THERE IS AN ALTERNATIVE TO PREJUDICE AND BIGOTRY
By Father John Walsh

How easy is it to convince people that we have enemies who will destroy us? Jane Elliot, internationally known teacher, lecturer, diversity trainer, and recipient of the National Mental Health Association Award for Excellence in Education, exposed prejudice and bigotry for what it is, an irrational class system based upon purely arbitrary factors. In response to the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., Jane devised the controversial and startling, “Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes” exercise. Now famous, the exercise labels participants as …

METAPHORS ARE THE WAY WE UNDERSTAND LIFE
By Father John Walsh

By definition a metaphor is a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Calling a person a “night owl” or an “early bird” is an example of a conventional metaphor. The journey metaphor is in the chorus to He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother: It’s a long, long road from which there is no return. While we’re on the way to there, Why not share? …

HOMILY JULY 6, 2014
My dear sisters and brothers, my friends,
The world is preoccupied with the advance ISIS and the establishment of a new Caliphate. A Caliphate is an Islamic state led by a supreme religious and political leader known as a caliph, that is, a “successor” to Muhammad. The Islamic State of Iraq (ISIS) is headed by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi. He transformed a few small terror cells into the most brutal and lethal terror group on earth. Mercy is not in this man’s vocabulary. Abu Bakr picked up the …

MISUNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT “CATHOLIC” DIVORCE
By Father John Walsh

The very mention of annulment in the Catholic tradition has many Catholics retort, you mean “Catholic divorce.” There are many who believe that you can buy an annulment if you have enough money, and the very thought of denying there was a marriage is ridiculous. The harshest judgement is: annulments don’t make any sense, I would never apply for an annulment under any circumstances.
Let’s back up. In the Catholic tradition marriage is a sacrament. This is not the case with all Christian traditions. The …

THE PLACE OF RELIGION IN THE PREVENTION OF YOUTH CRIME
By Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

Recently I attended and was a speaker at a forum where participants discussed the place of religion in the prevention of youth crime in the city of Ottawa. During the discussion period I shared the following ideas.
Canada is a country with a secular outlook; yet I am also aware that many Canadians are religious or spiritual. Faith is an important part of their lives no matter what their profession might be.
The growing body of research on the …