Shrouded Woman of the veil, exhaling silence, let me breathe in the presence of Almighty God: Father-Mother of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, Joseph, Jesus, and, yes, your Ishmael. Will you remain with him, wild, in a desert wilderness, waiting to be blessed as promised, or will you show your face as Hagar and I – […]
I’ve always been pretty athletic, but my first introduction to hiking was not especially enjoyable. It occurred during Survival Training at the Air Force Academy and included seven days of hiking about 8-10 hours a day in the mountains of Colorado. We hiked at night so I was not able to enjoy the beautiful views […]
In the age of gratuitous Hollywood sex and violence it’s not surprising that people are starved for family-friendly entertainment. This is not just a matter of opinion. Movieguide, the world’s premier pro-family movie magazine, has established over and again with its annual Report to the Entertainment Industry that wholesome entertainment sells… big time. The report […]
In the late summer of 2000 I entered the doorway of the nearest Weight Watchers and tipped the scale at a little over 200 pounds. After having two little boys within two years of each other, health issues from the first birth experience, and the death of my mother just days after my second son […]
President Obama’s recent trip to three Latin American nations was absolutely surreal. For one thing, he launched a war against Libya from there. For another, he lauded and pledged support for offshore drilling in Brazilian waters that he has shut down in our own. And he spoke glowingly of the progress of democracy as though […]
In his engaging new biography, Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story, journalist Howard Means scrubs away nearly two centuries of rumor and myth to uncover the truth about 19th-century pioneer nurseryman John Chapman, a national folk hero whom most of us know only from Disney cartoons and children’s books. Means’ meticulous research […]
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutolu grandiloquently proclaimed a few days ago that, “If the world is on fire, Turkey is the firefighter. Turkey is assuming the leading role for stability in the Middle East.” Such ambition is new for Ankara. In the 1990s, it contentedly fulfilled its NATO obligations and followed Washington’s lead. Starting about […]
By the time you’re done reading this column, you’ll want to either join my bandwagon or run me out of town. If it’s the former, hop on; there’s plenty of room. If it’s the latter, please be gentle with the clubs and hatchets; I bruise easily. Okay, here goes. I don’t participate in Friday fish […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 50:4-7; Psalm 22:8-9, 17-20, 23-24; Philippians 2:6-11; Matthew 26:14–27:66) Spending Time with Jesus during Holy Week Keep watch with me (Matthew 26:38). Today marks the beginning of Holy Week, the most significant week of the year. Everything that Jesus said and did while on earth was […]
“Now after John was arrested, Jesus cane into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:14-15). I had read or heard these words many times before I was struck by the order. Repentance comes before […]
The Grace and Peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you! We have often heard this admonition, “Take it one day at a time.” This is frequently assumed to be from the 12 Step Spirituality; however, it was straight from the mouth of Jesus on the Sermon on the Mount: […]
On the heels of this spring’s yet another sighting of Bigfoot, the holy grail for cryptozoologists and the slightly curious worldwide, I experienced my own sighting—this one took place in my mind’s eye, was limited to print, and included just eleven words: “Our hearts are restless until they rest in Thee, O Lord.” Augustine of […]
I have long wondered what it would take for the Chinese Communist Party to abandon the one-child policy that it instituted back in 1980 when I was first in China. Now we know. It certainly wasn’t the bitter complaints of the Chinese people about this assault on their families and children that changed the Party’s […]
Defenders of the Federal Reserve have been out in force recently declaring the triumph of Money Printing 2, James Grant’s suggested more truthful term for “quantitative easing.” Some pundits point to an 18-percent increase in the S&P 500 since last August, when the Fed’s policy was announced. They also laud a significant increase in inflation […]
House Speaker John Boehner has succeeded in making the largest cut to the bloated federal budget in American history. In this he surpasses even the great Ronald Reagan, who still deserves all honor and praise for defeating the Evil Empire and ushering in tax reform and economic dynamism in political economy. The Speaker has initiated […]
Social networking via online forums is fast becoming an indispensable part of Internet marketing. For the smaller companies, I recommend starting out by joining two or three online forums and getting familiar with the territory. You can join a forum dedicated to your particular business where you swap ideas with others in your field. This […]
Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, We are all painfully aware that there are many Catholics today who are living in cohabitation. The Church must make it clear to the faithful that these unions are not in accord with the Gospel, and to help Catholics who find themselves in these situations to do whatever they […]
Some find it hard to accept that God would love some people more than others. That wouldn’t be fair, they say. But God became man. If he did not love some more than others, Jesus wouldn’t be fully human. For human beings have family and friends. While we can do good and even risk our […]
I firmly believe God created Man and Woman in His likeness—but with distinct, logical differences. Women can give birth. Men are strong enough to hoist those heavy boxes up into the attic. Women, have a superior sense of smell, which, based on life in my household, men do not. Yes, we woman are not only […]
What is truth? Truth conforms to reality. What is reality? One definition is: “the state of things as they actually exist“. That is how we determine truth. During Lent, one of the Gospels that is read each year is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well. This was what we would call today, […]
Okay, so the government is about to shut down. Partially. Good. Because if we don’t stop the killing of innocents in the womb inthis country, if we don’t at least show our Almighty and Most Holy and Just God, that we are seriously willing to bear some cost, some pain, or at least some inconvenience […]
Whirling Dervishes of Winter The wind whips the snow around like a whirling dervish lost in the truth of ecstasy: a pure white ghost dancing wildly like a Banshee of God over the snow as it coaxes and teases the dying sun, glimmering pure blindness off the icy whiteness of the world as it settles […]
This is the Time of War I tried to write an anthem for the future What will be and calls to us unseen Committed by an evil to encounter Sing for us until we come to be There will be a war not thought of yet Those who know it not will know it then […]
We have an abundance of free software options that can help us make better use of our PC’s and Mac’s. Several of them are based in the “cloud” which means our information stays static while we are portable – we can access it wherever we have Internet access. My favorites can make your digital life […]
