On the Threshold

Papal Mass shows Church remains deaf to residential school survivors Glen Argan Will the Catholic Church ever get it right? After listening to Pope Francis’ homily in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium on July 26, I now think the lack of understanding of the damage Church institutions did through the residential school system is so profound that we are almost beyond hope. The lack of empathy for how residential school survivors and their descendants will hear the pope’s words beggars belief....

Dead faith of the living on display Papal Mass shows Church remains deaf to residential school survivors Glen Argan Will the Catholic Church ever get it right? After listening to Pope Francis’ homily in Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadiu…

Unsplash photo from Omar Lopez By Glen Argan Grouchy old Qoholeth, the author of Ecclesiastes, was never a fun guy. So it should not have surprised me when I stumbled on this bit of his “wisdom”: “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning; but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth.” (Eccl 7.4) Well, may you have a good day too. To read the full article, go to

Laughter can spark wisdom Unsplash photo from Omar Lopez By Glen Argan Grouchy old Qoholeth, the author of Ecclesiastes, was never a fun guy. So it should not have surprised me when I stumbled on this bit of his “wisdom”: “…

By Glen Argan U.S. President Joe Biden is the most publicly religious American president since at least Jimmy Carter. Biden is knowledgeable of Catholic social teaching. He is comfortable talking about his faith, attends Mass weekly and prays his rosary regularly. Yet, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is not comfortable with Biden. The reason? He is an unabashed supporter of abortion rights....

Biden book skirts key questions By Glen Argan U.S. President Joe Biden is the most publicly religious American president since at least Jimmy Carter. Biden is knowledgeable of Catholic social teaching. He is comfortable talking a…

In the Gospel for Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, Jesus two sets of two brothers to follow him. Both leave everything behind immediately and become Jesus’ disciples. But there are differences between the two sets of brothers. Find out what those differences are and how those differences affect their ways of following Jesus in my commentary on my newsletter Epiphany.

What difference does a Boat Make? In the Gospel for Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021, Jesus two sets of two brothers to follow him. Both leave everything behind immediately and become Jesus’ disciples. But there are differences between the tw…

Glen Argan I have launched a new newsletter, Epiphany, on the writers' publishing platform. There, I will provide commentary on current social issues from a Catholic perspective, reflections on the Scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday and other topics that tweak my interest. I plan to write two or three times a week, much more than I have been writing on my own website and hope to reach a much wider audience than I have been able to muster here....

Subscribe to my free newsletter Glen Argan I have launched a new newsletter, Epiphany, on the writers’ publishing platform. There, I will provide commentary on current social issues from a Catholic perspective, reflections …

By Glen Argan Pope Francis spoke for the common good on Christmas Day when he called for the world’s nations to ensure that those who are poor receive their fair share of the vaccine for the coronavirus. "We cannot allow the various forms of nationalism closed in on themselves to prevent us from living as the truly human family that we are," the pope said....

Call for Vaccine Sharing Met with Silence By Glen Argan Pope Francis spoke for the common good on Christmas Day when he called for the world’s nations to ensure that those who are poor receive their fair share of the vaccine for the corona…

Sadness has no place in the Nativity of Life By Glen Argan In a famous fifth-century sermon, St. Leo the Great preached that Christmas is a time for rejoicing. “Sadness should have no place in the birthday of life.” Christmas was still a new …

By Glen Argan In a famous fifth-century sermon, St. Leo the Great preached that Christmas is a time for rejoicing. “Sadness should have no place in the birthday of life.” Christmas was still a new liturgical feast at that time, unencumbered by the heavy weight of consumerism which has distorted its meaning today. No frantic gift buying, no long waits in crowded airports, no flurry of social events....

Sadness has no place in the Nativity of Life By Glen Argan In a famous fifth-century sermon, St. Leo the Great preached that Christmas is a time for rejoicing. “Sadness should have no place in the birthday of life.” Christmas was still a new …

By Glen Argan The Chinese government has unjustly imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. They are innocent pawns in a high-stakes game China is playing with Canada to secure the release of Meng Wanzhou, chief financial officer of Huawei Technologies. The United States wants Wanzhou extradited to face fraud charges. Kovrig and Spavor deserve freedom, not to spend the rest of their lives in prison. [ 683 more words ]

Canada should not bow to China’s strongarm tactics By Glen Argan The Chinese government has unjustly imprisoned Canadians Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor. They are innocent pawns in a high-stakes game China is playing with Canada to secure the re…

(Published in The Catholic Register, June 21, 2020 By Glen Argan It’s astonishing that, amidst massive protests across the United States against police racism, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki had to sort through various definitions of systemic racism to determine whether it was endemic to Canada’s national police force. At first, she claimed the RCMP was free of systemic racism before doing an about-face and admitting that racism is indeed entrenched in the Mounties. [ 682 more words ]

RCMP brass need greater awareness of systemic racism (Published in The Catholic Register, June 21, 2020 By Glen Argan It’s astonishing that, amidst massive protests across the United States against police racism, RCMP Commissioner Brenda Lucki had to…

(Published in The Catholic Register, June 6, 2020) By Glen Argan Creation is a symphony, a symphony which only God hears in its fullness. I hope God is listening. I hope that in creation’s symphony, my out-of-tune voice will be gathered with the voices of more exquisite singers to sing a song of joy and praise to the beauty of God and the beauty of creation. [ 680 more words ]

God harmonizes dissonant voices in divine symphony (Published in The Catholic Register, June 6, 2020) By Glen Argan Creation is a symphony, a symphony which only God hears in its fullness. I hope God is listening. I hope that in creation’s symphony…

Published in The Catholic Register, May 21, 2020) By Glen Argan In Alberta, the province where I live, those hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic are workers in meat processing plants. At High River’s Cargill plant, Canada’s largest meat-processing facility, 936 cases of covid-19 had been reported as of May 4 with hundreds more among people in the community who are associated with Cargill workers. [ 704 more words ]

Industrial meat production plays role in creation of new diseases Published in The Catholic Register, May 21, 2020) By Glen Argan In Alberta, the province where I live, those hardest hit by the covid-19 pandemic are workers in meat processing plants. At High Rive…