My uncle Brendan is my dad Wayne’s middle brother. When I was just a kid, he married my aunt Nancy. They lived together in London, Ontario. They never had any kids, but we would drive up there from Markham and visit them occasionally. One thing that stands out in my memory is the breakfast that they would cook us when we visited. My grandmother who passed away in 2019 also lived in London, as well as my uncle Ron, and my aunt Shelly. Brendan and Nancy would make the best breakfast with eggs, sausage, bacon, and toast, and I remember there being so much. They also shared the Catholic faith with me in a special way. I grew up Roman Catholic but I was a nominal Christian and I didn’t get born again until I was 21. Being born again isn’t really a Catholic thing, Catholics believe you are born again at baptism, but my conversion at 21 just made me appreciate my faith in a deeper way. I still have conversations with my aunt Nancy about my faith, and I remember her telling me one...
What is the greatest gift you can give yourself this new year or better yet what is the greatest gift you can receive? I believe it’s the gift of repentance. What causes regret in your life? Is it broken relationships, a failed marriage, anger, unforgiveness? God provides a remedy for all of these things which are caused by sin, and that is repentance. We all want to feel the joy in life, we all want to feel happiness, but the more we sin and live a sinful lifestyle, we feel we have to cover up our sins in order to feel a sense of peace. But true peace comes from not living any way we want to live, but by living a holy life, in fellowship with the Father. I encourage you to start this new year by being honest with yourself, if you have relationships that are broken, if you have sinned gravely, repent, if you don’t you will take all these sins with you not just into the new year with you, but you will take them with you when you die. This is what the bible refers to when it...