July 2016

My dad the ham

For those of us who are so entranced with the modern means of communication, we should acknowledge that there are those who went before us with the same desire to reach out over great distances. While the hobby has been in decline in recent years, for decades amateur radio (a.k.a. "ham radio") was the Internet of its day. My dad was a ham operator, and so I guess I got the bug from him.

About my coat of arms

One of the traditions associated with becoming a bishop is having a coat of arms. This is not mandatory in any way, but most bishops around the world have at least an unofficial coat of arms that they use, and some in Canada have received a formal grant of arms through the Canadian Heraldic Authority. The advantage of doing so, of course, is that the resulting coat of arms fully respects the heraldic tradition.

Visiting an old friend

I'm in Guelph, Ontario, at the Jesuit retreat centre, where I'll be doing the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius for 8 days. There is a cemetery in the back of the house where many Jesuits are buried, including Father George Topp. Many moons ago, when Father Topp was helping at the parish where I was as a teenager, he suggested that I think about becoming a priest. I remember the words being like a spear to my heart, piercing through my defenses with a clarity about my inner being.