Take This Cup   No bloodied hands can lift this cup. No thirty pieces of conscience can weigh it down. No crowing cocks can hide its cracks. Nor anyone turn starlight off since...

It has been windy here on the coast for the last few days. There is normally a noticeable breeze almost every day, usually at dusk or at the changing of the tides. But, these past few days...

She sounds when the wind crackles her sparks and her grey smoke mingles with the low clouds heavy laden with saving rain for the mountain forests.   She sounds between the cracks in...

I am always amazed how hope is so effervescent and abundant during spring. The lengthening of days, the budding of blossoms, the chirping of birds, the scurrying of all God’s creatures...

With the sun cascading over the city I found myself cutting the lawn for the first time this year. The grass had finally attained the height that required mowing and so I cleaned up the...

We have begun the slow amble of spring here on the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Unlike other parts of Canada spring usually arrives at the speed of a turtle, slow and steady. The...

Here in Vancouver spring normally arrives ever so gently and slowly builds toward a moderate summer. This is quite unlike other parts of Canada where spring often arrives swiftly and...

Yesterday as I took my daily walk I stopped at a nearby ravine and watched as spring runoff water ran through the creek that lay at the bottom. I knew that the creek would eventually empty...

We are having a very unusual two-day long snowfall here in the city of Vancouver. Snow has covered the rooftops, the streets, and the side walks. It has thrown this rain forest city into a...

A few weeks ago I attended Question Period in the House of Commons. I knew I would be in Ottawa and I made prior arrangements with my Member of Parliament to have two tickets for the...

Last week was full of political engagement. Not the public, in your face activism of my former years, but the quieter activism of my later years. On Tuesday, I met with my Member of...

The cold rains continue here on the west coast, although now that we have passed the Winter Solstice there are hints of more frequent sunny interludes and longer days. We have had a...

Christmas has always been a time for me to reflect upon hope. For me hope is a light that bends and stretches between past and future, yet is found in the present. It is the main...

Dawn and dusk are drawing closer together each day as we gradually approach the winter equinox. The waning of the daylight hours, coupled with the return of our seasonal overcast skies,...

Sometimes I need a little distraction from life and I find that watching a movie can provide a brief sliver of time to escape. Often I will go to a theatre on a Tuesday night to see a...

There is, at this time of year, a way in which the sun stipples the bottom of the rainclouds that roll in over the Pacific Ocean. The result is a mixture of wet foreboding and patches of...

I was out walking during a beautiful, sunny late autumn day in Vancouver. This time of year I want to soak in as much sun as I can before the rainy season begins. After about forty minutes...

Years ago I met Professor Jack Miller of the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at U of T in Toronto. Jack was a man I had heard a lot about and who over the years I have come to...

I am awake. It is 2:00 a.m. A distant neighbour’s dog is barking and with the windows open the noise has slipped into our house and stolen away my sleep. I wonder how long this dog will...

Its summer and one of the best things of summer is leaving the windows open all day and all night. One usually doesn’t do this during winter. Having open windows lets fresh air into the...

Today, as I have for the past few years, I made the first batch of plum jam from some of the fruit on our backyard plum tree. Usually the tree is overflowing with fruit and I have to...

We are having some outside painting done on our home. One day last week I struck up a conversation with two of the painters. Both were recent immigrants from South America, one having...

It is summer, the season in which to engage the out of doors. It is the season to enjoy all the pleasures of our created world. It is the season to build, to renovate, to garden. I have...

Last Wednesday I travelled by bus and ferry from Vancouver to Victoria in order to visit a niece who was attending a conference at the University of Victoria. Crossing the Georgia Straight...

This past Wednesday evening I attended a public talk at the Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue in downtown Vancouver. The guest speaker was Dave Meslin, a Torontonian who is well...

This past Friday I was fortunate to be able to gather with a fine group of hospital chaplains at the Vancouver School of Theology for a retreat day. The weather was wonderful and the...

Here on the beautiful west coast of Canada we are fast approaching the day of the British Columbia provincial election during which citizens of this province will choose the political...

I was in Ontario the last few weeks where I assisted with the annual Catholic School Chaplains of Ontario Annual Conference and afterwards visited with family and friends. It was good to...

When I am on the Skytrain at night and heading east from the downtown core of Vancouver I always make a point of looking out the window just before the Commercial Broadway Station, which...

All around us here on the West Coast we are witnessing the arrival of spring. It comes sooner here than in the East where snow still threatens and lingers. Flowers are beginning to bloom;...

Last week I was able to animate a conversation on engaged spirituality at one of Vancouver’s community centre. It was, as one participant recognized, a rare event for we so seldom find the...

I have been following through the media the events around the election of Pope Francis. Like many, I am moved by his humility and his appeal to the Church to not only serve the poor, but...

The days are growing longer here. Even without advancing our clocks by an hour we would have noticed this change in the seasons. Spring is, indeed, just around the corner. We in Vancouver...

All week, as I made my way around the city, I was aware of the cacophony of sound that surrounded me. Whether it was the sound of traffic while I walked, the wailing of sirens as emergency...

I must admit that when I heard the news of Pope Benedict’s decision to resign the Chair of Peter I was quite surprised. I was not shocked because he had in the past speculated on the...

I was at the corner of Georgia and Granville in downtown Vancouver this week witnessing a protest and leafleting gathering while crowds of serious shoppers swarmed by. About 30 people of...

I am constantly amazed at what I learn when I listen to others. When I hear another’s story I often find myself drawn into a wider word view, one that sometimes mirrors my own, but...

We all need a place where we belong. Belonging gives us a place to stand, roots our identity, and perhaps even offers us support and consolation in times of need. Very often a place of...

We all know the great commandment, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself’. It establishes the ground for right action on love and on knowledge of one’s self. All effective actions for social...

I have learned over the years that every one of us has a unique story. Every story is connected to another story. We know ourselves through being rooted in our families, our culture, our...

So much happens in our world. Sometimes I find myself feeling more like an observer than a participant. For example, this week in Canada we have been witnessing a countrywide uprising of...

In the Christian calendar today is the Feast of the Epiphany when the Three Kings visited the newborn Jesus in Bethlehem. Leaders in their earthly realms they were wise enough to offer...