Author: admin

Many, many years ago, I was asked to give a pro-life presentation to a large group of young adults. The person who contacted me asked if it was possible that I might tone down, or exclude, some of the issues … like abortion, for example.

Taken totally by surprise I was silent for a moment before replying, “There really isn’t any way for me to give a pro-life talk without talking about the actual issue. So, no, I can’t.”

I was given permission to go ahead, and to this day, I think it was one of my best talks. There were people in total shock, some emotional, who had never heard the reality of abortion, only the meaningless catchphrases used by the other side: a blob of tissue, clump of cells, no heartbeat … whatever. And they thanked me for coming.

Of course, the person who contacted me was trying to walk a tightrope, wanting to tick the box of “pro-life work done,” and avoid any discomfort involved. The idea was my talk could perhaps look like some of the modern anti-bullying or self-esteem programs that suggest lifting people up is also a kind of pro-life work. The benefit is that, because they leave out the bludgeoned babies part, they get a bigger audience. They are saying what everyone already agrees with, so it’s easy. No one cries, no one is offended, and no one is threatened with the loss of tax status.

I wonder how much that last issue has affected many of the choices made by charities these days. We quiver at the thought of missing out on a tax receipt or the option of providing them. We “compromise.” We don’t want to upset people. It doesn’t make for easy living having the world annoyed at us for our beliefs. So, it’s the best of both worlds. We say that all people have value, which is true, and that we should respect everything and everyone (not true). Boom. The work of Christ, done.

I get a little hot under the collar when it comes to this kind. We have lost pro-life organizations to this kind of thing, and it’s very sad.

 One person involved in the total secularization of a group told me, “If I had been told that my life matters, if someone had told me that I had value, and there was a good future for me, I would never have had an abortion.”

That’s fine, and it is heartbreaking that she never heard those things. But how many people could use that message for the exact opposite purpose: “My life matters, I have value and a future, and this unwanted pregnancy will get in the way.”

Christ teaches us good “should be done quietly, even stealthily,” Archbishop J. Michael Miller told the recipients of papal honours at a conferral Mass at Holy Rosary Cathedral on Sept. 7.

Sixteen people received the Benemerenti  medal, awarded to “the well-deserving” who have shown lasting and exceptional service to the Catholic Church, family, and community.  

Pope Gregory XVI instituted the award in 1832 for members of the military and civilians demonstrating extraordinary courage. In 1925 the award was extended to people who go to great lengths to serve the Church. 

Three individuals received the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice, which Pope Leo XIII instituted in 1888 for lay people or clergy. It is the highest recognition the laity can receive from the Pope for distinguished service to the Church.

During his homily, the Archbishop expressed profound gratitude to the recipients for their dedication and hard work. He preached on the gospel story of Christ healing a deaf man. After the man is brought to him, Jesus pulls him away from the crowd.

“This miracle wasn’t to be a public spectacle in which Jesus looked for admiration or a ‘wow factor,’” said the Archbishop. 

“Here the Lord is teaching us that the good we do – and this is very true in those who are receiving Papal Honours today – is to be done without clamour, without ostentation, without ‘blowing one’s trumpet,’” he said.

Still, “Jesus doesn’t talk about hiding the light of faith under a bushel basket or remaining mute what we should speak out,” said the Archbishop. “‘What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight, what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the housetops.’”

“Let us, then, ask the good Lord to heal any lack of hearing or willingness to speak the truth.”

Mass was followed by the blessing of the medals by the Archbishop, after which he presented them while a brief description of each recipient’s contributions was read from the pulpit by Sister John Frances LaFever, FSE.

Benemerenti Medal Recipients

Gwendoline Allison

Gwendoline Allison has a heart for victims of human trafficking and, as a Catholic lawyer and principal of her own law firm, has engaged the issue consistently, including as a member of the Archdiocesan Anti-Human Trafficking Committee since 2015. With other lay and religious collaborators, Gwendoline continues to contribute to articles and workshops to raise awareness of the scourge of human trafficking and prostitution. She has also contributed her expertise and experience to the Archdiocesan Review Board since 2020.

The journey toward reconciliation between Canadian churches and Indigenous people continues. Not surprisingly, the report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 2015 did not end that journey. 

Indian residential schools operated for more than a century, and the lasting damage they created is enormous. The reconciliation we seek must be based on truth but also on trust. Trust develops slowly. Indeed, the revelations through the TRC process predictably enflamed the hurt and animosity which survivors and relatives of residential school students experience. 

Two years ago, an aging Pope Francis came to Canada and apologized in detail for the harm done to those who attended the schools and to Indigenous cultures. His presence and words fulfilled one of the 94 calls to action in the TRC report.

