WEAVING THE FABRIC OF LIFE IN ISRAEL
Father John Walsh

In our North American culture there is a divide between the secular and the religious, to the point of privatizing religion to the family and places of worship. CJA sponsored a group of thirty-seven people under the leadership of Jeff Segal and Steve Gross to be on a Mission to Israel. Our greatest discovery was that the tension between the secular threads and the religious threads weave the fabric of life in Israel. At the Knesset Tzipi Livni, opposition leader of the …

JERUSALEM — A SPECIAL MOMENT
Rabbi Michael Whitman

The city of Jerusalem is holy to all three major religions, and to countless others. At the same time, Jerusalem is saturated with political controversy. Without minimizing the importance of those discussions, Jerusalem is also saturated with holiness and beauty – from the dramatic and sublime, to the mundane everyday life that takes place there. I think the politics would take on a very different direction if we, all of us, would first focus on what makes it special and holy to us as …

LIVING “FAITH” IN ACTION
Imam Dr. Zijad Delic

Canadian Muslims are bracing to prepare for Ramadan 2018. It raises many questions: Do we really understand the purpose of the rituals in our places of worship? Are we living life “on auto-pilot”? What hinders our faith to be active? A remedy?
We can go through life “on auto-pilot” without ever thinking about the consequences that ensue and how they affect our relationship to faith and belief. Yet, we set personal goals in life, we have jobs, we study different academic and professional fields, we …

YOUNG WOMEN AND YOUNG MEN SPEAK TO AUTHORITY — AS SELDOM BEFORE, IN THE CHURCH
Father John Walsh

In the aftermath of the killing of seventeen students in Parkland, Florida, young women and young men have spoken to authority. One student said, I don’t want to go to school and the first thing on my mind is to look for the closest exit. The words of the leaders of the March for Life throughout the United States were without rancor, but were courageous. The want an end to the folly of the …

THE ESSENTIAL PASSOVER TOPIC
Rabbi Michael Whitman

This Friday night Jews all over the world gather in homes to celebrate Passover, the beginning of our journey from slavery to freedom and our birth as a People. The central feature of this celebration is to tell our story. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks points out Moses instructs the Jewish People to formulate the story they will tell their children about this event, and Moses gives this instruction before the Exodus occurs. In other words, the preparation for the event itself, is to formulate how we …

THE POPE OFFERS A DEATH-DEFYING CHALLENEGE TO YOUNG PEOPLE
Father John Walsh

Young people have abandoned the Church. On any weekend (Saturday or Sunday) a visit to a local parish it takes only a visual overview of the small congregations to realize that young women and young men are scarce. The reasons young people are leaving the church are manifold. Many youth say the Church is dead. I would venture that one reason is they know through experience and they feel that they are not being listened to. They are looking for …

WHEN TRAGEDY STRIKES … AT PRAYER
Father John Walsh

Too often it is only when tragedy strikes that people speak out and change occurs. I recall an incident when a teen-age girl, who had exhibited so much promise as a ballet dancer, was crossing over from one side of the train tracks to the other. Just then an unsuspected train going in the opposite direction to where she was looking, took her life. People had known for years that the crossing was a tragedy waiting to happen. It was too late to …

FAITH LEADERS COMMEMORATE TRAGEDY AT QUEBEC MOSQUE
Rabbi Michaele Whitman
January 28, 2018.:

Are We Our Brother’s Keeper?
When the Bible records the first murder, we read:
Cain rose up against his brother, Abel, and killed him.
God said to Cain: Where is your brother?
And Cain answered: I don’t know. Am I my brother’s keeper?
And God said: What have you done? Your brother’s blood cries out to me.
Our rabbis point out the original Hebrew does not read “dam achichah” singular, your brother’s blood; but “d’mei achichah” plural, your brother’s bloods.
Because a murder is never a single …

IDENTITY PRECEDES OUR MISSION AS IT DID FOR DR. KING
Father John Walsh

There are many people who know how to be Christian by avoiding sin and what to do by following the prescribed prayers and rituals but few have the courage to ask why. Martin Luther King Jr. knew why he was a Christian. He was inspired by his faith to speak openly and freely about the plight of those who were denied their civil rights. He relied on Isaiah in his “I Have A Dream” speech: I have a dream …

THE LEGACY OF DR. KING
Imam Dr. Zijad Delic (Ottawa on MLK Day)

We learn the hard way from our distant past and current history, as well as our present time, that freedom is not for free. The use of freedom requires unique people – people of vision, effort and self-sacrifice. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was an exceptional role model. Dr. King was a different kind of king. He was not a fairy-tale king. He was real! He left a lasting legacy in his short life of 39 years – the …