Mocking the Lord for Christmas

You'd think a business in the heart of Vancouver's gay community, where hatred and bashing is a huge concern, would be more sensitive.

A smoke shop (drug paraphernalia store) on Davie Street has what purports to be a Christmas display. I'll spare you the details. If you want to see for yourself, here's the business's Facebook page, where a discussion is under way on the appropriateness of the display, which involves sex, drugs and Our Saviour. No surprise, most visitors find it amusing. Be forewarned and be aware that they appear to be blocking critical comments.

The store has been paid a visit by city officials, presumably checking to see whether any regulations have been violated. Suffice that if a business insulted Muslims or Jews the way this display does Christians, the community response would be a lot different.

The store is called the Cottonmouth Smoke Shop at 1120 Davie St. The phone number is 604-331-1602.

The story behind the food court Messiah

Here's the background story behind the flash mob at Welland, Ont.'s, Seaway Mall and how it turned into an Internet sensation.

Saints and art testify to truth

Titian. St. Sebastian. 1575.

Father Raymond de Souza provides today's quote of the day: "Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger once claimed that the Church had only two convincing arguments for the truth of the Gospel: the lives of the saints in her midst and the art which she has inspired. The good and the beautiful testify to the truth."

The late, great Heather Stilwell

Pro-life and pro-family champion Heather Stilwell gets a decent sendoff here from The Vancouver Sun's Douglas Todd. It's not a fluff piece, but a fair obituary on a woman admired by many, many people...including some of her philosophical opponents, as evidenced in the comments section.

Prayers will be tonight, Wednesday, at 7 p.m. at Precious Blood Church in Cloverdale.The funeral will be Thursday at 10 a.m. at Precious Blood, 17475-59^th Ave, Surrey.

Do we still need marriage tribunals?

In an age when couples live together outside of marriage, marry outside the Church, and remarry without the sacraments, why does the Catholic Church bother with its marriage tribunals?

The Church's marriage or matrimonial tribunals exist to investigate the question of whether individuals are free to marry in the Catholic Church. Tonight, Vancouver's Catholic Forum invites you to explore that question Does the Marriage Tribunal Still Matter? at St. Mary's Church in Vancouver.

Msgr. Pedro Lopez-Gallo, who directs the Archdiocese of Vancouver Marriage Tribunal, will give the presentation at 7 p.m. All are welcome.

VC Irish win AAA varsity football provincials

Fighting Irish shoot down Ravens in 27-15 victory

Vancouver College's Adam Konar getting tackled by the
Terry Fox Ravens. Konar was named MVP of the game, helping
his team out with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

The Vancouver College Fighting Irish had a stunning victory over Port Coquitlam's Terry Fox Ravens on Saturday, clinching the AAA high school provincial title for the first time since 1994.

The Irish gave up a touchdown early in the game only to bounce back and tie the game in the waning moments of the first quarter. They took the lead early in the second, holding onto it for the rest of the game. 

VC's offense continued to add points to the scoreboard in the second and third quarters and their defense held the Ravens off besides a touchdown in final moments of the fourth, for a final score of 27-15 in favour of the Irish.

Running back/defensive back Adam Konar was named MVP of the game, after collecting three touchdowns and two interceptions for the Irish. Vancouver College defensive lineman Christian Covington and Ravens quarterback Cam Canalas were named defensive and offensive Players of the Year, respectively.

Be on the lookout for the forthcoming story in the BC Catholic as well as a slideshow on the website.

Heather Stillwell: A champion for life

Heather Stilwell, a staunch pro-life advocate and former chair of the Surrey School Board known for her efforts promoting life and family causes, passed away Saturday after battling cancer.

Hundreds of pro-life supporters recently honoured her with an extended and moving standing ovation at the International Pro-Life Conference in Ottawa, Ontario.

Prayers will be Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Precious Blood Church in Cloverdale.The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Thursday at Precious Blood, 17475-59^th Ave, Surrey.

 A 2005 B.C. Catholic story about her run for municipal office can be found here.

Archdiocese welcomes Sisters of St. Cecilia

Nashville nun to return to Vancouver

From left to right: Sr. Marian Sartain,
Mother Ann-Marie Karlovic and Sr.
Mary Jacinta Li at the Vigil for Life at
Holy Rosary Cathedral

Members of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia recently took part in the worldwide Vigil for Life in Vancouver on Nov. 27, including Sr. Mary Jacinta Li (pictured right) who is a Vancouver native and cousin of Fr. Anthony Ho.

Mother Anne-Marie (pictured centre) recently informed Archbishop Miller that the Sisters plan to establish a foundation in the Archdiocese with the help of Fr. Ron Thompson of Our Lady of the Assumption Parish.

With the establishment of this foundation, Sr. Li will be returning to the Lower Mainland to assume the title of first superior.

Archbishop Miller has asked parishioners to pray for the Sisters and "that their presence and apostolic work will be fruitful in our local Church."

"It is a blessing that the presence of religious women in the Archdiocese will be strengthened and the presence of the Dominican Family now brought to its full compliment of priest, contemplative nuns and sisters," Archbishop Miller said.

