Rev. John F. Harvey, OSFS: 1918 - 2010

Thank you, Father Harvey, for your kindness, compassion, and friendship.  I was so blessed to know you, and now we're all blessed to have a friend like you in heaven.

UPDATE: A Memorial Mass for Fr. Harvey will be held in NYC on Saturday, February 19.

Alex Jones' Testimony

Alex Jones, a former Pentecostal minister, enters the Catholic Church.  This is Part 1 of his testimony.  The rest of the talk can be found on YouTube.

Blues Guitar Chords

This guy is great: Marty Schwartz from http://www.guitarjamz.com/.  He teaches clearly and he's mostly easy to follow.  I've started following his video lessons on YouTube .

A Voice from Afar

Today, the Holy Father gave the title of "Blessed" to Cardinal John Henry Newman.  Here's a poem by Blessed Cardinal Newman entitled "A Voice from Afar", reminding us of the joy and rest he has in God's presence:

Weep not for me;—
Be blithe as wont, nor tinge with gloom
The stream of love that circles home,
Light hearts and free!
Joy in the gifts Heaven’s bounty lends;
Nor miss my face, dear friends!

I still am near;—
Watching the smiles I prized on earth,
Your converse mild, your blameless mirth;
Now too I hear
Of whisper’d sounds the tale complete,
Low prayers, and musings sweet.

A sea before
The Throne is spread;—its pure still glass
Pictures all earth-scenes as they pass.
We, on its shore,
Share, in the bosom of our rest,
God's knowledge, and are blest.

Conservatives of Colour

I love these guys and gals for speaking up!

Raheel Raza - Another Brave Woman!

Raheel Raza rocks! And she's a fellow Canadian! :)

Yom Kippur

On this Day of Atonement, may our names be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life.

God is Love

This morning, I re-read sections 3 - 11 of Pope Benedict's first encyclical, Deus Caritas Est - God is Love. I'm currently reading St. Teresa of Avila's autobigraphy and I find that St. Teresa's description of the relationship between her soul and God is written in the language of eros - at least that's what it sounds like to me. Recently, someone reminded me that Pope Benedict wrote about eros in his first encyclical. I re-read the relevant sections of the encyclical this morning - beautiful stuff in there. Here are just a few short excerpts:

"True, eros tends to rise 'in ecstasy' towards the Divine, to lead us beyond ourselves; yet for this very reason it calls for a path of ascent, renunciation, purification and healing."


"The one God in whom Israel believes...loves with a personal love. His love, moreover, is an elective love: among all the nations he chooses Israel and loves her—but he does so precisely with a view to healing the whole human race. God loves, and his love may certainly be called eros, yet it is also totally agape."


"God is the absolute and ultimate source of all being; but this universal principle of creation—the Logos, primordial reason—is at the same time a lover with all the passion of a true love. Eros is thus supremely ennobled, yet at the same time it is so purified as to become one with agape."

I'm grateful for these reminders that God is not opposed to eros; rather, it is His gift to us, a means of drawing closer to Him through purification, and growth in maturity.

Never Forget...

Go Granny, Go!

Yesterday morning, we got my Nana a wheelchair - specifically a transport chair. My Nana can still walk and she prefers to walk, but because she moves very slowly and gets tired quickly, we thought a transport chair would be helpful (my Nana is almost 98!). It used to be slow and difficult walking Nana down the long hallway to the elevator and then walking her to the car in the underground garage -now, getting Nana to the car is a breeze! Yesterday, I wheeled her over to the park near our building. There she sat for a while on the bench, and then she walked around for a bit. Afterwards, I wheeled her home. She says she's comfortable in the chair, and it's quite easy for me to move her in it. I really enjoyed the convenience of it and I think even she preferred getting around with some ease for a change.

I'm glad Nana still wants to try to walk whenever possible, but I'm also glad that some of her movement has been made easier!