Author: admin

As mentioned in previous columns, I have been striving to live with Easter joy, from deliberately focusing on the everyday joys of life to truly pondering all that the Resurrection means. As with most stages of life, this Easter there have been some bittersweet stumbling blocks as I have attempted to notice and embrace joyful moments, rather than taking them for granted.

In fact, during a three-day period in this year’s Eastertide, I have participated in and completed a school musical with my students, attended my daughter’s final games as a varsity athlete at UBC, and—most significantly—I have faced the suffering and death of a dear friend.

I have been involved in musical productions at our elementary school for seventeen years. Rehearsing the music for months results in melodies and lyrics running through my head at random times throughout the day—and night. Working with children creates a wonderful bond, and witnessing individual and collective growth is an experience beyond words. The joy inherent in a musical is obvious on the outside, but it does not come without its share of anxiety, frustration, and exhaustion behind the scenes. However, after the adrenaline settles, the dreams are realized, and the final curtains close, sadness inevitably sets in. Shows consume us. We put energy into them, we anticipate their arrival, and like all things, they come to an end.

After the final show, children tearfully realized that this special experience is now part of the past. I must admit that I find this reality hard to swallow myself, but I do appreciate that the gifts of the experience make the stress and sadness worthwhile.

The day after the show, I attended our third child’s final games as a UBC varsity softball player. She began playing softball when she was just eight years old, and even though other sports and music have played roles in her life, she has spent a large part of the past fourteen years training and playing softball.

While life in sport has been busy and demanding, it has also been so much fun to watch her grow as an athlete and a person. She has built resilience, patience, and muscle, along with wisdom and friendships to last a lifetime. She has learned to speak up for herself and others, and to articulate and express difficult feelings with grace and respect.

Tears were shed as she gave her farewell speech at the reception following the games, reflecting on all her years as an athlete. Some of these tears were in recognition of challenges faced and overcome, some were sadness at the speed of time, and others were tears of joy for the blessings that softball life has brought upon our whole family.

When Father Dan Gurnick thinks about St. Francis of Assisi, he doesn’t think of birds, flowers, or sentimental images of the beloved saint. 

He begins with Christ. 

“Francis was very Christ-centred,” said Father Gurnick, a Franciscan friar and pastor of St. Joseph the Worker Parish in Richmond. After St. Francis’ conversion, he saw “the crucified Christ in lepers,” and even in creation. “It’s more than just seeing trees, it’s seeing Christ in the trees,” Father Gurnick told The B.C. Catholic.

That vision is now shaping local observances of the Jubilee Year dedicated to St. Francis of Assisi, proclaimed by Pope Leo XIV to mark the 800th anniversary of the saint’s death.

The jubilee year runs from Jan. 10, 2026, to Jan. 10, 2027, and offers the faithful the opportunity to obtain a plenary indulgence by making a pilgrimage to churches dedicated to St. Francis or served by Franciscan communities. The usual conditions apply: sacramental confession, Communion, prayer for the Pope’s intentions, and freedom from attachment to sin. The elderly, sick, and those unable to travel may participate spiritually by offering their prayers and sufferings.

In the Archdiocese of Vancouver, Archbishop Richard Smith has highlighted three parishes for coordinated observances: St. Francis of Assisi in East Vancouver, which bears the saint’s name, and two parishes served by Franciscan friars — St. Joseph the Worker in Richmond and Immaculate Conception in Vancouver. 

In a pastoral letter, Archbishop Smith called the jubilee “a time of grace” and reminded the Church that renewal begins with conversion to Christ. 

“Every renewal begins with a renewed encounter with Jesus Christ,” he wrote. “A pilgrimage is a meaningful act of faith. It is a step away from routine and an intentional journey toward the Lord.”

The Archbishop said the jubilee is especially timely as the Archdiocese enters “our own time of renewal,” including in parishes and schools, infrastructure stewardship, clergy support, and the celebration of the liturgy.

Pope Leo XIV has framed the year as a response to a divided world. In a letter to Franciscan leaders, he said St. Francis continues to speak “in this era, marked by so many seemingly endless wars, by internal and social divisions that create distrust and fear,” because his life points to “the authentic source of peace.” 

The Pope added that Francis reminds the Church that “peace with God, peace among people, and peace with creation are inseparable dimensions of a single call to universal reconciliation.”

