Ottawa Reflections

12/08/2024

Muriel Spark was 86 years old when her witty, biting novel The Finishing School was released. The novel crowned an immensely productive writing career. We meet Rowland Mahler, the young founder of …

28/07/2024

Muriel Spark’s dark and casually brutal 1970 novel, The Driver’s Seat, throws the reader off balance. The boundary between victim and perpetrator is all but erased. Everyone seems disto…

08/04/2024

Dusk at half past three -- a short-short reflection on the eclipse and a fleeting moment in Ottawa's Richelieu Park:

The city worker carried on with his duties moments before the eclipse — the one that a continent had awaited enthusiastically. A dozen people and their dogs gathered in Ottawa’s Richeli…

08/04/2024

A Five-Part Series on How the Republican Party’s Love-Affair with Viktor Orbán May Change Life in America -- by András B. Göllner The visit by Hungary’s Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán, to Donald Trum...

02/03/2024

A fledgling novelist in his twenties writes a letter to one of the bestselling authors of the twentieth century. He not only receives a response, but he’s also invited to the author’s a…

24/02/2024

Set in a l***r colony deep in the Congo, on the cusp of African decolonization, an atheist doctor from Europe and members of a Catholic religious order from Belgium cooperate in caring for society&…

09/01/2024

King’s College Theology Professor Alister McGrath’s 2010 book Why God Won’t Go Away is a refreshing read in this age of brash clickbait and sweeping statements. He can peel off di…

31/12/2023

There’s a ubiquitous template for many contemporary novels and it goes something like this: “an inspiring story of an oppressed protagonist who overcomes all odds and discovers herself.…

05/12/2023

Downtown Ottawa after the storm.

05/10/2023

Standing out from his bibliography of 26 novels, The Power and the Glory is arguably Graham Greene’s masterpiece. I reviewed this 1940 novel here. In short, we’re presented with the sto…

15/09/2023

Join us for the Rite of the Anointing of the Sick at St. Joseph's Church on Saturday, September 16th at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, September 17th at 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.

Suffering and illness have always been among the greatest problems of the human spirit. Christians feel and experience pain as do all other people; yet their faith helps them to grasp more deeply the mystery of suffering and to bear their pain with great courage. The Lord himself showed great concern for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the sick and commanded his followers to do the same.

This weekend, St. Joseph's Parish will offer the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to all the members of the community at all Masses. Jesus teaches us, “Insofar as you did this to one of these, you did it to me.” We gather today to witness to this teaching and to pray in the name of Jesus the healer that the sick may be restored to health. Through this Eucharist and anointing we invoke his healing power.

15/09/2023

The St. Joe's Women's Centre is participating at the annual WOW Festival on the grounds of Ottawa City Hall today. The festival brings together non-profit organizations like the Women's Centre that serve vulnerable and marginalized populations facing mental health, addictions and physical health challenges. Jennifer Clark and Alia Reynolds are representing the St. Joe's Women's Centre and have been sharing information on the social justice outreach programs and the safe, inclusive space that we offer at 151 Laurier Avenue East.

04/09/2023

I went to see the film Golda, currently playing in Canadian cinemas. I've always been fascinated by Golda Meir and as a kid I had a 10 Shekel note featuring her in my banknote collection. Meir wasn’t a saint and this film doesn’t provide a synopsis of her whole life and all her political views or statements. But mature adults don’t expect men to be saints when they hold political office and we shouldn’t hold women in politics to different standards or higher expectations either. And besides, many canonized saints had a track record of worse sins than many politicians. This film, however, weaves together Golda Meir the politician and the human — a woman in her seventies facing acute public and personal crises at the same time.

We learn the most about a person by how they respond to a crisis. Israeli film director Guy Nattiv’s movie on Golda Meir focuses on just three weeks in the life and times of Israel’s fi…

28/08/2023

I finished reviewing Graham Greene's 1951 novel The End of the Affair. It's considered to be one of his literary masterpieces. The tragic story itself — and especially the raw telling of it — is so genuine and earnest that it’s bound to appeal to a contemporary generation that is said to value authenticity. And anyway -- it's hard to resist a novel where the protagonist is a saint and an adulterer at the same time.

