Gallant Goals: An Old Elementary Reader With Words of Truth

This past week I went to one of the elementary schools with the Toronto Catholic District School Board. I’m one of the volunteer technicians with the local Catholic Internet Radio station, Radio Maria, involved in the Rosary in The Schools apostolate. I was there to make the proper connections so a Grade 8 class could pray the Rosary on air. This live broadcast happens everyday at different schools at 1:00pm. This in itself is important enough, but here it will serve as my introduction. Please allow me to explain.

While there, I picked up a book called Gallant Goals from a pile of old discarded books. From the torn, dusty, worn-out cover, the missing pages and the scribbling on the inside page, you wouldn't even think of picking-up the book, let alone reading it. But the teacher in me could not resist the temptation knowing full well the Shakespearean line, “All that glitters is not gold.” So, I rescued the book and took it home. The title got my attention.

It turned out to be a Grade 6 reader going back probably to the early 1960s. I came to this conclusion because the other works cited were from the 1950s. That page, which may have had the exact date, was missing. One of the pages has a stamp mark with these words: Sacred Heart School, Peterborough. Gallant Goals was the last reader in the series; the other two were: Grade 4, Brave Builders and Grade 5, Daring Deeds.

I don’t know about you, but just the titles of this series suggest to me a lost innocence that children no longer experience. They also seem to offer a clear challenge to children and teachers. Wait, there is more to be found in the pages of Gallant Goals. The book is divided into five untitled Units. Each one begins with two Bible selections. The pages of this discarded word treasure are a silent witness to a religious heritage. There are prayers for the Mass, stories about the saints and many religious poems.

I can just imagine the warmth and joy in the hearts of the boys and girls who heard or read for the first time the touching story of, “Silent Night, Holy Night”, by Carol Bucher. Do you know the story? It’s worth telling again. It was Christmas Eve 1818. The young Fr. Mohr is reading the Nativity story from the Gospel of St. Luke. He's interrupted by a knock at his door. It's an old peasant woman. She has come to tell him that on the same very morning a child was born to a poor neighboring family. They want the priest to bless the child.

Fr. Mohr had little time before the Midnight Mass, but lead by the old woman they soon arrived at the crude mountain hut where the baby was born. The mother was in bed with the baby in her arms and the proud father was standing beside them. Fr. Mohr blessed the baby and the family. A new life had been welcomed to the world. It was all so pure and simple. He hurried back to his parish. All along the way, he thought about the baby and his parents living in that crude shack and it reminded him of the stable and the manger of the first Christmas. What peace and joy! He felt he was experiencing the true meaning of Christmas: a silent night, a holy night. He hurried back to his parish, St. Nicholas, to celebrate the Midnight Mass.

Fr. Mohr could not sleep that night. He wanted to put into words what he felt that Christmas Eve. The next morning he shared what he had written with Franz Gruber who immediately began to set it to music. Since the church organ was out of tune, Fr. Mohr and Franz played guitars and sang that Christmas for the first time, you guessed it, probably what has become the most famous Christmas carol, "Silent Night, Holy Night.” Just imagine what the people must have experienced that Christmas evening at St. Nicholas? The rest, as the saying goes, is history. This is what children of today and tomorrow will not experience if we throw away these kinds of readers.

Gallant Goals is a spiritually rich anthology. In discarding this, dear friends, we are also discarding part of our religious roots. Sadly, too often today this has become the case for both our children and us as parents. Why are we denying future generations the experience of the beauty,wonder and goodness of faith-filled stories? We are throwing away the words that could help build virtue in our children’s characters.Do you think a reader like Gallant Goals would ever be considered for our, so called, modern schools? I don’t think so, and that’s the moral problem of our times. Otherwise these kinds of readers would not end up in garbage bins. And the irony here is that by withdrawing these kinds of texts, our educational system moves further away from the curriculum of truth.

Are our children today being exposed to stories similar to “Silent Night, Holy Night”? I can only imagine the story missing from the reader, but listed in the Contents page titled, “Joseph… a just man” by James Metcalfe...a story that could no doubt help young boys eventually become good fathers. God only knows how many of these tales of virtue have found their way to transfer stations across our city.

