Do you want the Good Life? Listen to the Expert

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

“Everyone’s a critic.” That is a common joke, a line made famous in shows such as I Love Lucy, Frasier, Satursday Night Live and even SpongeBob SquarePants. Everyone's a critic, just ask Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets Show. I use this line all the time, especially when I indulge in some sarcastic sensibility. At times, I amend it to: “Everyone’s an expert.” Everyone “knows” what’s best. We all want to speak our minds. We effortlessly share our two cents, and they usually end up being four dollars and change.

On the Camino With Santiago – Alissa Golob

By Santiago Rodriguez, S.J.

This is my new interview column. Once a month, I will feature some of my personal heroes. These are men and women who are addressing some of the most important challenges of our time. 

My first interviewee is Alissa Golob. She is originally from Peterborough, Ontario. As the Youth Coordinator at Campaign Life Coalition, she has travelled across Ontario, addressing Canada’s youth, and motivating them to become active in the pro-life movement. She has been featured on various radio and television programs such as ByLine with Brian Lilley, The Arena with Michael Coren, Global Television, as well as in a recent documentary called The 12 Biggest Lies, where she spoke about the myth of overpopulation and the humanization of a fetus. She recently organized the Defund Abortion Rally at Queens Park, Toronto, which had over 2,000 people in attendance. She is also one of the main organizers of the March for Life, the largest pro-life event in Canada to date, which consists of a pro-life rally on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, a Youth Banquet dinner and a Youth Conference. 

Santiago Rodriguez: What inspired you to do the type of work you do today? 

Alissa Golob: When I was 13 years old, I saw my first image of an aborted baby and it really drove me to become more involved in pro-life activism. I grew up praying to end abortion, but when I actually saw what it did to a baby, it was something I just couldn’t ignore. My parents were always very encouraging and supportive, and helped me grow in knowledge and strength, which helped me continue on in pro-life activism throughout my teenage years. Since then, it has always been something I’ve been very passionate about, which is why, I believe, God led me to do this work full-time.

Why Doctor-assisted Suicide is a Bad Idea

By John D. O’Brien, S.J.

What do you do when a loved one has a terminal disease, is in prolonged, acute pain, and needs a ventilator and feeding tubes to be kept alive? Have far do we go to prolong life with technology—is the law of sustaining life to only go so far and no further?

This is a perennial and complex question that vexes both private citizens and ethicists, both secular and religious. Thankfully, the Church offers clear teaching on the matter. We can distinguish between ordinary measures, providing food, water and special treatment—including ventilation if there is an expectation of healing and not just the prolonging of death—and extraordinary measures, which might be possible but disproportionate to the expected outcome, and can be opted against. The criteria are both reasonable and compassionate.

As Christians, we are not afraid of natural death, for it is the entry into new life. At the same time, we do not believe that suffering invalidates the inherent value of a human life. As our society increasingly loses its sense of this value, moves to adopt a more Dutch model of assisted suicide are making strides once again. Of note, the British Columbia Supreme Court as well as the Quebec National Assembly recently ruled in favour of legalizing physician-assisted suicide.

How Much Does it Cost?

By Edmund Lo, S.J.

June has been quite an interesting month for China. In addition to the anniversary of the Tiananmen massacre on June 4th, there was also the death of the Chinese dissident, Li Wangyang, which the local government officials hastily labelled a “suicide”. The case of Li, however, leaves behind so many suspicious traces that media outlets in Hong Kong have cheekily reported that Li did not commit suicide, but rather, he was “suicided”. Although China's economical boom in recent years have allowed her to flex her muscles on the international scene and to have a similar calling power as the United States, social critics are now asking the question: at what cost is this economic prosperity is taking place, especially highlighted by the case of Li.

Venezuela: A Prose Poem

By Eric Hanna, S.J.

I have drunk deeply from the cup of life!
Outside my windows, people sing.
At dinner, tiny Sister Wilma cackled like a wicked witch at the jests of young scholastics.

The white walls of the Casa Praetoria were sprayed with neat, red letters spelling "con los trabajados y Chavez!"

The woman who worked at Fe y Alegria explained that there were three hundred thousand students being educated for free or for voluntary donations.

The one who worked at JRS said that they have to bend over backwards with politeness to a mistrusting government in order to change the word 'refugee' to 'person' in the minds of policy makers.

The Injustice of Life: Offer It Up to the Lord

By Br. Daniel Leckman, S.J.

“Life is short, and then you die.” This may not be the best way to describe the cycle of life and death; especially not to a grieving family!  But it’s a start. In fact, reading through the books of wisdom in the Bible has helped me confront the themes of death and of imperfection in creation. Amazingly enough, the sentiment expressed above is found in one of the books of Wisdom.  I won’t tell you which one though! I’ll let people guess via the comments section of this post!

I can tell you, however, that these books ( Job, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom etc…) are ripe with such “rebellious statements” that deny the perfection of God’s creation. The rebellion they express is not against God, but against an idea of God that dates back to ancient Israel:  God works perfectly through creation. Through creation, he takes care of all those who revere and fear him. Anyone else who suffers calamity does so because they’ve sinned against the Almighty. They must repent in order to be ‘restored’.