Category: BC Catholic

Sarah-Anne was living on Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside when she met Mildred Moy. Surviving off sex work, she found herself pregnant and saw no way forward when Moy’s team offered her a help card during their outreach.

Sarah-Anne gave them a call.

That was 20 years ago. Today, Sarah-Anne’s life looks completely different. Her son, whom she had been pregnant with on the street, has graduated from high school and has two younger siblings. She founded a nonprofit to help Indigenous fathers find healing and community, seeking to extend the support that is traditionally offered to mothers.

“Sometimes we think we’ve done so little,” said Moy. “So many people, and you only help one. But [Sarah-Anne]’s baby was born, and two more kids. And then she started a nonprofit to help others. You can have one [person], and then that one can help a lot.”

Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside is known as the “poorest postal code in Canada.” High rates of severe poverty, homelessness, substance dependency, sex work, and mental and physical health concerns contribute to the vulnerability of its residents.

Programs abound that provide for the material needs of those in precarious housing situations, including free meals and clothing programs, shelters and recovery homes, and advocacy organizations.

While services that meet the material needs of the poor are a necessary baseline, said Moy, that doesn’t mean their spiritual and emotional needs get neglected.

Moy founded Catholic Street Missionaries (CSM) to fill that gap.

The core mission of CSM is to put young adults on the streets of downtown Vancouver to accompany the homeless emotionally and spiritually.

Moy was inspired by the work of an American ministry, Christ in the City, centred on building relationships with people living on the street. “We are all children of God,” said Moy. “We share the same dignity, and we try to restore a sense of dignity. Some of them have lost it because of how they’re being viewed by the world and ignored by the world.”

In previous years, CSM has hosted Street Missionary Weekends, and in 2024 it hosted a successful two-and-a-half-week program called Hope on the Horizon.

The program trains participants to engage compassionately in genuine conversations with those living on the street. In addition to the practical skills of communication, throughout the week the missionaries also hear from speakers who share their knowledge and testimonies about evangelization, faith, and missionary work.

In 2025, CSM attempted to extend the program to six weeks but encountered some challenges.

“I underestimated the power of the Jubilee Year,” said Moy with a smile. “So many young adults went to Rome, which conflicted with the six weeks.”

Watching the men’s final of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships recently brought a smile to my face not only because the talent on display was incredible, but also because of the Catholic connection between the two combatants. 

The eventual champion, Carlos Alcaraz, a devout Catholic, had received a special blessing from a priest at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York just before the tournament began. In 2023, he also visited Guadalupe, where he brought a rose to Our Lady. Alcaraz, the current world No. 1, speaks proudly on social media about his Catholic faith.

The world No. 2, Italian finalist Jannik Sinner, also professes his Catholic upbringing. He recently met with Pope Leo XIV, who loves tennis, and presented him with a racquet. Truly, it is rare to see two practising Catholics at the very top of the sport. Alcaraz and Sinner have been excellent examples for young tennis players, showing the path to success with both their skill and their sportsmanlike behaviour.

And while they inspire on the courts, two other young Catholics — St. Carlo Acutis and St. Pier Giorgio Frassati — have become inspirations for young (and old) Catholics to live holy, pure lives. Both were canonized by Pope Leo XIV on Sept. 7, 2025, with memorials set for Oct. 12 (St. Carlo) and July 4 (St. Pier Giorgio).

St. Carlo and St. Pier Giorgio both enjoyed soccer, skiing, and swimming. Pier Giorgio especially immersed himself in mountain climbing and hiking. Both used their sports experiences to evangelize and share the Gospel. They were known for their apostolate, though they evangelized in different forms.

St. Carlo was especially well known for his love of “gaming” on Nintendo, PlayStation, and Xbox. Through these and other social media platforms, he brought many to the faith and to love of the Eucharist. St. Pier Giorgio used the written word as a tool for evangelization, and he was also a gifted orator. Both knew how to use the gifts God had given them in their short lives to reach souls.

We too are called to be saints and to help our family, friends, and co-workers know Jesus Christ through our actions, and at times, through our words. These two left a legacy for future generations, seen in organizations founded in their names. One such group is Frassati Sports and Adventure, which began at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Denver, Colo., in 2016. Its mission: “To form strong male disciples of Jesus Christ. Through sports and adventure, we seek to foster authentic masculine spirituality, servant leadership, vocation discernment, and joyful Catholic witness. To Jesus through sports.”

