Columns

Suicide and Melancholy

Aug 15, 2020

We no longer understand melancholy. Today we lump all forms of melancholy together into one indiscriminate bundle and call it “depression”. While a lot of good is being done by psychiatrists, psychologists, and the medical profession in terms of treating depression, something important is being lost at the same time. Melancholy is much more than what we call “depression”. For better and for worse, the ancients saw melancholy as a gift from God.
The hidden cost of corruption

Aug 08, 2020

Recent events have thrust corruption scandals into the global headlines. But what may not be easily seen is that there is a hidden cost to corruption.
Letting go of false fear

Aug 08, 2020

Given the opportunity to leave family and friends a few last words, I think that after I first tried to say a proper goodbye, I’d say this: Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid of living or of dying. Especially don’t be afraid of God.
Dismantling xenophobia, reaching out to modern-day social outcasts

Aug 01, 2020

In many societies around the world, people have deep-rooted prejudices on the grounds of race or religion, even social class or gender.
On not locking our doors

Aug 01, 2020

In his book The Secret, Rene Fumoleau has a poem entitled Sins. Fumoleau, who was a missionary priest with the Dene Peoples in Northern Canada, once asked a group of Elders to name what they considered the worst sin of all.
Despondency and despair during times of darkness

Jul 25, 2020

Looking around us at the state of the world and the situation closer to home, it would be easy to sink into despondency.
Sacred permission to feel human …

Jul 25, 2020

It is normal to feel restless as a child, lonely as a teenager, and frustrated by lack of intimacy as an adult; after all we live with insatiable desires of every kind, none of which will ever find full fulfilment this side of eternity.
Amid persecution and darkness, expect the unexpected

Jul 18, 2020

These are dark days we live in. In many nations, democracy and basic freedoms, including media freedom, are under threat.
Some secrets worth knowing

Jul 18, 2020

Monks have secrets worth knowing, and these can be invaluable when a coronavirus pandemic is forcing millions of us to live like monks.
Why does God allow suffering and oppression at the hands of the powerful?

Jul 11, 2020

This is a timeless question that was asked long before Jesus arrived on the scene, by those who had to live through oppression under cruel rulers or imperial overlords.