For the three local parishes, that global call is taking local form.

“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” James 4:7 Are you giving too much power to the devil? Dave VanVickle shares how we should view Satan. 

Remember he’s just a creature, therefore his power is limited. If we stay close to the Creator, we should not fear!

In this episode, we welcome Arthur and Ester Brooks to talk about marriage, suffering, and the path to lasting love. Arthur and Ester share what it’s like to minister together, revealing both the grace needed and the hard work it takes to love each other faithfully over decades. We also reflect on suffering as an invitation for growth, why pain is fruitful, and how the hardest places in life are where love is purified. Whether you are married, single, or in religious life, intimacy with God is our source of strength for every situation we encounter in life.

Show Notes

One Thing We Love This Week:

• Sister Miriam’s one thing – Heather’s Easter Spotify Playlist

• Michelle’s one thing – Everyone who just came into the Catholic Church!

• Heather’s one thing – Franciscan’s Resurrection Party!

• Heather’s other one thing –  10 Day Pentecost Audio Prayer Plan

• Ester’s one thing – Her husband Arthur!

• Ester’s other one thing – Professional Cycling

• Arthur’s One Thing – Opportunities to witness to the Catholic faith during The Meaning of Your Life book launch

Discussion Questions:    

When are you tempted to be led by your feelings?

When have you had to let go of resisting suffering in the past?

Where in your life, marriage, or relationships do you feel stalled?

How is God inviting you to prioritize Him over your marriage, relationships, and responsibilities?

Journal Questions:

What does it look like to fight well?

How have I witnessed or experienced a marriage that is an antenna to God?

What suffering in my life am I resisting?

What are the discomforts and sufferings I have experienced today that I can thank God for?

Quotes to Ponder:

“It is Jesus that you seek when you dream of happiness; he is waiting for you when nothing else you find satisfies you; he is the beauty to which you are so attracted; it is he who provokes you with that thirst for fullness that will not let you settle for compromise; it is he who urges you to shed the masks of a false life; it is he who reads in your hearts your most genuine choices, the choices that others try to stifle. It is Jesus who stirs in you the desire to do something great with your lives, the will to follow an ideal, the refusal to allow yourselves to be grounded down by mediocrity, the courage to commit yourselves humbly and patiently to improving yourselves and society, making the world more human and more fraternal.”

— Pope John Paul II, World Youth Day, Rome, 2000

Scripture for Lectio Divina:

“Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.

The autumn air swirled around the skirt of my formal dress while jazz music filled the party tent. My husband and I were attending a work event, and I knew only a small handful of people there. The band was entertaining, and the food was delicious, but anyone who has been in a similar situation knows that engaging in small talk during cocktail hour can get dull and uncomfortable. Then, one of my husband’s colleagues turned to me with a warm smile and asked, “So Catherine, what has been the best part of your day?” 

Instantly, I relaxed into a similar smile as I told her about the haircut I received earlier that morning. We swapped funny stories about haircuts and hairdos — both good and bad — and I found myself enjoying a friendly rapport with a woman I had just met. The party became much more fun after that conversation because I had a new friend to enjoy it with. 

In the weeks that followed, I couldn’t stop thinking about the question she asked me and the impact it had on my night. I had already been asked, “Where are you from?” and “What do you do?” several times. But her question, although equally simple, felt different, and I wanted to know why.

I found an answer in social psychologist Vanessa Van Edwards’ TEDxLondon talk titled, “You are contagious.” In it, she explains that when we are asked a question like, “Been busy lately?” our brains automatically start recalling examples of busyness and stress in order to answer it. If you ask questions that focus on positive or exciting answers like, “What has been the best part of your day?” you trigger a dopamine response in that person as they think about their answer. Then, as Van Edwards says, they can pass that excitement or happiness back to you through their vocal cues and micro expressions, triggering a dopamine response in your own brain. 

As a wife and mother, I regularly find myself in situations that require small talk. I decided to put Van Edwards’ findings to the test to see if I could make small talk more enjoyable for both myself and others. 

Taking Van Edwards’ advice, I started by brainstorming a list of conversation starters that could trigger a dopamine response. I will admit that this felt awkward at first, but I knew if I wanted to avoid the automatic answers that come after, “What do you do?” and “Where are you from?” I needed to be prepared. On Substack, I started a list, and some of my favorites included, “How do you spend your days?”

