Dave MacDonald

Tonight at the Easter Vigil, my wife becomes Catholic. For 18 years she’s attended Mass with me. We’ve raised our children Catholic. Last year, she felt compelled to take that final step. Please pray for her, and for all those who tonight enter full communion with the Church.

This Easter Vigil marks twenty years since I came into the Church. I am grateful beyond words for every year in the life of grace.

Today we celebrate the mystery of Holy Saturday, where Jesus went to rescue the dead and continues to descend into the hopelessness that can dwell in each of our hearts. Asking prayers for a dear pastor who is currently in the hospital sustaining a stroke, two dear friends in their seventies (consecrated women) whose house burnt to the ground on Thursday, for another friend who has suffered so much in the last four months and is in critical condition and near death, and a Catholic school community that is suffering through an extreme crisis--that all may know Christ with them in their suffering.

I love this. Thursday night was the beginning of Passover (so lovely that it was also Holy Thursday). We live right next door to a Chabad House (Hasidic Jews). Last night when Sr. Rachel was getting home from singing at the Tenebrae service, the rabbi was waiting outside and asked if she could help them. (We've been asked once before.) They are strict observance and certain things are not allowed on sabbath and high holy days. They needed someone to turn the crockpot down. Sr. Rachel did that simple task for them and had such a delightful time with them talking about the passover and all that it means. We're so grateful that the Lord provided this house for us to live in which is right next door to them, our elder brothers--as John Paul II would call them. And it’s beautiful to me that they could be humble enough to ask us to do this so simple thing for them.

Normally I attend the Easter Vigil at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at Notre Dame, but there are so many catechumens entering the Church this year that they’re limiting seating almost entirely to sponsors and family. I call that a win.

@PrayTheRosary I went to confession for the first time in 31 years today. Last time I was in confession, I was a senior in Catholic High School about to graduate. No anger or judgment from the priest today, just pure JOY that I was back.

Welcome to all those who are coming into the Church tonight.

@grantmccagg Cole takes the lead… tonight!

Nate "Empty Net" MacKinnon scored his 51st goal into..you guessed it...an empty net. Cole trails by two.

@Taylor_A_Eaton I invite anyone who believes this is true to enter any of the following terms into Google: daily readings; Catholic Bible study; Catholic Gospel reflections. We should engage in ways that bring us closer to God. Spreading falsehoods is never the answer.

To join the Roman Catholic Church is to functionally leave the gospel behind.

@RealCandaceO @TuckerCarlson Please get help. Your deliberate spreading of antisemitism is not only evil, it's mentally ill. You both need therapy. Ironically, the inventor of modern psychology was Sigmund Freud, who was Jewish! Hmmmmm... never mind. instagram.com/reel/DVMQ0-mD1…

In a surprise twist, the Epstein files released the attorney general.

Take a 102-year-old man from his home in Canada and you risk never seeing him alive again. That’s the MAID reality families fear. @OPP_News show up in Tillsonburg with a court order. Son: “Not opening the door. Break it if you have a warrant. It’s under appeal.” The father is clear: he’ll die where he chooses. He sounds clear and rational to me. The dispute? Sister wants the farm. Father wants to stay. She alleges dementia, son says he is clear and rational. Police are caught in the middle. But enforcing a Thursday night order on Good Friday with no time for legal response is dirty pool. In the end the officers leave because they are not going to kick down the door and the son knows it. The son also says he doesn't trust the police or the courts. These days, I don't blame him at all.

A downed US airman is being looked for by his comrades in arms, who are taught to leave no man behind. I cannot express with adequate words the profound respect I have for these brave ones: those who fight and those who risk their lives to bring a brother home. The best of us.

@Berger_BYTES I don’t know Howard. In today’s NHL that looks like a fine.

Apr. 1, 1965. #Montreal Forum. Game 1 of the #StanleyCup semifinals: #Leafs vs. #Canadiens. The Big M, today, would be suspended 15 games for the head-shot on #Habs defenseman Terry Harper. The scene was called by Danny Gallivan. The Leafs entered the playoffs with three consecutive #NHL championships under Punch Imlach. But, Montreal would end the streak and win four of the next five. #LeafsForever #CBC

@joansview @mtlgazette You may be right but I think the opposite. This law was passed to give the appearance of stopping the Jew hating law breaking on our streets. That takes the focus off of the criminal law. If they wouldn’t enforce the law before why would they now?

@mtlgazette Public prayers have not been banned but now require a municipal permit. I'm sure the annual way of the cross will be allowed a permit whereas spontaneous prayers in the street intended to block traffic and access to businesses and residences will not.

“I think it would be a shame if (this) were to end, because we live in a free society, so I feel like we should be able to." A day after Quebec passed its expanded secularism law banning collective public prayer, hundreds of people walked silently through the streets of Montreal to honour Jesus’s last day on earth, as they do every Good Friday in a procession known as the Way of the Cross. Read the latest: montrealgazette.com/news/it-would-…

@ADofCLE @farmingandJesus People in glass houses.

@davidgmac9 @farmingandJesus I'm not trying to lift my own. But calling out the idolatry of another is what I'm supposed to do.

When you’re crushed by your idolatry.

@The_Catechumen @ZeldaAGabriel No. We are required to go to Mass. Many people disagree with what the Church teaches because they do not understand. Moreover, we are all sinners. Who of us follows a Catholic lifestyle?

If you don’t believe what the Church teaches, don’t go to mass, and don’t live a Catholic lifestyle, you aren’t Catholic. There has been a trend on Twitter recently of comparing Catholic vs. Protestant statistics on moral issues, doctrinal unity, spiritual practices/reading, church attendance, etc. Which are used to denigrate the Catholic faith as such. Typically, it’s a comparison between evangelical Christians (which necessarily excludes mainline Protestants who have generally gone secular/liberal) and anyone who claims the name “Catholic.” Keep in mind that a large portion of American Catholics polled for these kinds of things 1. Don’t attend mass weekly 2. Don’t follow the teachings of the Church on faith or moral issues and 3. Aren’t living a Catholic lifestyle. This obviously results in a huge statistical shift, and that’s why I don’t really care to run to these reports. They poll people who claim to be Catholic but really aren’t.

@ADofCLE @farmingandJesus It’s counterproductive to criticize one group in order to elevate our own. In both of our traditions we have people acting in a manner that makes us wince. It would be intellectually dishonest to suggest snake charmers are reflective of Protestants theology

@davidgmac9 @farmingandJesus God wants our worship and friendship, and to actually spread his word. A large gathering to praise the Lord for his sacrifice, his work, and for breathing life into us is what we should be doing. Not carrying a statue that's not even Jesus.

People talk about the Habs being the youngest team in the league and lacking experience. In two years they might still be the youngest team. #gohabsgo

@farmingandJesus Not everything has to use words. I have no doubt that you bring people closer to God based on how you live your life even if you don’t say a thing.

@davidgmac9 What is the message of Jesus they are spreading? They aren’t preaching the gospel