A video on the Dominican Sisters of St. Celia can be found here.

Smuggling bill has Catholics divided

MP Jason Kenney

Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is a staunch Catholic, but he's not seeing eye to eye with the Canadian bishops right now over the issue of reducing human trafficking.

The Calgary Southeast MP is leading the charge on Bill C-49, a bill aimed at tackling the growing problem of smuggling people into Canada, especially by boat.

Unfortunately for Kenney, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, and a host of other critics of the bill including Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller, are concerned the proposed legislation is more about clamping down on the refugee claimants once they're here. And Kenney admits in an interview with Deborah Gyapong that part of the bill's intent is to deter would-be refugees from making the dangerous voyage.

Advent overkill

Advent Calendar with a million dollar price tag

Advent is the time Christians prepare for the celebration of Christmas. Though it's not known as a period of self-denial and penitence in the same way that Lent is, it's not particularly known as a chance to revel in one's opulence either (even if you did splurge a bit today on Christmas gifts).

Porsche, however,  sees this season of giving as an opportunity for one obscenely wealthy person to display their obscene wealth to an obscenely wealthy loved one.

Every year people complain about the never-ending over-commercialization of Christmas, but Advent was left relatively unscathed until Porsche revealed their million dollar Advent Calendar.

Among the daily goodies are a designer watch, shoes, luggage, gold sunglasses and a speedboat. If someone is getting these presents for Advent, it's hard imagine what it looks like under their tree on Christmas Day. Perhaps they'll have an old-growth tree shipped in to fit their bounty under.

If that wasn't excessive enough, only a few weeks after Porsche revealed their calendar, they have already been topped by a diamond Advent Calender, which blows Porsche's speedboat out of the water with a price tag of $3.25 million.

Things like these go against the Church's teachings of poverty and charity and are the antithesis of positive holiday trends such as the Advent Conspiracy.

2010-2011 B.C. and Yukon Catholic Directory released

The Catholic Directory of B.C. and Yukon is now available for order. This is a treasure trove of helpful info: school and parish phone numbers, e-mails, websites, contacts for the archdiocese of Vancouver and Catholic organizations...and that's just for this diocese! It's got listings for Kamloops, Nelson, Prince George, Victoria, Whitehorse and the Ukrainian Eparchy of New Westminster. But wait, there's more! It's got a handy business directory so you can support businesses that support the Church! You can order here for only $12.95 plus HST (and shipping if necessary.)

The Advent Conspiracy

Here's a new take on Advent...one worth checking out!

Advent: our journey begins

Throughout the four weeks of Advent, the prayer of the Church, the Scripture readings, ritual gestures and symbols, and our celebration of Eucharist hold before us our destination. It is not a geographical location, but a person: Jesus Christ. Here's a helpful reflection on the important season we've just entered.

Christmas confession schedule

Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Vancouver will be offering penitential services so everyone will have an opportunity to go to confession this Advent. Here is the confession schedule as of today, divided by regions of the archdiocese (deaneries). We'll update the list as it becomes more complete. Be a friend and send it to a friend or relative who might not see it.

Immigration bill concerns bishops, Archbishop Miller

 Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, Asia-Pacific Gateway
Minister Stockwell Day, and Public Safety Minister Vic Toews

Bill C-49 is a federal bill subtitled the Preventing Human Smugglers from Abusing Canada’s Immigration System Act. Archbishop Miller has released a statement outlining his concerns with the proposed legislation, which he says seems to confuse the smuggled men, women and children with the smugglers who are exploiting them.

The Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has also released a statement critical of the bill.

Archbishop Miller speaking at City in Focus breakfast

City in Focus is a Christian ministry that works to increase the "real and visible presence of Jesus within the city of Vancouver," and on Friday, Dec. 10 its special guest speaker will be Vancouver Archbishop J. Michael Miller. The archbishop will speak at the Vancouver Club on the theme of extending welcome at Christmas, in the context of the Catholic Church's 150 years in B.C.

The breakfast is $30 and is from 7:30 - 8:30 a.m. Please RSVP two days before and note there is a dress code at the Vancouver Club. To register for the breakfast click here.

Calgary Anglican church becomes Catholic

Fr. Lee Kenyon at St. John the Evangelist church.

A Calgary parish has made history by becoming the first Anglican church in Canada to accept Pope Benedict’s invitation to convert wholesale to the Roman Catholic faith.

Bishop Gary Gordon visits Catholic Missions in Canada

Archbishop Martin Currie and Whitehorse Bishop Gary Gordon

Bishop Gary Gordon of Whitehorse (and formerly the Archdiocese of Vancouver) and Archbishop Martin Currie of St. John’s and Grand Falls were in Toronto this week visiting the office of Catholic Missions in Canada, the group that funds 90 per cent of their activities in Newfoundland and the Yukon.

Catholic press irreplaceable: Pope Benedict XVI

Pope Benedict XVI says the Catholic press has an irreplaceable role in forming Christian consciences and reflecting the church's viewpoint on contemporary issues.

Pro-life video contest

The pro-life organization Signal Hill is launching a video contest entitled Life is a Human Right. Simply produce a 30-60 second video advertisement for life for a chance to win prizes.