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Maggie Helwig

@maggiehelwig.bsky.social

220 followers 200 following 270 posts

She/they. Sometimes I do conceptual art. Sometimes I don't. Gangster pastor, allegedly. "The only way that we, the small and the ordinary, might survive in any decent way, is if we learn to take care of each other."

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 15h

Ah, Prayer 1. I've avoided it for years, but there are a number of ways I've heard it fixed. Prayer 3 also needs a fix, but an even easier one ("children" for "sons and daughters"). For what it's worth, these modifications are officially recommended in the diocese of Toronto.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 2d

ROAD TRIP!

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 2d

Full text. I'm not a Roman Catholic, but I'm on board with all the one, holy, catholic and apostolic church considering themselves exhorted.

Dean Dettloff @deandettloff.bsky.social · 3d

New Apostolic Exhortation just dropped. Get exhorted.

www.vatican.va/content/leo-...

Apostolic Exhortation Dilexi te of the Holy Father Leo XIV on Love for the Poor (4 October 2025)

APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION DILEXI TE OF THE HOLY FATHER LEO XIV TO ALL CHRISTIANS ON LOVE FOR THE POOR [ Multimedia ] _____________________

www.vatican.va

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 2d

Things Pope Leo actually said just now, which are in fact better than the inspirational quotes being falsely attributed to him. Identifying the sacrificial economy. Identifying structural issues. Calling on people to work "alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf." Leo's a smart dude.

Lucius Fox In The Box @carnegro.bsky.social · 3d

Pope Leo is spitting.

www.npr.org/2025/10/09/n...

Leo questioned a world where the wealth of the elite grows
"exponentially" while many "millions of people die of hunger or survive in conditions unfit for human beings." He also criticized "ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of the marketplace and financial speculation,"
with false promises "that a free-market economy will automatically solve the problem of poverty."

Leo described a "new tyranny," which shuns any kind of oversight and where the economy is structured "in such a way that sacrifices are demanded of the masses in order to serve the needs of the powerful." The poor, he wrote, are only allowed "drops that trickle down."

The pope openly challenged "prosperity theology" and called Christians to the practice of giving charity. "It will not solve the problem of world poverty, yet it must still be carried out, with intelligence, diligence and social responsibility," he wrote.

Popular movements that challenge "the empire of money," invite people to take on the cause to combat poverty alongside the poor, instead of on their behalf, and "make history," the pope said. It our duty, Leo said, to "make their voices heard, albeit in different ways, in order to point out and denounce such structural issues, even at the cost of appearing foolish or naïve."

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 11d

Okay, so Trump has now explicitly told them they're going to war against their own people, so I guess that was more the point of this, and "I don't wanna look at your fat asses" was a gratuitous gesture to set the tone.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 11d

Also that they should commit more war crimes.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 11d

Pete Hegseth has honest to God called the US top command from around the world to Washington so he can tell them they look fat.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 16d

Carrying a change of clothes in a drybag is always a good idea ...

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 18d

Some of that was because the middle school was further from my home so I couldn't go home at lunch. And it was a bigger building with more students, more places to beat people up, fewer adult eyes on things.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 18d

I have to say, grades 7-8 were where the torment and bullying really peaked, at a level that almost destroyed me. Elementary was difficult, high school was pretty bad, but 7-8 were the worst years of my life bar none. It wasn't till university that I really started to feel human.

Reposted by Maggie Helwig

David Webster @dwebster.bsky.social · 24d

Sky full of gannets declared terrorist organization.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 24d

Lack of child care means I can't be at Dufferin Grove today, as the City tries for a second day to evict the encampment there, but if you can get there, please do. They are trying to destroy homes and a community.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 26d

Same. (Though I could not honestly say I am boycotting travel to the US, when travel to the US would be so nearly impossible for me that I haven't found it worth trying for many years ...)

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 27d

I think my dad was one of the country's most underestimated poets, so I'm always happy when someone mentions his work. Thank you!

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 28d

T.S. Eliot would be the biggest influence, especially on my early work (Eden was my second book, and the first should be forgotten). John Donne. Gwendolyn MacEwen. Later, Tim Lilburn and I worked on some projects together, and he was an influence on my work as well. Those would be the top ones.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 28d

And we did talk about the Bible a lot, though not Adam and Eve all that much.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 28d

That book was actually based on a book of prints that I gave him for Christmas one year ...

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 28d

Nope. He was my dad.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · 29d

Yeah, go after the most famous living academic in the world. That'll go well.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · Sep 8

Someone in the comments suggested that she is perimenopausal and just had her first hot flash. For some people, hot flashes can be accompanied by panic/fear reactions, and even skin reactions. It's extremely unpleasant even if you know what it is. But yeah. Not remotely fentanyl.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · Sep 2

I think she doesn't actually like humans. I admit that some days this is an easy feeling to have, but you can't base public policy on it.

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · Sep 2

I think an autistic dog is ... a cat.

Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · Sep 2

I mean, I'm on a list with Tanya Talaga and André Alexis, so I'm not going to win, but hopefully this will still get some attention on the issues ...

Reposted by Maggie Helwig

Coach House Books @coachhousebooks.bsky.social · Sep 2

@maggiehelwig.bsky.social 's ENCAMPMENT has been shortlisted for the 2025 Toronto Book Awards!

Established by Toronto City Council in 1974, the Toronto Book Awards honour books of literary merit that are evocative of Toronto. View the full shortlist here: www.torontopubliclibrary.ca/tba/

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Maggie Helwig @maggiehelwig.bsky.social · Aug 28

People were fighting the banning of Margaret Laurence when I was in high school in the 70s. We're back to that again?

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