Taking the Pope's Advice for a Good Holiday

In Genesis, we are told that "On the seventh day God had completed the work he had been doing. He rested on the seventh day after all the work he had been doing, God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on that day he rested after all his work of creating." (2: 2-3)

Pope Benedict XVI has recently given Christians good advice when resting and talking a vacation. The Holy Father has suggested a number of ideas to keep in mind for a spiritually sound and happy holiday. The Vatican press secretary Fr. Lombardi in his weekly radio program summarized these. Let's examine each point and we can add our own.

The Pope's wants us to spend our "vacation time in a way that helps renew ... relationships with others and with God." Simple advice, but it's the message we need to hear in our busy lives. Let's think about what's most important in our lives: God, family, friends and neighbours. A holiday is a good time to revitalize our prayer life. We have so many modern distractions in our midst: computers, TV's, radios, movies, magazines, newspapers, novels, cell phones and the list goes on. A holiday is a perfect time to shut off all these daily distractions and focus on things of the spirit. It's an opportune time to talk to God.

The Pope also "suggested we include a copy of the Sacred Scriptures in our suitcase." So we can consider reading from the Bible, the lives of saints or one of the many documents of the Church as go and plan our vacation. The hectic pace of our modern lives can be very distracting and in reading something spiritual or praying the Rosary can better reconnect us to God. I recently visited the Abbey of Genesee and while there on retreat, which is a kind of holiday, we participated in the prayer life of the Trappist monks. They follow the Rule of St. Benedict. We attended the celebration of Mass daily and retreatants were free to join the prayers: vigils, lauds, terce, vespers, sext and compline. All of this and some quiet time for meditation/reflection can make for a time of peace and grace. This can refresh and nourish our spiritual lives and reenergize our physical bodies as well.



Pope Benedict XVI knowing that on a holiday we spend more time outdoors goes on to say, "contemplate the greatness, and admire the beauty, of creation around us, recognizing in it the wonderful presence of the Creator." In paying more and careful attention to the grandeur of nature - the mountains, the forests, the seas, the sun, the stars and every living creature - we can begin once again to appreciate the wonder, the mystery and beauty of God's creation. This can help us to better balance our lives, both while on a vacation and when we return home, knowing that God is always with us. Only God is the true source of our mental and physical well being.

His last suggestion was to "apply their (your) intelligence and curiosity to discovering the monuments of the past – witnesses of culture and faith." While on vacation we can remind ourselves that we are in fact a pilgrim people. Beautiful architecture like abbeys, cathedrals, basilicas, churches and missionary centres, in the words of Fr Lombardi, are places where we can "feel the presence of God" and the need "to pray for the rest of humanity." The Martyrs' Shrine in Midland, Ontario, for example, is an architectural and historical reminder of Canada's spiritual roots and heritage. These roots to the sacred and the divine can be found every where we vacation because God created it all. We merely must be open and humble to God's gift of life to us and be thankful that we have the time and the good heath to take a holiday.

And so we have decided that Everyday for Life Canada will follow the Pope's good advice and take a break for the month of August. There will be no new postings during that time. We too will try to nourish and restore our spirit. Let's remember as well that many people for many reasons cannot afford to take a vacation: the poor, the sick, the lonely and all those that are marginalized. We can of course pray for them and ask God to renew their bodies and souls so they can deal with the daily challenges, that we all face, in trying to live a virtuous Christian life. We wish all our readers a grace-filled, holy and restful holiday!

Religious Accommodation: Another Way to Further DeChristianize Our Schools

Do you think public schools should allow students to pray during the school day? Do you believe public schools should include religion and prayer in the curriculum? The recent decision by the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) to allow Muslim prayers in one of their schools has sparked a lot of reaction about whether public schools should make time for religion and prayer. The verbal pollution against faith these days is so high in much of the media that it seems natural to reject anything to do with God and Christianity. The latest substitute for this, courtesy of the McGuinty government, is religious accommodation. This is just another way to further deChristianize our schools. A little history and some information can help frame the issue in a more constructive perspective.

There was a time not so long ago when public schools made reading of the Bible and prayer part of their school program. How do I know this? I attended a public high school from 1965-69. At the time, all students at George Harvey Secondary began the day with opening exercises over the (PA) public address system that included O Canada, a brief Bible selection and sometimes even a Psalm, the songs of the Bible, was read. The school had a Christmas concert and every year a decorated tree adorned the school's main entrance. In literature classes, we studied Christian poetry and every student knew that both Christmas and Easter were special times of the year. All this was done, thank God, in a public school.

Recently posted on the TDSB website, the director of education tells us that he had no choice but to allow Muslin prayers at Valley Park Middle School because religious freedom trumps the Education Act. This is the height of irony. If what the director says were true, then public schools would not have removed most traces of Christianity from their curricula. We ask the director this question: how can you promote religious freedom for other religions when public school boards have spent nearly two generations wiping out most traces of Christian religious roots? We know a double standard when we see one.