A few decades ago it was time to purchase a dining-room set for the Vogel household — a big purchase, not easily returnable. Would it fit? Would it look right for the house? How could I minimize the chance of a bad purchase?

This was in pre-cellphone times and, for most, pre-computer times — and of course pre-AI times. My solution was to take several photographs of the store’s setup for a table and chairs I thought might work. A photographic print wasn’t going to be much use. I was, however, experienced with shooting slides, and I owned a slide projector.

This was going to be an early attempt at virtual reality, if not artificial intelligence — in slow motion, of course, because that roll of slide film in the camera would have to be sent off for development and mounting into small cardboard sleeves, ready for use in a projector.

A few weeks later the slides were back, and those featuring the dining-room set were ready to be projected into the area where the furniture might be placed. Awkwardly holding and aiming the projector in various directions, and adjusting the zoom according to the sizes of the pieces, I eventually determined the set would be a good fit.

Fast forward all those decades, and we now look back and chuckle. We can do all this — and a lot more — with the latest artificial-intelligence applications being bandied about.

Not that there is much in the way of “artificial intelligence” to these services. In essence, they are dependent on stolen or purloined content and used in what service providers call “training.”

Much of this concern, however, doesn’t trouble the general public. These services have a magical feel; for many, they feel like artificial general intelligence has arrived. Current AI services embody the third of science-fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke’s famous laws: “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.”

For almost three years I’ve made it a mission to demonstrate AI services to nearly everyone I meet, starting, of course, with the now-famous ChatGPT, quietly unveiled in late November 2022. I’ve written columns on that service, from publishing a novel written over a weekend to introducing its art component, DALL·E, to Metro Vancouver artist and religious iconographer John Souter.

In recent weeks a cavalcade of new tools has been released into the AI-sphere, mostly for graphical and writing tasks. Just when it looked like ChatGPT had the market locked up, Google/Alphabet stepped back into the fray with souped-up versions of its Gemini engine (gemini.google.com). In particular, there was a stampede to try out the new graphical tools built into Gemini.

Taking a position on Israel, Palestinian statehood, and the two-state solution is largely a no-win scenario. Few people are undecided. Fewer still are willing to consider opposing views. Yet that’s what’s needed on the issue, and it’s highlighted by Canada’s recent decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.

Those who oppose the current Mark Carney Liberal government will be tempted to reflexively condemn the announcement. Carney supporters will cheer it on, especially as Palestinian rights in Gaza and political opposition to Israel become the cri de cœur of many progressive voices.

Both the Conservatives and U.S. President Donald Trump see a two-state solution with Palestinian statehood as rewarding acts of terrorism by Hamas, but the history is more complex than much of the commentary suggests. For decades, Canadian governments have supported a negotiated two-state solution but stopped short of recognition. The new policy ties recognition to Palestinian political reform and the exclusion of Hamas.

It may not be well known, but Canada’s new position closely aligns with that of the Holy See, so it’s worth looking at what the Vatican has had to say on the issue, in the past and now.

After a recent meeting between Pope Leo XIV and Israeli President Isaac Herzog, the Holy See stated that the two-state solution is “the only way out of the ongoing war.”

Asked this week about recognition of Palestine as a state, Pope Leo reminded journalists, “The Holy See recognized the two-state solution some time ago. That is clear: we must seek a path that respects all peoples.”

It was exactly 10 years ago that the Vatican formally recognized the State of Palestine. Palestine’s new Foreign Minister Varsen Aghabekian recently told Vatican News that the 2015 agreement offers a vision of hope for the Holy Land and allows for the continued presence of Christians in their homeland.

The 2015 agreement did more than recognize the State of Palestine. It enshrined rights of freedom of religion and conscience, guaranteed access to Christian holy sites, and affirmed the Catholic Church’s ability to carry out social, charitable, and educational work.

The agreement envisions a solution “in which two states, Israel and Palestine, coexist peacefully side by side with equal dignity,” writes Vatican News’ Roberto Cetera.

The 2015 agreement was signed under Pope Francis, but it had its origin under Pope John Paul II. In 2000, John Paul II and the Palestine Liberation Organization reached an agreement recognizing religious freedom and the equal dignity of the three monotheistic religions present in Jerusalem.

In 2014, a meeting at the Vatican brought together Pope Francis, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, and Israeli President Shimon Peres, who planted an olive tree as a symbol of peace.

