Prudence helps Catholics make the right decisions, now and in future
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.
Sts’Ailes paddler hopes traditional canoes can break cycles of trauma
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.
Celebrating the gifts we received on Mary’s birthday
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.
In hustle and bustle of marriage, kids, and bills, a Catholic family camp can be just what you need
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.
Nineteen lay people and clergy named to receive papal honours
Nineteen lay people and clergy in the Archdiocese of Vancouver will be recognized for their outstanding service to the Church on Sunday, Sept. 8., at Holy Rosary Cathedral.
Archbishop J. Michael Miller, CSB, will confer the honours awarded by Pope Francis at a Papal Honours Mass at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.
Sixteen people will be given the Benemerenti medal, awarded to benemerenti, “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 showing extraordinary courage. In 1925 it was extended to people who go to great lengths to serve the Church in 1925.
Three people will receive the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice. Established by Pope Leo XIII in 1888, it is the highest recognition the laity can receive from the Pope. The award is given for distinguished service to the Church by lay people or clergy.
This year’s recipients are:
Benemerenti Medal
- Gwendoline Allison
- Peter Bull
- Richard and Kathleen Cheng
- Dr. Thomas Cooper
- Timothy McKinnon
- Murray and Patricia Neilson
- Virginia Peters
- Henjie and Teresa San Juan
- Judit Spence
- Dorothy Van der Zalm
- Dick Vollet
- Betty Wilson
- Dr. John Yun
Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice
- Dr. Felix Durity
- Mary Margaret MacKinnon
- Msgr. Bernard Anthony Rossi
Your voice matters! Join the conversation by submitting a Letter to the Editor here.
Top of the Class: Catholic grads earn scholarships to pursue post-secondary dreams this fall
As students return to school, two students from Vancouver Catholic schools will be starting post-graduate studies with the help of scholarships they earned in their graduate year.
Christel Mazzek, the founder of St. John Brebeuf Secondary’s Open Studio art community in Abbotsford, and St. John Paul II Academy graduate Elyse Kargl have each been recognized with significant scholarships that will support their post-secondary pursuits.
Christel was honoured with three scholarships for her outstanding volunteer work and academic achievement. Her passion for service and creativity has made a lasting impact on her community, from supporting the Abbotsford Arts Council to helping with the Vancouver Kindness Movement. Her initiative to keep classmates connected through art during the pandemic grew into a vibrant community of over 35 members. This commitment to her community, combined with her academic excellence, earned her the prestigious Terry Fox Humanitarian Award, which covers up to $28,000 over four years.
She also won the Trevor Linden Community Spirit Scholarship, which awards $2,500, and a B.C. Beedie Luminaries Scholarship, which awards up to $44,000 per recipient.
SJB academic counsellor Dan Fraser praised Christel’s accomplishments as extraordinary. “Winning three major awards like this is an exceptional achievement. This is well-deserved recognition for the impressive service work that Christel has done for the community,” he said.
The Open Studio group, which started in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, provided a creative outlet for students feeling disconnected. With the support of art teacher Jacqueline Lindenbach, Christel and a friend designed take-home art projects that allowed students to create, share their work, and stay connected. The group has since grown to over 35 members and continues to thrive.
Reflecting on her time at SJB, Christel expressed immense gratitude for her teachers and the community. “The halls of the school are filled with compassionate role models and mentors, whose influence has shaped me significantly,” she said. This fall, Christel will be studying science at UBC.
Meanwhile, Elyse Kargl, a graduate of St. John Paul II Academy in Surrey, will pursue her nursing dream this fall with a $45,000 scholarship from the Cmolik Foundation. Elyse will be attending Trinity Western University, supported by the $45,000 scholarship. The scholarship recognizes students who have overcome significant challenges in their lives, and Elyse’s perseverance and dedication impressed the selection committee. The scholarship will help her achieve her lifelong dream of making a difference in the lives of others through nursing.
Elyse said she has dreamed of nursing since she was young and is excited about the opportunity. “Since the age of 11, I have been determined to pursue a career in nursing to make a difference in the lives of others,” she said.