A year earlier, research at the site of the former Kamloops Indian Residential School, one of the largest schools, found about 200 anomalies in the ground, which might be unmarked graves of former students. In the minds of many, “might be” quickly became “are.” Although no bodies have been found, it was quickly assumed that there were in fact 200 unmarked graves of former students. It was a plausible assumption but is still not a proven fact.

On June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, the Tk’emlúps Te Secwépemc Nation, the Vancouver Archdiocese and the Kamloops Diocese released the text of a covenant among the three groups. The covenant includes a cautious agreed-upon statement of facts about Catholic teaching regarding Indigenous people, the situation at residential schools in general and the “anomalies” at the Kamloops school. 

The statement of facts does not chart new territory. But that is the point. Stating only what is known is crucial to building a foundation for reconciliation. Even what is known is damning to the Church and the federal government. Once again for example, there is the admission that Catholics perpetrated cultural, emotional, physical and sexual abuse at the school. The system itself separated children from their families. 

Cautious as it is, the statement of facts offers solid ground for reasoned discussion and concrete action. Those who sincerely want reconciliation should read the document on the website of Canadian Catholic News.

Bishops across Canada have wisely chosen not to respond to the array of allegations made about possible gravesites at residential schools at least until the facts are known. As well, they have refrained from making unsubstantiated comments about the large number of church burnings in recent years. Comments which may turn out to be false can only increase polarization.

The Church has a wealth of experience with forgiveness and the renewal of damaged relationships. However, it is only in recent decades that it has found the courage to admit that its sons and daughters acting in the name of the Church have inflicted grave wounds on the human family.

More than 200 Catholic young adults lit up the dance floor at Our Lady of the Assumption Church in Port Coquitlam for a dinner and dance. The event was organized by Assumption Young Adults.

Titled Night Under the Stars, it featured an evening of dancing and culinary delight, featuring a main course brought to you by The Paella Guys, jamón by Jamoneria by Arc, and ice cream.

The Weather was perfect, and attendees enjoyed the evening with sparkers and a bon fire. 

Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.

There was a popular book in the 1980s titled All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten. In it, author Robert Fulghum shared wisdom for the ages that he learned as a child, such as, “When you go out into the world, watch out for traffic, hold hands, and stick together.” And, pre-Jordan Peterson: “CLEAN UP YOUR OWN MESS!”

The book was an international best-seller for two years and was translated into dozens of languages. Its popularity likely had an influence on today’s society, where many still seemingly believe that all they really need to know they learned in (fill in the blank).

Whether it’s religion, politics, current events, or the mysteries of life, a quick visit to Twitter will confirm that many people are still relying on information they learned way back when. 

I remember once talking with a friend about Catholic matters and saying that while I could accept the idea of women priests, I didn’t believe in married priests. “You’ve got it backwards,” he said. While there have been married priests in the past and could be in the future, female priests are a non-starter. His explanation opened the door to my relearning my Catholic faith.  

Whatever you know, or think you know, about a topic depends on when you received that knowledge. If you rely on mainstream news organizations, you’re in a shrinking group. In a recent Abacus Data poll, nearly half of Canadians agreed with the statement that “much of the information they receive from news organizations is false.” A study by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford found that only 42 per cent of Canadians trust “most news, most of the time.”

Canadians who base their views on anything from news to faith and morals on what traditional journalism supplies are getting a filtered version of the truth.

In an article in a Catholic newspaper in Australia, Monica Doumit noted that the country is heading down the same road of euthanasia that Canada has been on for nearly a decade. In an article titled “Thank God for Catholic media, or we’d never know the truth on euthanasia,” Doumit wrote in The Catholic Weekly, “With wall-to-wall euthanasia on the verge of being implemented across the country, you’d think that journalists would be looking to hold Australia’s governments to account.”

Yet in recent weeks, it’s become clear that those publications that openly question the “mercy” of state-sponsored killing are “like candles flickering in the gloom,” she wrote.

Doumit writes extensively about the situation in B.C., particularly highlighting the work of The B.C. Catholic in reporting what no one else will. 

Father Terrance Larkin, a diocesan priest for the Archdiocese of Vancouver and a missionary, passed away on Sept. 10 at the age of 86.

Father Larkin was remembered for the care and attention he gave to parishioners, to the point of trying to memorize all their names. Even later in life, as an assistant pastor at Holy Rosary Cathedral, it wasn’t unusual to hear him offer Communion to visitors by name when he recognized them from parishes he had served throughout his 58 years as a priest.

In 1969, Father Larkin volunteered to serve in a mission in Lima, Peru, run by the Archdiocese of Vancouver. He remained there until the mission’s objective, to allow local priests to take over the running of the parish, was completed in 1973.