Last week’s launch of the MAiD at 10 series examined the scale and impact of Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada. This week, reporter Terry O’Neill focuses on understanding how the country arrived at this point, and what those changes are beginning to reveal.

The 1970s are infamously known as the “Me Decade,” a term coined by writer Tom Wolfe, who described a cultural shift toward narcissism, self-fulfilment, and hedonism among the Baby Boomer generation.

Theologian and sociologist Germain McKenzie says a similar self-centred worldview can help explain why legalized euthanasia has proven to be so popular in Canada and threatens to continue expanding in other Western nations.

As Canada approaches the 10th anniversary of the legalization of MAiD on June 17, McKenzie, who teaches at Catholic Pacific College in Langley, said in an interview that pro-life advocates need better strategies to loosen MAiD’s grip on the country. To do that, it’s important to understand how euthanasia has taken such a strong hold.

McKenzie sees five major cultural trends over the past few centuries that have propelled this country to the precipitous place it is now. Primary are the Enlightenment’s emphasis on autonomous reasoning and Romanticism’s celebration of self-fulfillment.

Those ideologies are thriving alongside capitalism’s utilitarian ethos, adverse impact of mass media, and advances in medical technology allowing previously unimaginable procedures such as gender reassignment. Together they have eroded the Christian values on which Western civilization was built, McKenzie said.

The Enlightenment and Romantic ideals alone have “radicalized” our times, he said. Where once a Christian ethos balanced them and “put some limits in place,” all of that crumbled in the turbulent years following the Second World War amid the rapid secularization of society.

Individuals now try to shape their own moral universe, as though society has reverted to an immature stage. “It’s like being a teenager,” he said.

The result is legalized medical killing, something unthinkable a generation ago outside of dystopian movies like Soylent Green (1973) and Logan’s Run (1976).

While few think Canada will become the 23rd-century society of Logan’s Run where individuals live in pleasure and comfort, but only until age 30, it’s hard to predict just what  future shocks will rock a society that has lost one of its core values—valuing the lives of the sick and the elderly. Medical deaths of willing patients have become commonplace to what St. Pope John Paul II called the culture of death.

Life “has been devalued,” said Mathew Schmalz, professor of religious studies at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Mass. “We need as a society to rethink our attitude to life,” being sensitive to “all its complexities,” joy as well as pain.

Recently I received an email from a friend—an email that immediately aroused suspicion. 

It was an appeal of the tear-jerker variety, designed to invoke a response through emotion-generating hooks and through a sense of urgency.

Like many such emails, it had an aspect of believability, along with warning signs. It even ended with a “God bless” sign-off, representative of the sender as I know the person.

None of it, of course, was true. It was quite an elaborate scam, although one which was dependent on a mistake by the ostensible sender.

I resisted immediately writing back with the typical “you’ve been hacked” or “you’ve been scammed,” opting to wait until I saw my friend in person two days later. Actually, I wouldn’t have used the expression “you’ve been hacked,” as my experience with these sorts of events is that nearly always it’s the victim who has “clicked somewhere” or used a fake site, believing it to be real and safe.

By the time I saw my friend, I had already learned from others in our mutual circle that they too had received the same email. What was surprising to me, in a good way, is that each of them immediately wrote off the message as being part of a scam. We’ve come a long way over the past decade or so when it comes to situational awareness and skepticism with technology.

When I saw my friend, he was already aware of the matter. Someone had indeed contacted him, via text message, to see if he was aware of the email in question. When another person reached him with the same concern, he took action which proved prescient under the circumstances.

He was actually out of the country at that point. He phoned the service provider. Amazingly, he reached someone who immediately guided him through changing the password for his webmail service. That action halted further use of the account by the scammer or scammers.

So, just what occurred here? Although my friend can’t specifically recall the trigger event, it is clear he was tricked onto either a fake version of his webmail sign-in page or onto a fake Wi-Fi node in the hotel where he was staying. No matter which of the two, his email credentials were compromised, and the scammer immediately harvested his entire contacts list—some 400 or so email addresses—spent a few minutes looking through his sent emails to get an idea of a typical sign-off he might use, and then sent out the emotional appeal to all those contacts.