27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year C
First Reading: Hab 1:2–3, 2:2–4
Second Reading: 2 Tm 1:6–8, 13–14
Gospel Reading: Lk 17:5–10

All three readings this Sunday stress trustful waiting.

“Before his Ascension Christ affirmed that the hour had not yet come for the glorious establishment of the messianic kingdom awaited by Israel which, according to the prophets, was to bring all men the definitive order of justice, love, and peace,” says the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The present time, as we know, is marked by “distress” and the trial of evil, which encompasses even the Church and ushers in “the struggles of the last days.” It is a time of “waiting and watching.”

Since the Ascension, Christ’s coming in glory has been “imminent,” even though we do not know the time “that God the Father has fixed by his own authority.” In fact, it “is suspended at every moment of history until his recognition by all Israel, for a hardening has come upon part of Israel in their unbelief” toward Jesus.

After Pentecost, St. Peter told the Jews in Jerusalem to “repent” until the time came “for establishing all that God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets from of old.”

“The full inclusion of the Jews in the Messiah’s salvation, in the wake of the full number of the Gentiles, will enable the People of God to achieve the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, in which God may be all in all,” says the Catechism.

It is more accurate to say God is waiting for us than to say we are waiting for God, the Catechism implies. God has done his part through Christ. Accordingly, Christ could say to his disciples, the night before he died, “Take courage! I have overcome the world.”

Therefore, while “we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ,” we must “rekindle” our faith, maintaining “the standard of sound teaching” without being “ashamed.”

St. Paul defines faith as “confident assurance concerning what we hope for, and conviction about things we do not see.” However, it is not God’s plan to hide spiritual realities from us. Our inability to see them except “indistinctly, as in a mirror,” is a handicap we inherit from Adam and Eve.

“Original sin deprived not only our first parents of God’s special friendship, but all their descendants as well,” said Pope St. John Paul II. “The whole human race has inherited both physical death of the body, and sin, which is the spiritual death of the soul. The sin of Adam is transmitted to each human person by generation.”

On June 11, 1899, Pope Leo XIII consecrated the human race to the Sacred Heart of Jesus thanks to the efforts of Blessed Maria Droste zu Vischering (1863–1899).

Blessed Maria began her novitiate with the Congregation of the Good Shepherd in 1899 and received the name Sister Maria of the Divine Heart. She said, “When you are appealing to His Divine Heart for a soul, He will never refuse you, although sometimes He demands much prayer, sacrifice, and suffering.”

In 1894, with a spirit of sacrifice and obedience, Sister Maria left her beloved Germany for a new assignment in Portugal. She wrote, “Lord, I have left all, yes all, that I might love You until the last moment of my life, and that with all my energy I might spread devotion to Your Sacred Heart.”

Our Lord gave Sister Maria private revelations regarding the consecration of the world to His Sacred Heart. Jesus said that the exterior devotion to the Sacred Heart had spread far and wide through St. Margaret Mary Alacoque, and now He wanted to see the interior devotion more firmly established. Jesus wished souls to get into the habit of uniting themselves more and more interiorly with Him and of offering Him their hearts as His abode.

Jesus also made known to Sister Maria His desire for the consecration of the world to His Sacred Heart. She petitioned Pope Leo XIII in June 1898, but the Pope did not respond to her request. In January 1899, she petitioned the Pope again and referred to his recent illness. She told the Holy Father that Jesus had prolonged his days on earth in order to grant him the grace to consecrate the world to the Sacred Heart.

The Pope was touched by her letter and eventually consecrated the whole human race to the Sacred Heart on June 11, 1899. The mission of Sister Maria had thus been accomplished, and she died on June 8, a few days before the consecration.

Before the consecration, Leo XIII issued an encyclical letter on the Sacred Heart on May 25, 1899. In the letter he wrote, “God, the author of every good, not long ago preserved Our life by curing Us of a dangerous disease. We now wish, by this increase of the honour paid to the Sacred Heart, that the memory of this great mercy should be brought prominently forward, and Our gratitude be publicly acknowledged.”

Pope Leo XIII pointed out that Christ reigns over the whole human race by both natural right and acquired right.

Regarding Christ’s natural right, Leo XIII wrote, “On what foundation this sovereign power rests is made sufficiently plain by the words, ‘Thou art My Son.’

The Life Compass Walk, Bike or Run for Life drew a strong turnout, raising about $8,000 in support of pro-life initiatives. 