Let’s now turn to the Education Act. In section 264, under the heading of Duties of a Teacher and with the sub-heading of Religion and Morals, we find this requirement:

"... to inculcate by precept and example respect for religion and the principles of Judaeo-Christian morality and the highest regard for truth, justice, loyalty, love of country, humanity, benevolence, sobriety, industry, frugality, purity, temperance and all other virtues."

So, according to the TDSB director, the Education Act permits Muslims to have their prayer service because the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms supersedes the Act. Then why is this freedom no longer a right if you happen to be Christian? Christians have both the Act and the Charter on their side. Why is the Christian heritage on whose foundation our schools and our society rests being rejected? From the director's own admission, and the fact that Christians have both the Education Act and the Charter on their side, shouldn't he be promoting and protecting Christianity? Instead board administrators are doing the exact opposite; they are accommodating other creeds at the expense of our own rich Christian heritage. Surely here there's real injustice, a misguided “love of country” and disregard for truth.

The erosion of our Christian past can be seen in the current battle as all schools, including Catholic schools, have been forced to approve the Equity and Inclusive Strategy. This policy completely contradicts Catholic teaching about the human person, especially when it comes to sexuality and the family. What has happened at Valley Park Middle School is just the continuation of a legislated and total deChristianization of education in Ontario by the McGuinty government. School Boards will be forced to implement religious accommodation policies to make room for other beliefs as they eradicate our Christian roots in both public and Catholic schools.

Our secular society will never find the truth in deceptive policies such as religious accommodation and the Equity Strategy. As Christians, we can do much better by trying to reclaim our religious past and use it once again to guide us in building the common good in Ontario and the rest of Canada. Our religious past has shaped our culture. To reject our spiritual Christian heritage is to reject the very essence of who we are. The deChristianization of education is an ideology that must be stopped because it is aimed at bringing about the complete annihilation of Western culture. May God help us!

International Youth Conference: More UN Propaganda for a Culture of Death

As you probably know, World Youth Day will be celebrated in Madrid this coming August. The initiative was started by Blessed John Paul II, and it has become a yearly international Catholic event to bring young people together to celebrate and strengthen their faith. This world gathering helps young people to promote and build what Blessed Pope John Paul II referred to in his encyclical, Evangelium vitae (95), a "culture of life." Living largely in a Western culture of relativism, it offers them hope, truth and meaning in their lives.

The UN has also organized the International Youth Conference to take place in New York City. Regrettably, this conference will include propaganda to make young people accept and promote a culture of death. It's got all the makings of a shameful parody of World Youth Day. Part of the concluding activities will be their Youth Campaign scheduled for July and called "10 Days of Activism". The program will help mark the conclusion of the UN's International Youth Year for 2010-2011. Young people will come together from 50 countries to participate in this event. This youth program is called, Y-PEER and is part of the UN's Population Fund.

The UN's web site puts the rationale for the world conference this way:

"The goal of the campaign is to bring young people and youth organizations from 50 countries around the world together, unite forces and make their voice heard on youth issues including sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). '10 Days of Activism' will take place simultaneously at national, regional and international levels and will be matched by a social media campaign."

The lovely sounding language by any other name is still propaganda; the words are so cleverly deceptive. We need to unmask the true meaning of "sexual and reproductive health rights." The UN is openly promoting abortion, homosexuality and possibly even prostitution. These, after all, are all made up "sexual rights" to sell young men and women a materialistic ideology where individual wants and pleasures trump everything else.

The Y-PEER statement goes on to say:

"Young people between the ages of 10 and 24 comprise more than 25% of the world’s population. They have diverse needs into their sexual and reproductive health and rights, which must be met through policies, legislation and programmes to fully enable them to realize their rights."

Since when do young people have "diverse needs into their sexual and reproductive rights"? When you want every country in the world to enact laws to make abortion, homosexuality and promiscuity legal, you begin to deceptively talk about false "sexual and reproductive rights." If you want young people to be sexually active, use contraceptives and not inform their parents about an abortion, then you realize why the UN has to encourage countries to approve laws that make such immoral actions "legal".

The propaganda will not stay in New York where the young delegates representing their countries will meet. The participants will be encouraged to bring the demeaning sexual propaganda back home to the countries they represent and spread the deception there using modern technology. Here's what UN goes on to say about the young participants:

"For 10 days they will be strengthening dialogue with local government representatives, leading seminars, participating in radio and TV shows, organizing photo and video contests and much more. All of these activities will be shared and promoted through major social media channels (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to bring international attention to local actions."

So you see the UN's plan to brainwash young people: invite them to attend an international conference that has a hidden agenda, dehumanize their thinking about human sexuality and reproduction, "educate" them into embracing the language of deception and finally use them to spread this distorted view of the human person through social media. The UN is doing a great disservice to young people with this program; it's abusing the young by selling them a culture of selfishness, materialism and ultimately death. There's neither love nor respect for them in all this.

