It's that time again to see what’s been been lighting me up and lighting my way this week. The biggest local story here this week has been the weather, with the city being under severe weather warnings of one kind or another (wind, freezing rain, heavy rain, flooding) five of the past seven days. Fortunately, … Continue reading What’s Lighting Me Up (April 5, 2025)
There’s a strange phenomenon in how the politics of the West has developed over the past few hundred years in that the right honours the role of religion in public life while setting aside its concerns for justice and transformation within that public life, while the left has tended to marginalize religion but shares those … Continue reading Dorothy Day and the Way of Action and Activism
One of the things I like about the stories of more contemporary Saints is that we see how they were, in fact, real human beings, just like you and me. The old hagiographies tend to smooth over rough edges, presenting an idealized image of holy men and women that seem impossible to ever match. But … Continue reading St. Maximilian Kolbe and the Way of Rising to the Occasion
Very few people can say they have single-handedly changed the course of an entire religious tradition without being considered a founder themselves. But one person who can say that is St. Athanasius of Alexandria, a theologian and churchman who famously faced off against an entire Church teetering into the Arian controversy to defend the faith … Continue reading St. Athanasius of Alexandria and the Way of Telling the Bigger Story
You may have noticed that most of the Saints discussed in this series so far began their lives in at least modest if not extreme comfort and wealth. In this we see the importance of privilege in providing people with the kinds of opportunities that can lead to becoming known and remembered, even if what … Continue reading St. Josephine Bakhita and the Way of Freedom in Suffering
Matthew Root 