Everyday For Life Canada: February 2025

"Assist me by the wings of your prayers"

Today, the liturgy celebrates the optional memorial of St. Gregory of Narek. His birth and death were around (945-1003). In 2015, he was declared Doctor of the Church. He studied at the Monastery of Narek, in southwestern Turkey. He was a theologian and mystic. His Book of Prayer contains 95 prayer-poems that have become part of the Armenian liturgy. Narek's writings also contain great devotion to Mary, the Mother of God. We post one of his Marian Prayers.

Marian Prayer of St. Gregory of Narek

Assist me by the wings of your prayers,

O you who are called the Mother of the living,

so that on my exit from this valley of tears

I may be able to advance without torment

to the dwelling of life

that has been prepared for us

to lighten the end of a life burdened by my iniquity.

Feb

Canada: charitable status must not be based on belief

In the last entry, we shared Toronto Cardinal Francis Leo's letter to the minister of health. We now post the letter he sent to the minister of finance. There is a need to point out that Canada’s Liberal government has discriminated against Christians and pro-life organizations. This is morally wrong and an injustice. In contrast, take Egale Canada that has charitable status and promotes 2slgbtqi issues. In 2023, the organization "received $1.5 million in donations.

Feb

70 Christians beheaded in a church in DRC

Open Doors is an organization that reports on Christian persecution around the world to provide support and other resources. A recent very sad story is the beheading of 70 Christians in a church.

Feb

Regent College has made a mistake in capitulating to cancel culture

Canada's Regent College was supposed to have an event called, Colonialism Revisited: Did the British Empire Promote Human Welfare? It was scheduled for March 6, 2025. It’s been cancelled. Why? Because the speaker was Oxford Moral Theology Professor Nigel Biggar. His sin? He has dared to question the politically correct narrative about Canada's residential school mass graves.

Feb

Toronto's Cardinal Francis Leo warns about the dangers of normalizing euthanasia

Recently, Toronto Cardinal Frank Cardinal Leo has sent two letters to cabinet ministers in the federal government to warn and raise concern about two important issues. One to the minister of health and the other to the minister of finance. Today, we post the one sent to the minister of health on the issue of MAiD, Medical Assistance in Dying.

Legalized euthanasia in Canada has gone down that slippery slope and is now out of control.

Feb

Jesus is the way and the truth and the life

Yesterday, we quoted from the Pontifical Council for Culture and Inter-religious Dialogue document titled, Jesus Christ: the Bearer of the Water of Life. It's a great resource in dealing with New Age practices, the new world order and the current "religion" of man. In short, it's about liberating ourselves and non-believers from evil possession and temptations which enslave us through sin. It's a great Church guide to read but even more so to study in a parish group.

Feb

Jesus is the answer to evil

Today's Gospel covers what many people are afflicted with: evil spirits or enslavement to self and sin. Too many try to deal with the sickness by occult practices: a Ouija Board, a crystal ball for fortune-telling, New Age beliefs and other methods of clairvoyance. We think we can do it all on our own. However, self-centred activities are often an invitation to make the problem worse. We cannot save ourselves.

Feb

"We all want to know what is true and to do what is right"

We post a great reflection by Fr. Paul Scalia about the true source of freedom and grace that saves souls. The meditation comes from the Magnificat and taken from Scalia's book, From That Nothing May Be Lost: Reflections on Catholic Doctrine and Devotion. He's pastor of St. James Catholic Church in Virginia. Do also check out some of his homilies.

Feb

"The Entire Bible in 58 minutes"

Author Johannes Hartl gives an insightful one hour You Tube talk about the Bible. Here's what he writes about himself on his website:

My name is Johannes and as a speaker and author I deal with the topics of meaning, connectedness and faith. After studying philosophy and German language and literature, I earned a doctorate in Catholic theology and founded the House of Prayer in Augsburg together with my wife in 2005.

Feb

"Why We Rejoice to Carry the Cross"

The Gospel reading for today comes from St. Mark 8: 34-38:

Jesus called the crowd with his disciples, and said to them, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it.