Catholics From Canada

"I wish to commend CIJA on its timely and universally applauded effort to both maintain the spirit of Dr. Goldbloom and to encourage the essential work of dialogue between our various faith communities. I am deeply moved to have been considered as the inaugural recipient of this award. In accepting it, I do so only with the recognition that I am a small player in a large ensemble."

"The church in Canada is, today, radically re-examining its relationship with the Aboriginal Peoples of that country in function of purifying and renewing its covenant with them. This re-examination has been sparked by a number of factors: The recognition that we did not bring the Gospel to them in all its purity. Rather our initial missionary endeavor, for all its dedication, goodness and grace, was also marked by a lack of full respect for their culture and traditions."

"There were letters in it interesting me, they were from a catechist stationed in Nui, one of the atolls of the group. He was explaining how harsh the people were toward him and his family. They completely ignored him and at one time they destroyed all his plantation of taro, bananas and pawpaw. Reading these letters, I said to myself, "I wouldn't like to be in a place like this!" On the 14th of July 1986, I was appointed Superior of the Mission of Tuvalu!"

"I hope that the CCCB will continue to reach out to the rest of the world; it would be my hope that the conference will continue to have both a missionary spirit as well as a concern for the peace and well-being of our brothers and sisters elsewhere. This international outreach of the conference is a way of showing our solidarity with our brother bishops, many of whom minister under very difficult circumstances."

"We should have a place in which people, not only in our own diocese but throughout the world and in Canada, can come as they come to the Rockies to see nature's cathedral. They can stop and they can pray and they can experience the great presence of God who comes to dwell in our midst in these humble abodes that we build."

"The importance of the media requires the Church to respond to the challenge of proclaiming the Gospel. Despite the limitations and risks of preaching the Gospel through the media, the Church must not be afraid. Without a presence in the media, we run the risk of being absent from the world, In the meantime, this world always needs the Good News."

"We are all hurting and in need of God's mercy. Mercy isn't just for a certain category of people. We all stand in the need of God's mercy. And, at the same time, the Spirit is working in a lot of situations that, on the face of it, do not correspond to church teaching. That's what I mean when I say that God’s grace is greater than the channels we often imagine."

"We Jesuits always have to remember that most Catholics are not Jesuits — a fact we tend to overlook sometimes. Our spirituality is not for everyone — perhaps hard to say, but so true. For me, becoming a bishop was a real change, for then I had to recognize the whole spectrum of theologies, spiritualties, ministries and charisms present in the diocese entrusted to me. Through this I came to realize what a great gift doctrine is for the Church, enabling it to be one, holy, and catholic."

"Even today we do not fully understand what a great man God gave the Ukrainian people and the church. We are still learning about the metropolitan today."

"A spirituality of communion must permeate all relationships and structures within our parishes and local churches, through a consultation that brings people together, acknowledges the presence of God's Spirit working in the members of the community and assists in responding to those who feel that their voice is never heard in the Church."

"The Church is always calling us. We are people of one nation. We believe in the one same Christ, and we should be working toward the fulfillment of Christ's prayer that all be one. And Jesus, when he speaks through the Church says that he has one flock, one sheep-fold, using the imagery of the shepherd. And yet I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and I must reach out of them. This is the mandate that Christ gave to us."

"I'm being sent now to these people to evangelize, so I'm seeing myself as a missionary."

"I was appointed Bishop too soon. I felt like the prophet Jeremiah who said to the Lord: "I am too young". But I had to answer yes to the Lord who called me through the voice of Pope Paul VI. The Church of Chad has grown in quantity, but it is urgent to make it grow in quality. There are many baptisms, but not enough knowledge of Jesus and the commitment of the baptized in the Church and in the life of the Country."

"As long as we keep our eyes closed and our ears closed and continue to pretend that human trafficking is something that barbarians do on the other side of the world, it's going to continue, and it's going to get worse."

