Citizen Columns Every week Fr John answers a religious question in a column of the Ottawa Citizen. You can read them here, or e-mail Fr John and asked to be put on the weekly bulletin mailing list. To view the past Citizen Columns, select a month: May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 May 10 Question Why does denial of our appetites play such a large role in every faith? Apr 25 Question How does your faith group view guilt? Apr 18 Question Should companies or individuals have the right to own land or any natural resource forever? As part of the earth, doesn't it belong to everybody? Apr 04 Question Is your house of worship open to the public at all times? Mar 21 Question The United Church is reviewing whether its ads showing a bobble-headed Jesus was a good advertising campaign. What do you think of promoting God as "approachable" like this? Mar 14 Question In reading sacred scriptures, it seems religious figures want to challenge our complacency. So why do so many churches settle for mere respectability? Feb 22 Question When you meet clergy of your own faith, how do you greet each other and what is this greeting meant to signify? How would you greet other religious, such as the dalai lama? Feb 17 Question What does your faith group teach about heaven? Will we see our loved ones there? Jan 31 Question Recent books have said that the idea of God causes more harm than good and that atheism is the morally superior choice. How would you answer these authors? Jan 18 Question Are the congregations in your faith becoming more and more female? Are men reluctant to attend services? Why do you think that is? Jan 11 Question Which sin do you think modern society is most guilty of? Dec 14 Question What spiritual gift would you most like to give this year and to whom? What would you like to receive? Dec 06 Question How does your faith group handle sex education? Nov 23 Question Does your faith have saints? Nov 09 Question Does your faith have a sabbath or day of rest and, if so, is it falling into disuse? Nov 02 Question What is the significance of the Sabbath for your faith? Oct 26 Question With many people living longer these days how can families treat their elders with respect even though they may be getting ill tempered or confused? Oct 13 Question What do you make of people who say they are spiritual but not religious? Oct 05 Question You support a group of peace activists who lobby against Canadian involvement in Afghanistan. Then they ask you to run for political office. Do you accept? Sep 28 Question A young soldier has been asked to torture a prisoner believed to have knowledge of an imminent, massive attack on Canadian soil. If you were a military chaplain, what guidance could you offer the young man when he comes to you with moral doubts about this? Sep 14 Question What is your view on the issue of funding for faith based schools? Sep 07 Question How do you react to the crisis of faith experienced by Mother Teresa? Aug 24 Question If a person commits suicide, are they guilty of sin? Or has society, particularly their faith community, failed in some way? Aug 17 Question What single book or magazine should people read to find out more about your faith? Aug 09 Question Which three people would you say have been the most important spiritual leaders in Canada? Aug 03 Question Parents come to you distraught because their teenage child has dropped the family faith for shamanism or wicca. What do you say to the child? Jul 06 Question Paris Hilton said in prison that God had given her a second chance. Now that she has been released, what challenges will she face living up to that? Jun 29 Question Do you have an increasing number of faithful who practice more than one faith, i.e., Buddhist Christians? Jun 22 Question What is the importance of symbolism in your weekly rituals and liturgy? Are fewer people responding to it? Jun 15 Question What is your faith's view of sin? Is it a single reprehensible act, or a pattern of behaviours that take us away from our fullest selves? Jun 08 Question Sermons are for sale on the Internet. Is it wrong to use them? May 18 Question Parishioners go to the their clergyman to confess sins and talk out problems. But who does the clergy go to? Mar 10 Question How important is "being happy" in your theology? How is it different from joy? Feb 24 Question Does your faith group preach that some diseases can be miraculously cured? Feb 17 Question Scientists tells us that the sun has a finite life and will eventually destroy our earth in a fiery inferno. Does your religion believe this prediction, and if so, does your religion believe that God will intervene to save mankind? Feb 10 Question If closeness to God is so wonderful, why does goodness seem so dull? Feb 03 Question Does your faith group have any military chaplains? How do you square the circle between the ultimate goal of peace and ministering to the men and women who go to war? Jan 27 Question What is our moral obligation to friends we just don't like anymore? Jan 20 Question What is your religion's point of view on cosmetic surgery? Jan 13 Question What is your religion's most significant work of art and why? Dec 16 Question Does your faith have a mystical side (speaking in tongues, Kabballah, Sufism, for instance)? Can anyone practice it? Dec 02 Question Does the devil walk among us and how can we tell? Nov 25 Question How do you minister to people who were once faithful but now are not so sure? Nov 11 Question How does your faith conceive of hell? Is it a place? A state of mind? Will bad people really go there forever? Nov 04 Question How should religiously-slanted theories such as creationism be handled in public schools? Oct 28 Question Is it possible not to follow a particular religion and still go to heaven or please God? Oct 21 Question How do you respond to people who say religion causes more harm than good? Oct 07 Question How does your faith group collect money from the faithful and what is it meant to cover? Does your church have other sources of income, such as investments? Can anyone ask to see the books? Sep 30 Question Skeptics often accuse church members, especially clergy, of being hypocrites who are no more successful than anyone else in living a good, moral life, and in fact, stumbling in more spectacular, public ways. How do you respond? Sep 23 Question What does your faith believe about the end of the world and what will happen to the faithful? What is the Rapture? Sep 16 Question What is the role of mission in your community. Does your faith see evangelism or spreading the word of God to non-believers as part of its duty? What is your opinion of other faiths trying to convert your members? Sep 09 Question What is moral relativism and why do some theologians feel it has so damaged modern society? Aug 05 Question When we pray, how can we know it is God answering us, and not our own emotions or ego? Jul 29 Question Are clergy allowed to marry in the Orthodox tradition and if so why or why not? Jul 22 Question Is the devil real? Jul 08 Question Why is God hidden from us? Jul 01 Question What common misconception would you most like to correct about your faith group? Jun 24 Question If you had one message to impart throughout your ministry what would it be? Jun 17 Question What is more important, love or wisdom, and why? Jun 10 Question Why is female modesty important in your faith? Is it more important for women to be modest than men and if so, why? Jun 03 Question A neuroscientist in Quebec has conducted experiments on nuns to see if he can capture the experience of being at one with God. What are the pros and cons of such an endeavor? May 27 Question What is the most sacred site in the world for your faith group and why? May 20 Question Every faith has a number of set formats for worship. What is the role of such ceremony in our relationship to God? May 13 Question Do miracles really happen? If so, what do they mean? May 06 Question Why do you think The Da Vinci Code has spurred so much public reaction? Apr 29 Question What is your faith group's view on evolution and intelligent design? Apr 22 Question What would constitute a 'just' war? Apr 08 Question If Christ's resurrection saved us, why aren't we all in heaven? Or hell? Didn't He defeat evil and death forever? What is your faith group's view of salvation and how humans can reach it? Mar 25 Question Have you ever lost your faith?
Every week Fr John answers a religious question in a column of the Ottawa Citizen. You can read them here, or e-mail Fr John and asked to be put on the weekly bulletin mailing list.
To view the past Citizen Columns, select a month: May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006
