By Glen Argan, Catholic Register Special EDMONTON – In light of U.S. President Donald Trump’s go-ahead for the Keystone XL pipeline, Canadian environmentalists are urging Ottawa to take another look at the controversial project it approved seven years ago. The 2010 National Energy Board approval of Keystone XL was done without any consideration for Canada’s climate commitments, says the Toronto-based group,
Read moreBy Glen Argan A grim irony exists in U.S. President Donald Trump’s cancellation of federal funding for pro-abortion organizations the same week that a Canadian study was published showing the low cost of euthanasia versus that entailed in the aggressive treatment of terminal diseases. Trump, we have good reason to believe, is a megalomaniac who represents a threat to all
Read moreBy Glen Argan Those who compiled the Lectionary showed a stroke of genius – or divine inspiration – when they linked Matthew’s Gospel on the salt of the earth and light of the world with Isaiah’s poem on fasting. In doing so, they made a statement about how humble humans give glory to God. In his Sermon on the Mount,
Read moreBy Glen Argan Special to the Prairie Messenger EDMONTON – The parable of the Good Samaritan should be seen as a call not to help everybody, but to help anybody, “anybody that God throws in your path,” says political theologian William Cavanaugh. Key to understanding the parable is the realization that the Samaritan rescues the wounded Jew, not because of
Read moreBy Glen Argan Special to the Prairie Messenger EDMONTON — After six weeks at sea on “a rusty old cargo ship,” Maran Nagarasa and 75 other refugees from Sri Lanka saw Canadian planes circling above them. It was Oct. 16, 2009, “an unforgettable day in our lives.” The men, who had set sail from Thailand on the boat without knowing
Read moreBy Glen Argan On Tuesday, Jan. 24, the Church marks the feast of St. Francis de Sales, the patron of journalists and the Catholic press. St. Francis was a bishop of Geneva who died in 1622, facts that would seem to remove him far from the hustle and bustle of modern journalism. In fact, Francis was a pioneer Catholic communicator,
Read moreGospel for Sunday, Jan. 29, 2017 Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time By Glen Argan One anchor of the Catholic Mass is the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed, recited on Sundays and solemnities. In it, we profess our core Christian beliefs about the life of Jesus and the nature of God. The development of the Creed at the church councils of Nicaea and Constantinople
Read moreBy Glen Argan As I reflected upon Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s paraphrase of Solomon’s prayer for wisdom in Wisdom 9.1-11 at Donald Trump’s inauguration, I realized more and more how important those words are. Within two days of being sworn in, the new president of the United States was declaring war on the media because of the riveting issue of the
Read moreSunday, January 2, 2017 Third Sunday in Ordinary Time By Glen Argan Jesus’ call to Simon and Andrew who were fishing in the Sea of Galilee to “Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of people,” is one of the Gospels’ most evocative scenes. “Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” So too did the sons of
Read moreSunday, January 15, 2017 Second Sunday in Ordinary Time By Glen Argan This week, following Monday’s celebration of the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, we enter what the Church calls “Ordinary Time.” That makes Sunday’s Gospel somewhat paradoxical for it too is an account of Jesus’ baptism in the Jordan. Twice in one week do we hear accounts
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On the Threshold 