Sarah Miles is a saint. She’s also an adulterer who labels herself “a bitch and a fake.” Graham Greene’s 1951 novel The End of the Affair, narrated in the first-person, tell…

27/07/2023

Are you looking for a good read on the beach, by the pool or at the cottage? The 1955 novella Loser Takes All is a "frivolity" from British author Graham Greene. It's light-hearted, but the writing has Greene’s celebrated style: sharp dialogue, economical language that nonetheless paints a vivid picture and fantastic dry humour. The story is about a couple that plans a simple wedding in England, only to be convinced to get married in glitzy Monte Carlo instead. What could possibly go wrong? Here's my review:

Graham Greene referred to his 1955 novella Loser Takes All as a “frivolity.” Yet that shouldn’t lead any reader to think that this book is throwaway pulp fiction. The story of a c…

18/07/2023

I went to see the British film The Lesson, currently playing at ByTowne Cinema in Ottawa. The story is centred on revered and enigmatic novelist J.M. Sinclair and the aspiring young writer who is hired to tutor Sinclair's son on the family's country estate. Amidst the loud blockbusters, the fantasy sci-fi films spliced with computer-generated special effects, and the horror remakes, The Lesson -- a 'slow burn' type story -- is a quiet, thoughtful, darkly funny film set in the English summer. Sinclair’s oft-repeated motto, “good writers borrow, great writers steal,” alerts the viewer that all may not be what it seems in the life and work of this celebrated novelist...

Thanks to ByTowne Cinema for playing this indie film in the Canadian capital! Here is my review:

10/07/2023

One of the most powerful aspects of this book is how the author, Mark Freestone, takes us along his own process of learning, trial and error as a young professional in an exceptionally difficult field -- working with psychopaths in prisons and secure hospitals. Here's my book review.

It might seem counterintuitive to describe Dr. Mark Freestone’s book exploring psychopathy as a breezy read, yet that’s exactly what it was. That’s also why I found it this summer…

05/06/2023

This past Sunday, I toured places in Ottawa I wouldn’t otherwise visit — thanks to Doors Open Ottawa. The hospitality and welcome at every location was most striking. Volunteers in the different churches and organizations were genuinely proud of their community and were happy to share information with visitors. Doors Open Ottawa is a good reminder that there’s more to the city than just the most frequented federal landmarks. It’s also a reminder of the importance and value of volunteerism.

This past Sunday, I toured places in Ottawa I wouldn’t otherwise visit — thanks to Doors Open Ottawa. The event included free and open access to 89 different buildings and landmarks in …

29/05/2023

Hear a new audio excerpt from a powerful scene in twentieth century Canadian author Margaret Laurence's classic novel The Stone Angel. The elderly Hagar Shipley has escaped from her son Marvin’s house, in order to avoid being placed in a nursing home. She finds refuge in an abandoned building in the forest, along the coast. She has nothing but rainwater to drink until a stranger appears — Murray Ferney Lees. Hagar is suspicious and leery at first, but soon realizes that she has something in common with the stranger...

Recorded by Christopher Adam at Viva Recording Studios in Ottawa, Ontario.

In this scene from Margaret Laurence’s novel The Stone Angel, the elderly Hagar Shipley has escaped from her son Marvin’s house, in order to avoid being placed in a nursing home. She fi…

20/05/2023

This is an original audio-recorded reading from Evelyn Waugh's 1930 classic novel Vile Bodies. In this scene, passengers are travelling on a ship across the English Channel from France to Dover, England. At the heart of the humorous scene is a clever Jesuit, Father Rothschild, and the entrepreneurial Mrs. Melrose Ape, along with her troupe of young women dressed as angels. Everyone is terribly concerned about the weather and sea sickness, except for Mrs. Ape. She believes singing is the cure for every ill.

This is an audio recorded reading from Chapter 1 of the 1930 novel Vile Bodies. In this scene, passengers are travelling on a ship across the English Channel from France to Dover, England. At the h…

20/05/2023

Thanks to sound engineer Joey Boyer of Ottawa's Cave Recording Studios for assisting with this audio recording.

This is an audio recorded reading from Chapter 1 of the 1930 novel Vile Bodies. In this scene, passengers are travelling on a ship across the English Channel from France to Dover, England. At the h…