Lorna Dueck on "Faith, Security and Compassion in National Hero Kevin Vickers"

Lorna Dueck, one of Canada's most prominent commentators on faith and public life was moved by Kevin Vickers' address at the FC150 launch. 

As Host and Executive Producer of Context with Lorna Dueck, she provides the nation with critical religious commentary on some of the most pressing news issues of our day. As the country welcomes Syrian refugees to Canadian soils this week, Dueck reminds readers that "when fear becomes the lens through which we view the global refugee crisis, it’s time to find a better balance in the debate between security and compassion."

Read more of Dueck's reflections on Kevin Vickers' address at the launch of Faith in Canada 150 on November 5th in her blog post "Faith, Security and Compassion in National Hero Kevin Vickers."

Excerpt from the article:

"I think Ambassador Vickers gained the best of religion from his dad, as he told the story of how as a first-generation Irish immigrant, his father would come to Kevin’s bedside each night and pray over him the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi: “Lord, make him an instrument of peace, where there is hatred, let him sow love….”  

So it was when Ambassador Vickers himself encountered hatred, and found himself having to shoot to kill in the halls of Parliament, he needed to rediscover Francis’ plea for “hope, light, and joy.” I don’t know what kind of priest answers the phone at 4:30 a.m. and says he’ll be there for an 11 a.m. morning Mass, but that’s the kind of priest they have out in Miramiche, and Ambassador Vickers spoke of that private family Mass as a time of putting down his own spiritual anchors after the Parliament Hill shooting. “Probably one of the proudest moments of my life was to say a prayer for the man I shot with my three grandchildren on my lap,” he told the gathering of Faith in Canada 150." 

Visit contextwithlornadueck.com for more blog posts from Lorna Dueck.