Well, friends, welcome to Holy Week, a week like no other. We speak of Advent and Lent being times of reflection. And they are. But Holy Week goes one step further, as we walk alongside Jesus and his friends and followers towards disaster. In today's Gospel reading, which actually takes place before the triumph and … Continue reading Offering: A Reflection for Monday of Holy Week
We are in a time of crisis. The toll of the COVID-19 pandemic on our health, on our healthcare systems, communities, and economies is going to be immense. We don't know what is going to happen or when this is going to end. The old battle between faith and fear is being waged in all … Continue reading Crisis: A Reflection on Palm Sunday
If there is one thing the internet age has made abundantly clear it's that the human craving for lists and how-to guides is insatiable. Long before the internet made 'listicle' a word, this love for tidy numbered frameworks was taken up by the mystics. We've seen this in this Lenten mini-series already, in St. Bernard's … Continue reading Knowing God in 7 Easy Steps! (and other lies)
One of the guiding metaphors I've slipped into throughout this series on knowing God has been the spiritual journey. It's an unoriginal idea, but like most over-used analogies, it's over-used because it's so apt. Coming to know God is very much like a never-ending journey, down a long and winding road, into unfamiliar territories, in … Continue reading The Journey Within: St Teresa of Avila’s Interior Castle
Well, here in Toronto we've now entered our third week of strong public health measures intended to reduce the impact of COVID-19 on our city and healthcare system. And, while it's early days yet, indications suggest that it's starting to work. And thank God for that. And yet, as much as these measures are a … Continue reading The Sign of Lazarus: A Reflection on John 11
Matthew Root 