Father Larkin paid special care to the cultural identity of his flock. When he was made pastor of St. Joseph’s in Vancouver in 1980, he encouraged the unique devotions of the growing Filipino community and even travelled to the Philippines to study Tagalog.

During that period, he also took charge of the Hispanic Mission at St. Joseph’s after it was moved there in 1984.

Throughout his priesthood, Father Larkin served as pastor of Holy Trinity in North Vancouver, Precious Blood in Surrey, and St. Joseph’s in Vancouver. He also served as assistant pastor at St. Francis de Sales in Burnaby, St. Joseph’s in Powell River, St. Anthony’s in West Vancouver, Star of the Sea in White Rock, and Holy Rosary Cathedral.

He spent his final days in Honoria Conway assisted-living facility near Holy Name of Jesus in Vancouver, where he would get to Mass with the help of a walker. 

Holy Name pastor Msgr. Gregory Smith wrote an emotional farewell in the parish bulletin.

“The news of Father Terry Larkin’s death comes as a great sadness to our parish family, of which he was a treasured member. He was known for his ever-joyful spirit, participation at all our social events, and for singing weekly in the choir at 5pm, always ending the Gloria on a triumphant note!”

Father Larkin was a long-time reader and supporter of The B.C. Catholic, occasionally sending an appreciative email. His most recent said, “All Brave Heart personnel at BC Catholic are doing a super Brave Heart good job.”

He will be missed.

Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.

Common-sense, reflection, a readiness to consult others, determination, foresight and caution are all aspects of the virtue of patience which enables us to do something very important: discern the right courses of action.

This virtue is so important that it has been highlighted by the pope and several important theologians.

“The prudent person knows how to safeguard the memory of the past, not out of fear for the future, but because he or she knows that tradition is a patrimony of wisdom,” Pope Francis told pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square in March this year.

“Life is made up of a constant overlapping of old and new things, and it is not good always to think that the world begins with us, that we have to deal with problems starting from scratch.”

A prudent person deliberates on the means and circumstances required to perform a morally good action. In that deliberation, we must consider the past, the present, and the future and learn as much as we can from history, the lives of the saints, and our own personal experiences.

Theologian and author Father John Hardon, SJ, teaches that prudence is that moral virtue of the mind which enables us to decide what is the right thing to do in a given situation. He notes that the functions of prudence are: deliberation, judgement, and the commanding of the will to put into practical effect decisions which have been made.

“The constituent elements of this virtue must then be fostered,” advises spiritual writer Father Adolphe Tanqueray.

Although our present conditions can be quite different from those of the past, Roman Catholics can apply the wisdom gained from those past experiences to the present.

“Prudent are those who are able to choose. As long as it remains on paper, life is always easy, but in the midst of the wind and waves of daily life it is another matter; often we are uncertain and do not know which way to go,” said Pope Francis. 

“The prudent do not choose at random: first of all, they know what they want, then they weigh the situation, seek advice, and with a broad outlook and inner freedom, they choose upon which path to embark.”

But prudence extends beyond simply applying the lessons leant in the past to the present. This virtue also calls upon Catholics to look towards the future and make the best possible decisions to make it a good one.

“The prudent person is also far-sighted,” said Pope Francis. “Once one has decided on the goal to strive for, it is necessary to obtain all the means to reach it.”

That means looking carefully at our means and circumstances and judging whether they are as good as they should be. 

With financial aid from the Archdiocese of Vancouver, local paddler Tyra Point represented Canada and her Sts’Ailes community at this year’s Va’a World Elite and Club Sprint Championships 2024 in Hilo, Hawaii.

The event celebrates the sport of outrigger canoe paddling and drew thousands of paddlers from countries around the world from Aug. 13 to 24.

Point has been paddling since she was 12. Inspired to pick up the sport by her stepfather, uncle, and older brother, she said the cultural resonance of paddling brings her closer to her Agassiz-area Sts’Ailes roots.

“It’s a part of my bloodline. My people really motivate me the most,” she told The B.C. Catholic. “My family, my Sts’Ailes people, really motivate me and the younger generations to keep the sport alive.”

“It’s our inherent right to paddle in our traditional canoes and race in them,” she said. “They have been a part of coast Salish history since time and memorial.”

Point is a family and child services counsellor in Sts’Ailes, as well as a Sts’ailes Nation councillor, and she said paddling connects her “to the spirit and to our teachings. Taking care of yourself mentally, emotionally, and spiritually helps in that aspect for me personally.”

Along with her club paddling crew, Autumn Rose, she qualified for the 1,000m sprint at this year’s international Va’a championship in Hawaii.

Preparing for the competition was an exciting experience in cultural learning and openness, she said. In Indigenous cultures with maritime and rivercraft traditions, specific sacred protocols around the maintenance and care of the boats can be very private, but Point said she and the other athletes, Indigenous and non-Indigenous alike, attended a canoe blessing.

