On the Threshold

(First published in The Catholic Register, Toronto, Ont., http://www.catholicregister.org) By Glen Argan The Alberta government and pipeline construction are again in the news. In its March 2 speech from the throne, the NDP government said it would oppose legal cases threatening the recently approved Trans-Mountain Pipeline which will move oil from Alberta to the West Coast. Environmental groups frequently make

By Glen Argan The Catholic Register (Issue of Feb. 26, 2017) (www.catholicregister.org) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s first meeting with the new president of the United States has come and gone. Uneventfully. That the meeting be uneventful was the dream of the majority of Canada’s newspaper columnists, to say nothing of the government itself. Don’t kick the thin-skinned elephant and provoke

By Glen Argan Special to the Prairie Messenger EDMONTON — Catholic educators must stir their students with a grand vision of goodness and beauty that can transform society, Rev. Stefano Penna told Catholic education leaders from across Alberta. “The teacher who gives beauty doesn’t teach what the kid wants to hear; they teach what the kid needs to hear,” Penna

By Glen Argan Special to the Prairie Messenger EDMONTON — By embracing the theory of evolution, Pope John Paul II became “one of the great heroes in science and religion,” says a University of Alberta professor. The late pope was one of the most important people in “breaking through the warfare model of science and religion always being in conflict,”

By Glen Argan Special to the Prairie Messenger 02/01/2017 EDMONTON — Economists and proponents of Catholic social teaching need to overcome “a forgetfulness about the truth of the centrality of the person in the economic drama,” said a visiting scholar from Ireland. Rev. John McNerney spoke at Newman Theological College Jan. 25 about what he called “the ultimate spiritual nature

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,

By 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

By 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

By 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,

  For one to love — to follow God’s unconditional commandment — one needs the help of the Holy Spirit, writes Glen Argan. Photo courtesy of Man vyi, Wikimedia Commons By  Glen Argan The Catholic Register It’s that time of year again. For Christians, the time from Christmas day until the Baptism of the Lord is the true Christmas season.