Unlike the World Youth Day that is open to the truth and to life, the UN's International Youth Conference shuts out the truth and promotes a culture of death. The deception is that young people will be happy if they accept abortion, contraceptives and pursue a life of self-gratification and consumerism. By counselling the young to take this life-road, is to help lead them to a dead-end of hopelessness and meaninglessness. It's a culture with no future because it lacks human and divine love. Canada should stop funding and participating in these UN activities. Our young Canadian sons and daughters don't need this deceptively dangerous propaganda. They need to be encouraged to use social media to build the common good and promote a sexuality that is open to life, marriage, a vocation and to love; this is God's plan for humanity.

Looking Back to the Future of Catholic Education

If you're following the current spiritual battle with the Toronto Catholic District School Board to protect Catholic education, you may know that the McGuinty Liberals have succeeded in having all boards, Catholic and public, pass the Equity and Inclusive Education Strategy. This policy permits the establishment of Gay/Straight alliances in all schools. It's openly promoting and normalizing homosexuality. This aspect of the policy is completely against the teaching of the Catholic Church. Nevertheless, every board in the province has approved the Equity policy; the TCDSB has also passed it, but there are a number of amendments that trustees are still considering. It's their attempt to try to address the concerns of parent groups who have mounted a strong opposition to the policy, and want it changed so that its implementation is done in accordance with the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Parents are mistrustful of their provincial government because it has challenged Catholic education by legislating a policy that essentially allows board administrators to reject the Catholic teaching on human sexuality, family and the very definition of the person.

You may be asking how did we get to this sad state of affairs? A little history can help us here. Prior to 1984, government funding for the Roman Catholic separate school system was provided up to Grade 10 under the British North America (BNA) Act. In 1984, the government of Premier William Davis extended full funding to include the last three (Grades 11–13 (OAC)) years of Roman Catholic secondary schools. This change in educational funding had been rejected fifteen years earlier. The first funded academic year occurred in 1985–86, as grade 11, and one grade was added in each of the next two years. I tell you this because when this took place I had been a high school teacher for thirteen years. I was working at De La Salle College "Oaklands", in Toronto. Many teachers and parents thought the change in government policy was a good and just idea. After all, Catholics paid taxes like everybody else. Funding meant parents no longer had extra tuition to pay. It was only fair to treat Catholic schools the same as public schools.

De La Salle College in those days still had a number of Christian brothers who taught at the school along with the lay staff. I had a lot of respect for them because they brought a great deal of teaching experience and with their religious habits a strong religious presence was added to the classroom and the school. One of them, Brother Paul, one day said something to me that I still remember thirty-one years later: "Yes, we got the funding and along with the money will come government control and evil." As a young teacher on staff, I really didn't understand the profound truth in those words until many years later.

Those prophetic words have become so telling in the current battle to keep our Catholics schools in the face of being forced to implement the Equity policy.The right to have a publicly-funded school system continues to be guaranteed by Section 93 of the 1982 Constitution Act to Roman Catholics in Ontario. But you would never know this, if you listen to the McGuinty government, much of the secular media, most of our trustees and regrettably even board administrators, including the current director at the TCDSB. So, our Catholic schools have had funding for over thirty years. And with it, we have also accepted over the years secular compromises to the truth, to the faith. Brother Paul, you were so right. We are now dealing with state control of education and the immorality you predicted: its name is the Equity and Inclusive policy. The new regulation is forcing the entire school system to accept and to promote the propaganda of sexual orientation and its deception.

As I said to be fair, the TCDSB trustees are considering a number of amendments. Concerned parents want trustees to pass them in their upcoming August meeting 2011. Nevertheless, this moral decay in our schools is not going away any time soon. What are the alternatives? One option is for parents to send their sons and daughters to good private Catholic schools. This move will cost parents money. If such a school doesn't exist where you live, parents could look at ways to open one. Another possibility is to take the government and Catholic boards to court for abrogating their responsibilities for Catholic education. Of course one would need to seek legal advice about this possibility. Parents can also be vigilant and monitor closely what's happening at their local school. After all, parents are their children's first educators and in working together they can have a great positive faith influence in their community school. Finally, another possibility is to do homeschooling. These of course are merely my ideas put forward in an effort to help think about possible outcomes from the current crisis.

These choices will no doubt involve family sacrifices, but this may be the cost of making sure our sons and daughters get a solid Catholic education. Are we prepared as Christians to make these difficult and costly decisions? I leave the answer to the reader. But with any effort to truly protect the faith, I'm sure Bro. Paul would be praying for our success knowing that, in this province, there would be greater hope for the future of Catholic education. In addition, it would honour the memory of St. John Baptist de la Salle who gave up everything in order to teach poor students and try to save their immortal souls: the ultimate goal of Catholic education. Catholics, in the end, are people of the Resurrection and of hope. Wherever the current battle takes us we know we will be not be abandoned as long as we keep our total trust in God and keep praying.