The earliest memories I have of the first steps in my faith journey are a large wooden statue of Our Lady of Grace that I played with, and my mother teaching me a song at age four, “Jesus Loves Me”. At four years old, I had a sense of knowing Jesus and learning the song…
All posts by Pete MacNaughton
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The Sacramental Pilgrimage
I’m at a point in my seminary studies where I’m looking at Christology, namely, the branch of theology relating to the nature, role, and person of Christ. I need to confess that in my youth, I seemed to have a stronger knowing, a somehow more basic belief or even sense of who Jesus was. I’m…
Saint Francis and the Homeless
This year will be the third anniversary of my travelling from Regina to Toronto to profess my vows as a Franciscan. Prior to my profession, I was required to read several books on Franciscan theology and spirituality, and write reflections based on the material I had read. Something that stuck with me was the intensity…
Untitled Reflection
I haven’t thought of a title for this reflection. And the reality is, when I think about the gravity of what the resurrection means, I am reminded of just exactly how small I am in this universe, and how great the mercy of God actually is. What I can tell you is that recently in…
Logs and Splinters: How to Improve the Independent Catholic Movement
There is a volume that, when the title is mentioned, still gives me the chills. “Bishops at Large” (Peter F. Anson, Apocryphil Press, 2006), is a heavy, heavy tome dedicated to the various Independent Catholic denominations that sprang up in the 19th and 20th centuries in the UK, Australia, and parts of America and Canada.…
The First Candle
Two years ago, at age forty-five, I celebrated my first Advent and Christmas as a baptized Catholic within an Independent Catholic denomination. The first candle was lit on my small oratory table in my bedroom before I prayed Matins and Lauds, the official beginning for my day as, at that time, a Franciscan postulant. The…