Because the championship has its roots in Polynesian seafaring culture, there are some specific differences between international competition and the traditional canoeing that Point is used to.

For one, the competition assigned each team a lane. And in the war canoe competitions she is used to, contact between vessels isn’t just possible, it’s encouraged.

In preparation for her competition, Point acquired a one-man Va’a – it looks like a rudderless and keelless kayak with a supporting pontoon – and she was excited about the competition.

In addition to the 1,000m sprint, she also qualified for the elite team, comprised of the 12 best paddlers in Canada – four of which she is proud to say are Indigenous athletes.

“It’s exciting putting my name out there globally and representing my fellow Sts’ailes and Indigenous people on this level for paddling,” she said.

Catholic feasts are often associated with the deaths of saints, since these are the dates upon which these men and women entered eternal life. However, the Church also acknowledges three birthdays as feasts: the Nativity of Jesus (Dec. 25), the Nativity of John the Baptist (June 24) and the Nativity of Mary (Sept. 8).

These three births are celebrated due to the individuals’ roles in our salvation. Jesus is God Incarnate and his birth is acknowledged as God coming to live on earth: Emmanuel, “God with us.” John the Baptist is known to be blessed since he recognized the presence of the unborn Jesus and leapt in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth.

Mary, the woman chosen by God to bring our savior into the world, was born without original sin. While we celebrate Mary’s assumption into heaven on the feast of the Assumption (Aug. 15), her earthly birthday is also acknowledged, since her eternal life did not need to wait for her death; her eternity with God had already been guaranteed from the moment of her immaculate conception.

The Church has chosen Dec. 8 as the feast of the Immaculate Conception of Mary; therefore, we acknowledge her birthday exactly nine months later: Sept. 8.

Using Pray More Novenas (praymorenovenas.com), this year I participated in an online novena to prepare for the feast of the Nativity of Mary. During this online novena, we were encouraged to reflect on the ways in which Mary has inspired us through her earthly life. Indeed, Mary’s birth has provided many gifts for us.

The novena focused on praying for new life within ourselves as we encounter Mary’s son, Jesus. Thinking of Mary’s “yes” to God renews our hope and trust in God’s plans for us. Dwelling upon her Son and the eternal life that awaits those who follow his teachings inspires us in good times and, especially, in times of trial. Knowing she blessed each of us by trusting in God and allowing the new life of his plan to transform the world reminds me to seek her intercession when I experience doubts and anxieties in my own life.

The novena also focused on prayers for strength in marriage relationships. Mary and Joseph model what a covenantal relationship between God and spouses truly looks like. Joseph supported Mary in accepting God’s plan. They raised the Son of God in love and tradition. They supported him and, ultimately, allowed him to do the Father’s work. The novena reminded me to look to the Holy Family for guidance when I experience challenging times in my own marriage.

During the novena, we were encouraged to pray for our children.

Most Catholic retreats have the same essential pitch: spend a few days with us away from the hustle and bustle of life, and you can gain some new perspective and spiritual renewal.   

The new Catholic Family Camp put on by the Archdiocese of Vancouver came with an added twist: we’ll give you all that, but you must bring your children.  

Now, I love my kids, but this felt like a promise likely to go unfulfilled.   

For context, my family was in the process of unpacking moving boxes. Bedtime was just starting to settle, but my daughter was still asking to go “home” to our old house at regular intervals throughout the day.   

This didn’t feel like the best time to repack our recently unpacked clothes and truck the kids off on the first camping trip of their lives. In addition, the move had strained things between my wife and me, and we were both struggling to find patience with each other. 

When we pulled up the long dirt driveway to the camp, I felt regret gnawing at the back of my mind for bringing my family to “work.”  

Still, the mountains and the view were beautiful, and upon disembarking the van my kids quickly ran across the empty field to explore.   

Stepping Stones Bible Camp is located two minutes down the road from the Deroche convenience store, 15 minutes past Mission. By Lower Mainland standards, it’s not quite far enough out be the middle of nowhere, but they’re in the same neighbourhood.  

I was told by organizers that 42 families were expected, and 25 were bringing children under two. Utter chaos, I thought.   

The event opened with announcements by organizer Megan Rumohr from the Archdiocesan Office for Marriage and Family. After dinner, Deacon Pat Dwan led a Eucharistic procession around the property.   

The chapel was an old, repurposed barn, with an altar and pews set up for adoration. After the procession, the children were given candles so they could place their prayers at the foot of the altar.  

Our oldest, Thomas, was excited to bring the flickering lights and after placing the first he found the box of candles and started to grab more.   

I explained that he needed to say a prayer if he wanted to put another candle in front of the monstrance.