In Gallant Goals the author really had those goals in mind because they are found in the text. How fortunate were the children and the instructors who used that book! The entire collection of these readers is called: "The Light and Life Series". Again, doesn’t this clearly suggest what is badly needed in the Canadian school curriculum? In the well known and profound hymn to love found in St. Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (13: 1-13) we are told, “At present we are looking at a confused reflection in the mirror; then we shall see face to face; now, I have only glimpses of knowledge; then I shall recognize God as he has recognized me. Meanwhile, faith, hope and charity persist, all three; but the greatest of them all is charity.” This is what students would have read at the start of the second unit.

Are we as a society not a “confused reflection in the mirror” with only glimpses of knowledge” when we are prepared to throw away the very words that would help us and our children find the way to clarity and to knowledge? I’m glad I rescued this old book because I believe its contents will never go out of style. I hope that one day soon Canadian schools will see that the only way to a solid future is by going back to words and deeds that speak the truth. Yes, to Gallant Goals of faith!

John Paul II’s Beatification: What a Wonderful Gift to the World

The Vatican has announced that the beatification of Pope John Paul II will take place on May 1, 2011. When a miracle has been credited to a Christian they are given the title of “blessed”. The healing of Sister Marie Pierre Normard who suffered from Parkinson’s has been approved by the Church. This is the miracle that will bring John Paul II a step closer to sainthood. Why is this event important to the faithful? Why should the average Christian be interested in the making saints? After all, does this affect my life and family? This blog entry attempts to answer these questions. (The diocese of Rome has set up a special website called Karol-Wojtyla.org for the upcoming event.)

A saint is an ordinary baptized person, but who has lived an exceptionally virtuous and holy life. The Church uses three main terms from the start of an investigation to the formal declaration of a candidate’s life for sainthood: “Venerable”, “Blessed” and the actual canonization. From “Venerable” to the official canonization two miracles are required before the formal process takes place. After his beatification on May 1, John Paul II will need one more miracle as he enters the second last stage to sainthood.

Everyday for Life Canada is essentially here to promote and pray for life and family in Canada. We want to share the Church’s teaching in order to help with our efforts to defend the dignity of life, to protect what God has given to us all as the ultimate gift of HIs divine love. We believe John Paul II championed and practiced these spiritual values during his pontificate. So we feel it's our duty and a privilege to honour and to learn from this giant of the faith.

Saints give us a window into God; they give a perfect example of how to live the Christian life. But ultimately it’s God who "makes" saints; the Church merely recognizes them so that we may follow their heroic testament to virtuous living. The Church is telling us that in the life John Paul II we can find the working of God. We can find how God’s grace turns ordinary men and women into spiritual giants. Just Paul II is such a giant. His whole life was defined and centered on Christ. And the Church is saying by beatifying him: listen and follow this holy man because in his life you will find God speaking personally to you, to our nation and to the world.

Who doesn’t remember the loving face of John Paul II during the very successful world youth days as he travelled the world over to evangelize? Who doesn’t remember the photo of the pope visiting and forgiving the person who tried to assassinate him? Who doesn’t remember the countless number of young people in St. Peter’s Square praying and singing, as the pope got closer to his death? Who doesn’t remember the chanting during the funeral mass of “Santo subito”, make him a saint soon?

John Paul II loved and practiced his faith. He defended life and family. His Theology of the Body is nothing less than a revolutionary way to look at life, sexuality, family and love of God. He recognized the importance of prayer; he loved the Rosary. He was very prolific pope writing many apostolic letters and exhortations, encyclicals, speeches, and books. It’s his example of sanctity that can help us live better Christian lives. This is why the saints matter; this is why we should all be interested in the beatification of John Paul II. In trying to follow his steps, we too can find the true meaning and the very essence of Christian life and family.

The date May 1 is particularly significant because John Paul II canonized St. Faustina Kowalska on that day. He also declared that it would be known in the liturgical year as "Divine Mercy Sunday." Sister Faustina, who strongly promoted the Divine Mercy chaplet, said that all who go to Confession and receive the Eucharist at Mass the Sunday after Easter will be given full remission of their sins. Divine Mercy marks a crucial pillar of John Paul II’s pontificate.

