In a ritual of humility and fraternity, Archbishop Richard Smith washed the feet of 12 Catholic Social Services community members, including refugees and immigrants who have settled in the Edmonton area with the support of CSS. “It has been a humbling experience. For me, I can say that [this act…
A humble soul does not trust itself, but places all its confidence in God. God defends the humble soul and lets Himself into its secrets, and the soul abides in unsurpassable happiness which no one can comprehend. ~Diary of St. Faustina[1] The Divine Mercy devotion, which originated in the 1930s,…
Homily [Acts 10:34a, 37-43; Psalm 118; Colossians 3:1-4; John 20:1-18] Our lives today are marked and shaped by online communication. Throughout the Internet, stories travel with lightning speed across a wide variety of platforms. With this comes the capacity to track what is most popular and talked about at any…
The Easter Vigil in the Holy Night Homily We have just listened attentively to a wide range of scriptural texts central to our Christian faith. Beginning with Genesis, we then moved through Exodus and the prophets, until finally hearing the Gospel’s proclamation of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.…
Homily [Isaiah 52:13-53:12; Psalm 31; Hebrews 4:14-16; 5:7-9; John 18:1-19:42] In a few minutes, we shall all be invited to come forward in procession for the Veneration of the Cross. This is a long-standing tradition here at the Basilica, yet it was paused for the last few years due to…
Homily [Exodus 12:1-8, 11-14; Psalm 116; 1Corinthians 11:23-26; John 13:1-15] This evening, we are richly blessed to have among us twelve special members of the Catholic Social Services community. These women and men have come to Canada as refugees from their homelands, and CSS has been assisting them to settle…
Chrism Mass 2024 Homily [Isaiah 61:1-3a, 6a, 8b-9; Psalm 89; Revelation 1:5-8; Luke 4:16-21] In October of 2021, Pope Francis launched the entire Church on a synodal process of discerning how the Holy Spirit is prompting new engagement of the mission entrusted to us by Jesus Christ. Like many of…
Passion Sunday 2024 Homily [Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22; Philippians 2:6-11; Mark 14:1 – 15:47] I had occasion to visit a few of our Catholic schools this past week. The children always have plenty of questions, and one in particular stood out for me from the others. A young lad in…
In his short life, the teenage St. Dominic Savio has provided a profound, lifetime witness to the reconciling power of the Cross of Christ. “Saint Dominic understood instinctively, and reminds us, that the only sure way to have people put down the stones is to lift up the crucifix,” Archbishop…
Sister Zoe Bernatsky is a member of the Ukrainian Catholic Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate and a professor of theology at Newman Theological College in Edmonton, Alberta. Sister Zoe lives in Edmonton with two other members of the Sister Servants of Mary Immaculate. She grew up in Regina, Saskatchewan and…