"A new evangelization is needed that takes into account our post-immigrant, post-seminary situation. It will necessarily be focused on creating a faith that is based more on a personal encounter with the living Jesus Christ than upon any ethnic or social factors. Given the powerful experience of the Catholicism of our youth, we, the Church in Canada, approach this task with much hope."

"The Congregation for Bishops, unlike the Congregation for Saints, deals with the pastoral profiles of candidates who are not yet perfect, but of men on the way of perfection. What certainly counts in a priest proposed for the episcopate are the theological and cardinal virtues, the so-called principal human virtues. Above all, what is most important for this office is prudence. This should not be understood as reticence or timidity, but as balance between action and reflection while exercising a responsibility that requires great dedication and courage."

"As a creature, human beings are "in relationship". Transcendence which characterizes man in relation to other creatures is like the case of a gardener who is responsible for the whole creation. That is why our land is holy. Likewise it is the habitat chosen by the son of God. Nature is the manifestation of the revelation of a God full of goodness."

"At Christmas, God enters our lives so we may enter divine life. Humanity was looking to be saved, and God sends us a child! Humanity was hoping for the extraordinary, and God comes in everyday life. Humanity was waiting for something on which to lean, while God has need of us – the need for a mother to give nourishment and a father to provide protection."

"For our world today, I think it was less difficult than usual for people to think about Jesus in the tomb, and to enter into the Good Friday service, as a heavy shroud covers our land these days. We understand going to pray at a tomb. For those who have lost loved ones in the past weeks, where there could be no proper funeral, there is an extra resonance. Jesus too was not given a wake or funeral, but his body was simply placed in a tomb. Normally there is a finality to that."

"There are also blind spots in both cultures... there is no perfect culture. As we say, no one has the complete picture. We need each other to see more facets of who God really is and his call to us."

"We like to do all the talking, but it's so important to listen."

"The secret of mission work especially in areas with different cultures is to respect the people and the people will respect you."

"There is nothing else in Communism — a Jewish conspiracy to grab the whole world in their clutches; and no intelligent man in the world can find anything else, except the Jews, who rightly call it for themselves a “paradise on earth”. Jews are eager to bring Communism, because they know what it is and what it means. It is because Communism has not been fought for what it really is — a Jewish scheme invented by Jews — that it has progressed against all opposition to it. We have fought the smoke-screen presented by Jewish dialecticians and publicists, refusing to fight the inventor, profiteer and string-puller. Because Christians and Gentiles have come to fear the Jews, fear the truth, and they are paralyzed by the paradoxical slogans shouted by the Jews."

"Decisions must be made at any given time with wisdom and caution. But also, sometimes with courage and audacity."

"I don't think that Quebec can afford a pastoral approach that chooses silence and accommodation at the expense of human life and human dignity. Being discrete hasn’t served Quebec Catholicism."

"Next time you feel alone or think that no one really understands your secret thoughts, take heart. Someone does know how you feel. He is waiting for you in the calm lonely eye of the stormy crowd. He went through his Palm Sunday experience alone, so that you will not have to go through yours the same way. Even when those around you will not, or cannot understand you, God does!"

"The Church is richer for it; we have something to offer one another in our spirituality, our prayer and our journey to come closer to our Lord. It's important for Eastern Catholics to take on our duty to inform the Latin Church more, and for the Latin Church to become more aware of this other "lung" of the Church. This would also then help us ecumenically with the Orthodox world."

"When times are difficult it is time to meet Christ more and more. There is never a point where you can say I know Christ and now I will go do something else. Christ is not a program."

"I hear from other Bishops, he says, that there is a failure of Catechesis, that things are not sticking, that kids are going to Catholic Schools and then they are graduating from the Catholic Church, not just from school. It’s not a marketing question! It’s a question of how are we going to express the deep questions in their heart? How are we going to help them find answers?"

"Our cultural practices now have Christian significance, and they are embedding faith into our daily lives. And that’s important for us as Ukrainian Catholics. Today in Canada, if we want to evangelize one another, in this case, if I'm speaking to an indigenous group, I need to understand their culture. I need to understand their language, their ways of expressing things, their ways of understanding nature, their relationship with it, and then I can celebrate with them the presence of God in all of those things."