John Paul II reminds us all of the great responsibility we all have to the Creator to use the wonderful gift of life to serve Him. He taught us well about the importance of prayer, especially the Rosary. He loved our blessed Mother. Her magnificat was John Paul II's magnificat: a complete surrender to the will of God by fully embracing human and divine life. John Paul II is a great gift of grace to the world. Let’s pray that in Canada we will renew our efforts to emulate the life of this pope and use his beatification to get to know him a little more so that we too can better serve and honor Christ. Thank you God for the gift of John Paul II.

(To read any of John Paul II's writings visit the Vatican's dedicated page, The Holy Father John Paul II)

Prayers for Greater Respect of Family Life in Canada

Just recently Pope Benedict XVI has asked for prayers so that society respects the dignity and importance of family life. He asked Catholics to pray for society to respect the family and acknowledge its special contribution to society. According to the Pontifical Charter of the Apostleship of Prayer, this is his February intention.

Here's the Holy Father's General Intention:

"That the family may be respected by all its identity, and that its irreplaceable contribution to all society be recognized." Everyday for Life Canada hopes that we all try to make a special effort this month to keep this in our daily prayers, at Mass, in praying the Rosary, in adoration and in any other private devotion.




I hope you watch and listen to this short video. United with the Pope through prayer and life-enhancing good works, let's try to help build a Canadian society that truly cares for all life and for family. Surely in prayer our Creator will know that our desire for a pro-life culture is in our hearts, in our minds and in our souls.

An Open Letter to All MPs and Prime Minister Stephen Harper

(I am writing this blog entry to share the email I sent my MP Alan Tonks asking him to vote no to Bill C-389. If passed, it would become another bad Canadian law by further eroding the dignity of life, traditional family and religious freedom. I hope visitors to Everyday for Life Canada also contact their members of Parliament and ask them to reject this misguided piece of legislation.)

Dear Alan Tonks,

I’m writing about the Private Members’ Bill C-389 that was recently approved by the Justice Committee and is scheduled for its next hour of debate this coming Monday, Feb. 7, and the final vote on Wednesday Feb. 9, 2011. The Bill, introduced in June by MP Bill Siksay (NDP-Burnaby-Douglas), would add “gender identity” and “gender expression” to the list of prohibited grounds of discrimination in the Canadian Human Rights Act.

Bill C-389 does not include a definition of “gender identity” or “gender expression”. My worry is that many aspects of gender identity issues contain a strong element of self-definition. Yes, one can choose a sexual orientation. This disordered choice is already being pushed in our public and Catholic schools. It's a form of verbal engineering. The standard diagnostic manual for psychiatrists, Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders – 4th Edition, lists gender identity questions as a disorder. This definition is not an opinion, but comes from the experts. The condition is very different from such objective states as race, color, creed or gender, all of which the law quite rightly protects from discrimination in the workplace, and in the provision of goods and services. Any new Canadian law should be morally sound otherwise aren't we merely rearranging the furniture on the Titanic?

To protect by law a quality that the law does not even define will have serious implications for employers in their hiring and assignment decisions. People who believe they have faced discrimination on “gender expression” grounds could file human rights claims. Those who claim they were discriminated against when in fact they were not have already misused this system. Why make matters worse by opening the process to more subjective grounds? This isn’t in anyone’s best interest.

There are other reasons to drop the proposal to make gender identity a prohibited ground. Could there be challenges for retailers or health clubs when they prohibit the opposite sex from fitting rooms or locker rooms? Would new washrooms need to be built to accommodate those who don’t believe they belong in either of the others, or would they simply be permitted to enter the facility of their choice?

This process should go no further. It makes no social and legal sense to make somebody’s personal beliefs about gender into law. I’m concerned about the negative consequences of Bill C-389. This Bill rests on a false ideology of “ending discrimination”, but the reality is that it will undermine the right of nearly all Canadians who indentify themselves as either male or female. It's really an attempt to manipulate language by the few to change the law for the majority. This is not democracy. As the MP for York-South Weston, I urge you to vote against the Bill. Please contact your own MP by visiting this government of Canada website.