In this case, the scammer did not change the webmail password or take any further action. When I was asked to look at my friend’s computer and webmail, I could find no evidence of tampering at the machine level.

After the healing of the lame beggar in Acts 3, Peter addresses the crowd. Acts 4 then begins with the arrival of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees. 

The authorities were deeply disturbed “because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2). Their objection is twofold: a claim about Jesus himself and a claim about the destiny of humanity.

Theophylact also observes a shift in their behaviour after Christ’s passion. Before, they acted indirectly, relying on Judas to betray Jesus in secret; now they seize the apostles openly and personally, showing increased boldness and disregard. As he notes, sin often carries a sense of shame while it is still forming, but once it is fully developed, it makes those who commit it increasingly shameless.

Meanwhile, the number of believers rises to five thousand men. St. Bede sees symbolic meaning in this number, linking it to the feeding of the five thousand. He suggests that those fed in the wilderness represent a people formed under the Law and renewed by Christ. In the same way, those instructed by the apostles signify the nations who will come to embrace and live out these same divine mysteries.

Peter initially addressed the Sanhedrin with respect. Once he began his defence, however, he did not hold back from a fitting rebuke. He reminded them that what they were prosecuting was a healing—a “good deed done to a crippled man” (Acts 4:9). The charge is absurd, and Peter made sure they feel it.

Peter then cites Psalm 118:22 and identifies the “cornerstone” as Christ himself. St. Bede explains that the Jewish people, who continually studied the Law and the Prophets, encountered in those Scriptures the promise of a cornerstone uniting two walls—that is, Christ, who would join two peoples into one through his coming in the flesh. Yet, choosing to remain within only one side, they rejected this stone.

Peter then proclaims: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Reflecting on this, St. Bede notes that if salvation is found in Christ alone, then even the fathers of the Old Testament were saved through the same Redeemer’s incarnation and passion. Though the outward signs and rituals differed across times, the underlying faith was the same: through the prophets, they looked forward to the coming of Christ, while through the apostles, we look back on what he has accomplished.

What astonishes the Sanhedrin most is not the words but the speakers. St. John Chrysostom sees in Peter not merely courage, but transformation—from the man who “could not even endure questioning by a servant girl” to one who proclaimed Christ before the highest court in Jerusalem—“another miracle no less great than the earlier one.”

Why are we so bent on finding an alternative to obeying the living God?

My favorite scene from Excalibur: Young Arthur has removed the sword Excalibur from the stone, thereby becoming king.  People wonder whether this young nobody is king. Arthur brandishes Excalibur, declaring, “Any man, who would be a knight, and follow a king—follow me!”  Oh! I was ready to jump up, shouting, “Take me!” To follow a king for a cause, having good reason to live and die—that touches the heart deeply. We often corrupt that noble longing, attaching it to what isn’t God.

What of Christ the King? Much of the world is either ignorant of him or rejects him. Too many deny God, deny our heavenly king, acting as if there is no Lord to love and serve.

Without a king, how will the soul find purpose? A king calls his people to a glorious destiny. Jean-Paul Sartre said, “Man is a useless passion.” So the world offers a lot of toys to distract us from our misery.

The world says that there’s no Lord to love and serve. Perhaps this is the worst lie of all. The human heart aches to give all the love it can, and to see all of that love completely and gratefully received. The human heart aches to receive constant and faithful love. But the world says we cannot have that perfect loving, because there’s no Lord to love and serve; so the world offers idols take the place of the real love we want to give and receive.

What if we acted on the truth that there is hope, purpose, and love? Believing in a God of hope, our grief would be easier to bear and our worship would be more joyful because we would believe that Jesus has conquered sin and death, and that his victory will be given to us over time and given to us completely at the world’s end. We’d know that anything good apparently lost was never really lost, but offered to God, who will give us all good in his kingdom.

Believing that Christ is our King, then what? Christ told Pilate: “My kingdom is not of this world. I came into the world to testify to the truth. Anyone committed to the truth hears my voice.” Christ testifies to a terrible and wonderful truth.

The terrible truth: We’re sinners. Sin brings darkness and death.

The glorious truth: Christ comes to rescue us, cleansing us with his own Blood, making us heirs to his kingdom, leading us home to his Father.

The hardest, saddest truth: We often believe that love’s impossible. So, here comes the world, to medicate the pain of our loneliness.