Project Advance funding helps support outreach to the Downtown Eastside among many other projects and ministries. This year’s campaign is aimed at empowering parishes in being centres of worship, proclamation, and outreach. (Project Advance)

From youth to homeless, Project Advance set to help for another year

For the last 17 years, Project Advance has helped Sancta Maria House maintain its Vancouver facility, where it runs a home for women looking to heal from substance abuse and related problems.

University athletes with professional ambitions don’t usually come to mind in mental health discussions, but Kieran Eve is opening up about his personal struggles so he can help people see that mental health concerns aren’t limited to a certain type of person. “It’s always a good message that ‘if someone is going through something mentally, it’s normal,’” the 2019 Archbishop Carney Secondary graduate told The B.C. Catholic. “There are people out there to help you through it. Don’t just think you need to get through it by yourself. You aren’t weak. It’s important to get the help that you need.” Eve, who just finished his second year of business at Trinity Western and currently plays for the TWU Spartan soccer team, was recently featured in a Bell Let’s Talk video where he shared his experience with mental illness. He remembers talking with his father about finding a way to share his mental health experience with others. His father told him that God would give him an opportunity, and the next day Kieran received an email from TWU asking for athletes who wanted to share their experiences with mental illness. His mental health struggle started during COVID when lockdowns and closures left him socially isolated. He has always cared about training and fitness, but he says social media amplified his insecurities to an unhealthy level. “Obviously you only see the best of the best on social media,” he said. “Everyone looks glamorous; everyone is saying you need to be doing so much. It puts so much anxiety focusing on what others are doing.” Kieran Eve was told by his father that God would help him find ways to share his mental health story. The next day Trinity Western asked for athletes who wanted to share their experiences with mental illness. So much of an athlete’s identity is wrapped up in being an athlete, he said, that “when you see someone doing better than you it can push you to extremes.” He remembers watching professional athletes on social media and thinking, “Wow, I have a lot of work to do,” when actually it should be “you versus you.” “I got this idea that I should get ahead in my fitness,” he said. “I started focusing on my diet and it spiralled into an eating disorder.” He described the experience as an inescapable torment. “I was super focused on calories; I was terrified of getting fat,” he said. “From the moment I woke up all I would think about is what I would eat.” He eventually opened up to his parents who tried to help him as much as they could. After a series of medical tests they received a phone call saying he needed to go to the hospital as soon as possible. Eve was hospitalized for severe malnutrition and heart complications. Eve says it was important to get help from a professional who knew his brain better than he did. He was surprised to find that many of his insecurities stemmed from past experiences. “Even things in your childhood can have long-lasting effects on your life,” he said. “Something that you didn’t think was a big deal can have a long-lasting impact.” Eve attributes his recovery to a renewed understanding of God’s love and presence in his life. Growing up in a Catholic household, he said his parents always taught the family to put their trust in God. However, it wasn’t until his hospital stay that he truly learned that “God is personally there.” “He isn’t just this distant far away being that doesn’t care, he is actually there for you,” he said. “For me, the biggest insight was that God is personal – at the end of the day I felt connected to God through my own surrender to him.”

Catholic grad, athlete, business student featured on Bell Let’s Talk mental health video

Eve, who just finished his second year of business at Trinity Western and currently plays for the TWU Spartan soccer team, was recently featured in a Bell Let’s Talk video where he shared his experience with mental illness.

Catholic teachers need to maintain relationships anchored in love when dealing with gender-confused students, psychologist Julia Sadusky says. “There are philosophical forces acting on students that they don’t understand,” Sadusky told Catholic teachers, principals, and counsellors. (Gregg Webb photo courtesy of .juliasadusky.com)

Build relationships before dealing with gender confusion, Catholic teachers urged

In a talk at the John Paul II Pastoral Centre for Catholic school teachers, Dr. Julia Sadusky outlined an approach teachers can take with gender-confused students that focuses on accompaniment while maintaining their integrity as Catholic teachers. 

Fra’ John Dunlap, an Ottawa-born lawyer, is sworn in as the 81st prince and grand master of the Order of Malta. (Order of Malta photo)

Canadian lawyer named head of Order of Malta

A Canadian lawyer has been elected prince and 81st grand master of the Order of Malta, the first time a professed knight from the Americas has been chosen as head of the order. Fra’ John Dunlap, a member of the Ontario Bar Association and the New York State Bar, was sworn in on May 3 as head of the order. He will hold the office for 10 years.

St. Mark’s College and the Center of Christian Engagement hosted Canada’s first international conference about Pope Francis. Dr. Nicholas Olkovich opens the third keynote speech by Dr. Catherine Clifford. (Nicholas Elbers photos)

Tough questions and convivial spirits: exploring the Francis legacy

A forum on Pope Francis’ papacy from a Canadian context was alive with dialogue and tough questions while also maintaining a celebratory mood as speakers from around the world gathered at St. Mark’s College to examine the significance of Francis’ pontificate.  About 40 speakers took part in Pope Francis and the Future of the Church:...

Hundreds of women gathered for women’s retreat at RockRidge Canyon where they heard from speakers Rachel Herbeck, Mary Lenaburg, Ali Hoffman, and Heather Khym. (Arleen D Souza photos)

Hundreds hear miracles of love at women’s retreat

It was love for the daughter who died in her arms that taught Mary Lenaburg about the love of God and also taught her how to love. Speaking to about 300 women at Life Restoration women’s retreat at RockRidge Canyon in Princeton, Lenaburg described the two miscarriages she and her husband experienced as well as...

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Carpenter has a heart for art

More than 30 years ago, Lloyd Sweet entered a confessional after being away from his faith for decades. To this day, he remembers the profound relief he felt when the priest hearing his confession simply responded, “Welcome home.” That compassion and the wiping away of a lifetime of sins moved Sweet to express his appreciation...

King Charles III sits on the throne after being crowned with St. Edward’s Crown by Archbishop Justin Welby of Canterbury during his coronation ceremony at Westminster Abbey in London. (OSV News photo/Aaron Chown, Reuters)

PM replaces Royal Crown crosses with maple leaves and snowflakes

The Canadian Royal Crown redesign was recommended by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and is based on the bejewelled St. Edward’s Crown used at King Charles’ May 6 coronation as well as the slightly different Tudor Crown symbol.

A protest against assisted suicide in Maryland in February. Canada’s bishops have written a letter to the Canadian government saying the killing of patients with mental-health challenges “reneges on the collective social responsibility to provide treatment, support, and hope.” (OSV News photo/Kevin J. Parks, Catholic Review)

Expanding MAiD for mental illness ends all hope: Canadian bishops

In the letter released May 9, the Permanent Council of the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops says that by enabling or assisting in suicide for these patients it “reneges on our collective social responsibility to provide persons living with mental-health challenges with treatment, support and hope through therapeutic interventions.”

Michelle Lui with her daughter Avery, who spent the first two weeks of her life in hospital after being growth restricted in the womb. The Canadian Martyrs parishioner says the message behind her new book is that “babies all thrive in their own ways, and life is beautiful as it is.” (Contributed photo).

‘Life is beautiful as it is’: baby’s hospital stay inspires Richmond mom’s book celebrating life

Lui’s passion to write was inspired by her experiences with her daughter, Avery, who was growth restricted in the womb and spent the first two weeks of her life in the BC Women’s Hospital neonatal intensive care unit.  Lui hopes the colourful, animated story will help people – young and old – appreciate the sanctity of life as well as the importance of not making comparisons between children. 

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