The event began with the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s monthly Pro-Life Mass at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish, celebrated by pro-life chaplain Father Larry Lynn. In his homily, Father Lynn emphasized the call to protect and advance the dignity of every human life. Participants then made the short trip to the start line for the walk, bike, and run event.

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Two women from the Archdiocese of Vancouver have begun their novitiate with the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Aug. 15, the Solemnity of the Assumption, Joyce Baniqued, a parishioner from St. Matthew’s in Surrey, took the religious name Sister Augustine, and Teaya Cabael, a parishioner of St. Patrick’s Parish in Vancouver, took the name Sister Matthea.

Isabel Ryzner from St. Mary’s in Vancouver joined the Dominicans as a postulant, the first formal step in a woman’s discernment of religious life. 

The Nashville Dominicans serve in the Archdiocese of Vancouver, teaching in local Catholic schools and serving at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre.

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This year, Sept. 14 – the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross – fell on a Sunday. Therefore, on the day of the week dedicated to recalling the Lord’s Resurrection, we likewise exalted the instrument of torture which preceded it on Good Friday.

As Bishop Barron and Chris Stefanick have reminded their listeners on multiple occasions, to the people of Jesus’ time, a cross was not seen as anything to be “exalted.” By contrast, it was an instrument of extreme torture and humiliation: an object to be feared and rejected.

Yet, today we hang crosses in our churches, classrooms, and homes. We even wear them around our necks. We carve them out of wood, plate them in gold and silver, and use them to inspire our prayer lives. These concepts would not only have been foreign, but appalling to those of Jesus’ time.

Even if the physical crosses of today are esthetically pleasing, the true beauty of the Holy Cross is its story. God Incarnate carried and shed blood on the Holy Cross. He accepted punishment for our sins – not his own – so that we could be freed from the chains of death. For Christians, any cross—from the prayerful Sign of the Cross to a tangible symbol—symbolizes the beauty of redemption and hope. Our sin died on Jesus’ Cross, and his death ultimately resulted in Resurrection and the promise of eternal life.

Last spring, when Holy Cross Regional Secondary was having its new school wing blessed, Faye McCreedy of the Archdiocesan Office brought a first-class relic of the True Cross to the ceremony. Later that afternoon, knowing that our elementary school was in the midst of a dress rehearsal for our annual drama production, Faye asked if she could bring the relic to the rehearsal for the kids to see it. We jumped on the opportunity, and what ensued was one of the most moving moments of my life.

We set up an impromptu prayer table in front of the stage, and Faye explained the significance of this relic. With lighting dimmed and sacred music quietly playing over the sound system, students, volunteers, and staff quietly came forward to venerate a tiny piece of the Holy Cross of our Saviour.

In mere moments, our school gym—previously filled with the noisy anticipation of a school play, complete with costumes, music, dancing, and lighting effects—transformed into a room of devotion and reverence. The excited children became silent as they respectfully processed forward, one by one.

Our show in the following days was, in the opinions of many, the “best ever” and I do think that this is because our cast and crew shared something more powerful and far more important than simply a school play.

In the spirit of the Jubilee Year of Hope, 25 young adults from across the Archdiocese of Vancouver’s West Deanery walked over 14 kilometres to visit five parishes, joining a larger trend of urban pilgrimages. 

The pilgrimage route took the group from Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church on Crown Street to  St. Augustine’s, Holy Name of Jesus, and Sts. Peter and Paul Parish, ending with Mass at St. Anthony of Padua and a picnic at a nearby park.

The urban pilgrimage was organized by the Vancouver West Deanery Young Adults group, and although none of the stops were official Jubilee Year of Hope Pilgrimage sites, organizers said the pilgrimage was undertaken in the “spirit of the Jubilee.”

“Thank you to all who joined us for our Urban Pilgrimage!” said a post on the yavcatholic Instagram page. “It was so lovely to meet new faces, share stories and journey together through some of the parishes of the Vancouver west deanery. Thank you for being pilgrims of hope in this jubilee year.”

In March, the Vancouver vocations office organized a Jubilee urban pilgrimage to Holy Rosary Cathedral. Another is planned tentatively for Oct. 5, the Sunday preceding the Feast of the Holy Rosary two days later.

Similar “urban pilgrimages” have been appearing elsewhere. In Montreal, youth mapped out a Jubilee route through 10 downtown churches, while in Rome, Canadian sculptor Timothy Schmalz created an art-based pilgrimage linking sites across the city with his bronze works and QR-code reflections.

Below are photos from the West Deanery event.

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