God opposes the proud
Father Adolphe Tanqueray defined the sin of pride as “an inordinate love of self, which causes us to consider ourselves, explicitly or implicitly, as our first beginning and last end.”
He explained: “At times we forget that God is the source of these gifts, and we attribute them to ourselves. This constitutes a disorder, for it denies, at least implicitly, that God is our first principle. In like manner we are tempted to act for self, or to gain the esteem of others, instead of acting for God, and of referring to him all the honour. This is again a disorder, for it denies, at least in the same implicit manner, that God is our last end. Such is the twofold disorder found in this vice.”
He said many people “recognize in theory that God is their first principle, but in practice they esteem themselves beyond measure, as if they were the source of the qualities they possess.”
In like manner, many people behave in practice as if they consider themselves as their own last end: “They want to be praised, to be complimented upon their good works, as if they were themselves the principal authors, and as if they were responsible only to themselves… They are prompted by egotism, they act for their own ends, caring little for the glory of God, and still less for the welfare of their neighbour… There are devout persons who, without going so far seek self in piety: they complain of God when he does not flood them with consolations; they pine with grief when in the midst of dryness, and thus form the false idea that the aim of piety is the enjoyment of consolations, forgetting that the glory of God must be the supreme end of all our actions, above all, of prayer and spiritual exercises.”
A prideful person exaggerates his own qualities, examines the defects of others with a magnifying glass, and turns a blind eye to his own defects. Jesus said, “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?” (Mt 7:3)
According to Father Tanqueray, pride gives birth to presumption, ambition, and vainglory. “Presumption consists in an inordinate desire and hope whereby we want to do things which are beyond our strength,” he wrote; “ambition is the inordinate love of honours, of dignities, of authority over others,” and “vanity is an inordinate love for the esteem of others.”
The inordinate desire to receive praise from others can destroy the value of our good works. Jesus warns us: “beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
Thousands continue century-old tradition at Marian pilgrimage
Archbishop J. Michael Miller looked out on the thousands of men, women, and children who in a few minutes would be winding their way up the hill to Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto in Mission in 30 degree heat. He offered them the example of Mary, who made “the first Eucharistic procession in history” journeying to the hill country of Judah to visit Elizabeth.
The Gospel reading for the Mass he was celebrating recounted the Visitation and presented Mary as “a woman on the move,” the Archbishop said. “She set out and went with haste” to help her cousin and “carried with her the living Son of God made flesh in her womb.”
The crowd preparing for the Aug. 17 procession were “following a venerable tradition,” he said. “For over a century, these grounds have known not only a joyful outpouring of prayer to Mary but also great suffering because of the residential school once located here.”
The Archbishop offered his gratitude to First Nations for their “ongoing commitment to this pilgrimage” from its origins and for their “deep love of the Mother of Jesus. She has never ceased to accompany you in your joys and sorrows down through the years.”
The pilgrimage is an answer to “the Lord’s call to honour the Blessed Virgin Mary as Patroness of our Archdiocese and to set her example before us as the perfect disciple of her Son.”
Quoting both Mother Teresa and astronaut Neil Armstrong, the Archbishop appealed for the faithful to respond with Mary’s “haste” to the urgent needs of others.
Mother Teresa once acknowledged that the good done by she and her Missionaries of Charity “is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. But if the drop were not there, the ocean would be missing something.”
The Archbishop connected her words with Armstrong’s famous quote from the moon, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
“By landing on the moon, humanity had crossed a historic threshold,” he said. “With Mary’s Assumption into heaven, however, we celebrate an infinitely greater conquest. Our Lady has crossed the threshold of heaven. She was assumed there not only in spirit but with her body as well, with her whole self. This step of the lowly handmaid of the Lord was a huge leap forward for humanity.”
Humility is to the virtues as the chain is to a rosary
Pride is one of the capital sins. Pope Francis defined it this way: “pride is self-exaltation, conceit, vanity… The proud man is one who thinks he is much more than he really is; one who frets about being recognized as greater than others, always wants to see his own merits recognized, and despises others, deeming them inferior to himself… In fact, within this evil lies the radical sin, the absurd claim to be like God.”
