The Vagrant Catholic Blog

In Ottawa Ontario Canada, the Salvation Army have just had approval from Ottawa’s City Council to move from their current location to 333 Montreal Road, in the Vanier area. The Salvation Army said that according to their research, they have many “clients” in the area, and as a result will be able to help more people than they can in their current location. They’re also going to put their money where their mouth is, spending fifty (50) million dollars for the new facility.

For some additional context to this, Vanier has a certain “reputation” in the city. Some buildings look run down, there’s questionable businesses like payday loans centres. The area has been described by many within the city as “sketchy”. As a result, residents of Ottawa (including those in Vanier proper) have voiced some concerns regarding the homeless shelter. During a conversation I recently had, they mentioned four concerns/comments regarding the building of the homeless shelter:

1) Concerns about “the population it brings” (ie; more homeless people migrating to Vanier).
2) Shelters “entrench” homelessness.
3) The quality of life in the area will go down.
4) Only through economics and revenue generation can we fight homelessness. Instead of spending fifty million on a shelter, the money should be used towards grants so people can startup businesses.

For the first point, I mentioned something in my last post about this, but I want to discuss it in more detail. Primarily because it’s personal; I was once homeless myself, and this first point and what it entails is something I know about.

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For many years I have posted on the Catholic Answers Forum (“CAF”).  During my time there, I saw a conversation involving some posters who were advocates for the Society of Saint Pius X (“SSPX”).  The current status of the Society is quite irregular, and their current circumstances can be somewhat difficult to both understand and explain. As a result, I’ve decided to compile some information regarding both the past and present of the SSPX, including a timeline of events and some summaries.

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I do not write as much as I used to, my tendinitis in both hands has prevented me from doing so. It’s been quite painful for many weeks now, so I have been wearing hand braces and reserving my efforts for work purposes.

However on this day, I must share a few different notes. Some of which is about my Patron Saint, on this his feast day and after the Transistus. And some words about other things as well.

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I’d have an easier time understanding the concept of assisted suicide within Canada if the proposed law strictly stuck with the terminally ill. But, the proposed law doesn’t; in fact many say it doesn’t reach far enough. People are advocating that assisted suicide be available to those with mental illnesses. “Unbearable suffering”, whatever that may imply.

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Every year the Archdiocese of Ottawa holds the “St. Don Bosco Gala”, in which awards are given to people for the efforts in youth ministry.  This year I received the “Don Bosco: Heart of Youth Ministry” award, which considering that it’s named after the Gala itself is quite the honor.

In lieu of giving a speech, I wrote some thoughts and placed them on the Facebook event, which are as follows: Continue reading →

In light of Pope Francis being in the news with his address to Congress, his critique(s) of capitalism, and his comments regarding refugees and immigrants. It brings my mind theological constructs, economic theories, and other socio-political issues – as well as the reactions from both believers and non-believers.

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There are times when God calls the most unlikely of us to perform His Will that we marvel at how nigh impossible it is for us to do things on our own. Look no further than one of the most improbable cases in history, a gentleman named Giovanni Battista Enrico Antonio Maria Montini.

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Something that has been on my mind and heart lately has been what it means to serve others. The concept of having a “servant’s heart” is easily found in Scripture, and it’s something that is occasionally talked about in Christian circles. The mindset and desire to selflessly, sacrificially, serve others regardless of how you feel about them and what it may or may not cost you. To do so without any form of bitterness or resentment, with no anger. You live to serve anyone you come across with words, actions, and resources – without any hesitation.

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In an earlier post I talked about my journey back towards Catholicism. What people sometimes don’t talk about is the journey that takes place after you make that fateful decision to follow Christ, and the difficulties one can face while they move forward. At some point you will be tested, at some point you will need to start considering more than just the experience you had not long ago.

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Ontario’s currently sitting Liberal government announced a bit ago that they were moving forward with a controversial new physical education and sex education curriculum, and there’s a few people not happy about it.

Some parents are concerned that some things are going to be taught too soon for their liking. Some parents want to be the first to talk to their children about these things. Some parents feel that enough isn’t going to be taught (where’s the discussion points on examining a woman’s natural fertility cycle and fertility awareness)? Morality-wise, obviously some parents don’t like how the content is going to be presented (in what may surprise some, a lot of the content they would be fine with being taught, but they may not like how it is approached).

Speaking of morality, there’s others who are taking this as a flagrant attack against Catholicism, for obvious reasons. Yes, Catholic schools are publicly funded, but what’s the point of having a Catholic school board if you’re going to transform it into Public Schools 2.0? Well, unless the point of it is to attempt to subvert and transform Catholicism into a bastardized version of itself, since Catholicism is the biggest threat to rampant sexual relativity.

On a personal level, something that bothers me is I fail to see why the idea there are six genders is being taught in grade school, while mental illness is officially being taught in Grade 11/12. Inexcusable. This is in the same document as everything else. Anal sex is more important than mental illness, at least until the next time a large corporation makes a day of things (#BellLetsTalk).

There’s all sorts of articles, blogs, and websites out there that highlight the above. And it’s been all over social media, with lots of people chiming in with their opinion. And make no mistake, I’m glad people are talking about this, as it never hurts to have a discussion. Which is actually one of parents’ big concerns; many felt they weren’t consulted. This perception was augmented when the announcement of this thing happened a few months before originally expected, conveniently leaked/announced early to distract people from fraud charges.

Which ties into perhaps the most under-discussed and under-reported element of this curriculum, is the political component. The political motives as to why this curriculum is coming down the pipes rapidly, the “whys”. As a political junkie, it’s hilarious to see the Wynne government pretend to say that they’re actually trying to put kid’s interests first, when the reality is she’s out for exactly two things:

1) Political survival.
2) Political legacy.

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