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A House Divided

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Today's Gospel: Mk 3:22-30 The scribes who had come from Jerusalem said of Jesus, "He is possessed by Beelzebul," and "By the prince of demons he drives out demons." Summoning them, he began to speak to them in parables, "How can Satan drive out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house will not be able to stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself and is divided, he cannot stand; that is the end of him. But no one can enter a strong man's house to plunder his property unless he first ties up the strong man. Then he can plunder his house. Amen, I say to you, all sins and all blasphemies that people utter will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never have forgiveness, but is guilty of an everlasting sin." For they had said, "He has an unclean spirit." Reflection from Bishop Barron: Friends, in today’s Gospel, scrib

Caméra perdue à la sortie du sentier du Lac Kénogami

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 Au cas où quelqu'un me cherche en faisant des recherches par image, je vais mettre ici quelques photos qui étaient encore dans ma caméra. Malheureusement, je ne peux pas mettre les plus récentes, je ne les avaient pas encore téléchargé.

Doit-on permettre l’aide à mourir?

(Un travail que j'ai rédigé pour un cours de rédaction l'automne dernier.) L’euthanasie est légale au Canada depuis 2015, mais est-ce qu’elle est un bien moral pour la société? Il ne suffit pas d’être légal pour qu’une chose soit morale. L’euthanasie n’est pas un soin, elle est une fuite. La personne qui veut mourir fuit la souffrance et une société qui voit la personne comme un fardeau fuit la responsabilité. Ce qui commence par le « droit » de mourir peut très bien devenir le « devoir » de mourir. La souffrance insupportable, qu’elle soit physique ou psychologique, doit être adressée de manière convenable. La douleur physique incontrôlable est rare avec les avancées considérables des dernières années et est souvent due à un manque de formation. Il faut comprendre les facteurs qui peuvent influencer la douleur. « Heureusement, le système nerveux peut changer et devenir moins sensible et réactif […], mais cela prend du temps, des répétitions fréquentes et de la pratique. » 

An Essay by my 18-year-old-self on Gerard Manley Hopkins

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 A shout out to my grade eleven English teacher, John MacLean I probably never would have discovered Gerard Manley Hopkins in the first place if it had not been for Mr. MacLean. The best literature teacher I ever had, even including my very small foray into university literature classes. University literature classes make me glad that I am studying translation instead and only have to take four literature classes - although I admit to being glad I took them, and especially enjoyed the medieval French and English literature. I think Mr. MacLean is still teaching English in a High School in Halifax N.S. somewhere. Some comments before we get started I'm surprised I even knew what alliteration, repetition and internal rhyme were. I'm guessing I read other people's commentaries on his poetry and they used those terms. I had plenty of time to forget what alliteration was until taking my two English Literature classes this semester. I don't think I had any clue who John Henry

An Exercise in Close Reading - Paradise Lost - John Milton

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And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer Before all Temples th’upright heart and pure, Instruct me, for Thou know’st; Thou from the first Wast present, and with mighty wings outspread Dove-like satst brooding on the vast Abyss And mad’st it pregnant: What in me is dark Illumine, what is low raise and support; That to the highth of this great Argument I may assert th’Eternal Providence, And justifie the ways of God to men. -- John Milton, Paradise Lost, Book One Lines 17-26 -- An exercise in analytical close reading of the text: And chiefly Thou O Spirit, that dost prefer:  “And” implies something or someone else. Milton has already mentioned the Shepherd and the Heav’nly Muse. Now he comes to a third entity. “Chiefly” signifies that this particular entity is the most important. “Thou” with a capital T implies a number of things: 1. That the speaker is speaking directly to someone, 2. That the person is someone to whom great respect is owed, but paradoxically 3. Because

Christian Themes in Literature: Medieval texts vs Renaissance Texts

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  Thanks to Martin Luther and his 95 theses, Christians were freed (among other things) from the troublesome necessity of doing good works (or paying for indulgences) to gain salvation. By Shakespeare’s time, many texts no longer have Christianity as a central theme; instead, Christianity is moved to the back burner in secular texts and rarely mentioned. In older medieval texts, even epic Pagan stories of kings and thanes like Beowulf have Christian themes running through them and allusions to a Christian God. In Twelfth Night, upon a gentleman’s arrival at the gate, Sir Toby declares, “Let him be the devil an he will, I care not. Give me faith, say I . ” (Shakespeare 1.5.125-126) In other words, leave him alone; release him of any expectations. Leave him free to be what he wants. What manner of person he is, what station in life he has, his rank or class do not matter; they are of little consequence. He could be the devil, Satan himself if he wanted to be, and it would not matter. Ir

Walt Whitman: Religious Democracy

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 Born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, New York, Walt Whitman is a controversial figure in American Poetry, considered by some to be “America’s Poet” and by others a self-centred windbag. Contrary to poets like T.S. Eliot or Ezra Pound, Walt Whitman does not look for meta-narratives to find meaning in the world. Instead, he finds meaning in what is in front of him. All the mundane things we see and do give just as much meaning to life as the mystical epiphanies we experience. The physical is just as important as the spiritual. Walt Whitman challenges the polarization of both Gnostic religious ideas in a society still influenced by puritanism and the idea of democracy as uniformity of thought and expression within the context of a young republic.  Whitman was born towards the end of the Industrial Revolution, only 36 years after the end of the American Revolution. At 13, he learned to set type in a printer’s officer. At 16, he was spending summers along the coast of Long Isl