He added that a person “succumbing” to the vice of pride can have these physical characteristics: “the proud man is haughty, he has a ‘stiff neck,’ that is, he has a stiff neck that does not bend. He is a man easily led to scornful judgment: with no reason, he passes irrevocable judgments on others, who seem to him hopelessly inept and incapable. In his haughtiness, he forgets that Jesus assigned us very few moral precepts in the Gospels, but on one of them he was uncompromising: never judge… Salvation comes through humility, the true remedy for every act of pride.”
In one of his prophetic dreams, St. John Bosco saw the devil represented by a fierce bull attacking and killing as many people as he could—but he could not reach those who lied down humbly before God.
Father Alban Butler wrote about St. Anthony of Egypt: “once the saint saw in a vision the whole earth covered so thick with snares, that it seemed scarce possible to set down a foot without falling into them. At this sight he cried out, trembling: ‘Who, O Lord, can escape them all?’ A voice answered him: ‘Humility, O Antony!’”
Pride is the sin of the devil. St. John Climacus stated: “humility is the only virtue no devil can imitate.”
St. Melania the Younger said it this way: “for the devil can copy all our good deeds that we seem to do, yet, in truth, he is conquered by love and by humility. I mean something of this sort: we fast, but he eats nothing at all; we keep vigil, but he never sleeps. Let us thus hate arrogance since it was through this fault that he fell from the heavens and by it he wishes to carry us down with him. Let us also flee the vainglory of this age that fades like a plant’s flower.”
St. Vincent de Paul called humility “the most powerful weapon to conquer the devil.” Why? “He does not know at all how to employ it, neither does he know how to defend himself from it.”
Humility is the foundation of all other virtues and many saints have offered creative metaphors to describe it.
Catholic schools are living out a love story to the needy
This is a love story … a story of the love of Christ by our Catholic students, teachers, and principals, and the mission to live out that love by helping the disadvantaged and homeless in Vancouver.
All 40 of our Catholic elementary schools have lovingly agreed to help the Catholic Men’s Shelter and the Door is Open by providing them with gloves, socks, toques, coats, etc., as well as personal items such as toothpaste, toothbrushes, deodorant, small-size bath soap, shavers, shaving cream, lotion, earplugs, Q-Tips, shampoo, and other related items. This will serve the 35,000 homeless men who stay at the Catholic Men’s Shelter every year and the thousands of men and women who are fed by the Door is Open.
The initiative started simply enough when I met with Solomon Atta, the acting director of the Catholic Men’s Shelter. Solomon told me about the shelter’s needs, and I knew just who to approach.
For many years, through the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s prison ministry and the Office of Service and Justice, I’ve worked with our Catholic schools on cooperative projects, such as students sending hand-written Christmas and Easter cards to the incarcerated and to the disadvantaged on the streets. I’ve visited the schools to talk about the corporal works of mercy. We’ve worked on lesson plans for street ministry, prison ministry, anti-human trafficking, and environmental care. The schools have welcomed guest speakers from prison ministry who are doing joint ventures with correctional institutions and by making wrist rosaries.
So when Atta asked for help, I reached out to the schools, who have been very faith-filled and generous with their time and resources. I called on six schools in February (Immaculate Conception, St. Mary’s, and Our Lady of Sorrows in Vancouver, St. Francis de Sales and Our Lady of Mercy in Burnaby, and Queen of all Saints in Coquitlam) and asked if they could help.
Every single one said “yes.” Even though the schools are busy and many requests are made of them, their reverence for life and the love for all of God’s children shone through.
The B.C. Catholic profiled one of the pilot projects in the Aug. 5 issue.
Atta has also been working with some very generous and supportive parishes and their attached schools, including Holy Trinity, St. Anthony’s, St. Pius X, Christ the Redeemer, St. Anthony of Padua, and Our Lady of Fatima.
The parents, students and teachers opened their hearts to this pilot test, and the results were incredible.