciechoski, Project Manager at Campaign Life Coalition (CLC), which organizes the annual event, told the crowd, “We are here to call upon the members of Parliament to enact legal protections for all human beings from conception up to natural death. To remind Parliament of four simple words, ‘Thou shalt not kill.’”
The March for Life takes place in May to mark the month in 1969 when the omnibus bill that decriminalized abortion in Canada was passed.
This year’s march fell on the very anniversary of the vote and adopted as its theme Jesus’ command, “Follow me.”
CLC national president Jeff Gunnarson asked the crowd to pray for founder and former president Jim Hughes who is in hospital with pneumonia and “not doing well.”
“Jim devoted decades of his life to the unborn and building this movement in Canada. Many of us are standing here today because of sacrifices he made long before we arrived,” Gunnarson said.
The featured speaker was Aleš Primc, co-founder of the Slovenian political party Voice for Children and Families that recently forced a referendum to overturn the country’s assisted suicide law. He led pro-lifers in a series of loud “hellos” to people of all ages, from unborn children to “people with gray hair like me.”
“Saying “hello” is the start of recognizing our shared humanity,” he said.
Speaker Rebecca Kiessling, a U.S.