"We as a society have become very independent, and we have become proficient in so many things, I think some of us feel we don't have that reliance on God as much as it was once felt. But the fact is we need (God) more than ever."

"Overall, the Canadian experience of ecumenism has been a positive one, marked by openness, cooperation and honesty. We rejoice in what has been accomplished and look to the future with hope."

"My daddy says that life comes at you fast, we are like blades of grass: We come to prime and in time we wither away."

"I think music is like my only talent, unfortunately. I just utilized it as much as possible."

"We will leave the empty chairs to those who say we can't sit there; we're fine all by ourselves."

"Success is when you see something, and you say, 'I want to do that,' and then you do it. It's being happy with what you do and doing what you love every day."

"[A] paper sailboat: They seem so frail, but when you put them on water they float. It's a reminder that even though I'm small and seem weak, I'm not."

"To me "where the wild things are" is a place that exists in our minds; it's a place of liberty and shamelessness. It can take a split second or a lifetime to find it, but once you do, you'll be free."

"There's a wild thing that exists in all of us. It lives in our passions, in the people we love, in our subconscious thoughts, our beliefs. It's even made a home in the darkest parts of us, but we can't be scared of it, we have to become it."

"You belong here."

"I didn't think that working hard and wanting something that's out of your control would be that bothersome to people. It was just really disappointing for me."

"I want to be remembered as a person who, or as an artist who provided comfort for people."

"I think if you're meant to do something, no matter what, you'll always get there and I think you'll find your path, no matter what."

"It was the first time I’d been introduced to so many people in one place. If anything it solidified my belief that this is what I want to do with my life."

"I really, really fuck with Alessia Cara. She’s beautiful as fuck, her voice is like water, it’s like milk, I think it’s gorgeous. It has so much dimension, and she deserves every accolade that she gets. And people can’t be mad. I don’t give a fuck when her album came out! She sounds great right now! So, like, it’s over. You have to just move over and be grateful for the shit that did happen in your favor."

"The hopes and dreams of our faith community are to further engage our young people in our mission as a Church. Our young people often have expressed their desire to know and understand the unique spirituality of our 1000-year-old Kyivan tradition. The question remains: how do we live our lives as modern day Christians in a modern day Australia, and at the same time preserving our unique spirituality?"

"No matter what, light is stronger than darkness, love is stronger than hate, and life is stronger than death. To be clear, it does not mean that there is no more darkness, no more hatred, no more death. It means that they do not have the last word! The birth of this child – and the saving message He offers us – announces that darkness, hatred and death are overcome by acts of kindness, generosity and sacrifice."

"Vatican II spoke so strongly about full, conscious, active participation. That was the primary purpose of liturgical renewal. I think we are really missing out on that. Many people come to the Eucharist without much of an idea what it is about. Nor do they have an awareness of their own call, in virtue of their baptism, to participate in the Eucharist. There are probably four places in the documents of the Vatican Council that talk about the baptized offering the Divine Victim to the Father in the Eucharist. I think that 90% of the baptized people don't really see themselves, in virtue of their baptismal priesthood, as able to offer the Divine Victim to the Father."

"Time, talent, and treasure. If people give their time to God’s work, that’s very important, and use the talents that God gives you, not for yourself, it’s for the greater glory of God, but you use your talents. Everybody's got different kind of talents, but you use some of your talents for the greater glory of building up the Kingdom of God on Earth."

"Both marriage and the vocation to the priesthood and celibacy are charisms and vocations, and we need to be open to the Holy Spirit. As a result, over the centuries, our Church has had to understand how we have both celibate priests, some of whom are diocesan, plus those who belong to religious orders, as well as married ones. In my eparchy, where our parishes are so far apart from each other, I think that having a wife and a family is a very good thing for support of that man, who most of the time are not from British Columbia, so they have no family there."