In one of the more intriguing cases to emerge recently, male nurse John Benitez Jr. filed suit against the city of Dearborn, Michigan, for sex discrimination last [month], charging that he had been terminated for tending to Muslim women at a government-run medical facility after receiving contradictory instructions about the need to adhere to gender […]
“And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31). As I slowly reread The Confessions, savoring every jot and tittle, I am struck by the intensity of Saint Augustine’s search for truth—rather, for the Truth. Aurelius Augustine embraced many falsehoods during his life, but every successive identity he assumed […]
If you do an Internet search for “Catholic Fatherhood” how much data would you find in comparison to Panda Bears, Applied Linear Algebra, and Welding Theory? According to John Clark, author of Who’s Got You, Catholic Fatherhood comes in last. The results respectively were 1,914, 1,706, and 284. Catholic Fatherhood netted 270 results. Clark surmised […]
The Catholic Medical Association of Nigeria (CMAN) congratulated that country’s Senate for defending marriage in law, but it condemned what it called the “coordinated ferocity” of foreign governments, NGOs, and international organizations which pressured the Senate not to pass the bill. CMAN called this interference “forces of neo-colonialism, imperialism, and secular humanism.” The bill, which […]
The River of Egypt They build a dam of sandstone blocks – Manganese washed from the rocks Turns the run a bloody brown So that the snakes and minnows drown Ferns, the pool where minnows swim A summer refuge cool and dim Red and sterile now until The engineers have flushed the fill But if […]
Christmas Let the poor have Santa Claus, Let the rich, a cruise, Let the rest have what they want But Jesus, just refuse. Hilary M. Flanery
Parents who receive news that their unborn child has a serious birth defect, genetic syndrome, or other medical complication are often left to sort out their responses on their own. As co-founders of the network Be Not Afraid, for almost ten years, we have had the privilege of supporting parents who carry their babies to […]
There was a piece on National Public Radio (NPR) a week or so ago charting the influence of novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand in today’s politics, specifically in economic policy touted by certain Republicans in Congress. Ayn Rand was a proponent of “objectivism,” that is quoting from the NPR piece: It is, she says, a system of […]
Eleven-year-old Ralphie Parker knows what he wants for Christmas. He begs his parents to buy it for him but when they say they won’t he takes his plea straight to the top: Santa Claus. “What do you want?” Santa asks. Ralphie confidently answers: “I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred shot range […]
On the third Sunday of Advent, penitential purple gives way to pink and we celebrate “Gaudete” or “Rejoice!” Sunday. “Rejoice heartily in the Lord, says Isaiah” (61:10). “My Spirit finds joy in God my Savior,” says the Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 47). “ Rejoice in the Lord always,” says St. Paul (I Thes 5:16). “Make […]
“My 4-H achievement record is a waste of time that no one will ever look at,” a teen grumbled at me this summer. I disagreed. Now that I’m the mother of a daughter on the quest for college acceptance letters and scholarship offers, I can back up my disagreement. Each college has its own questions […]
A Splendor For RS Lou is 98 He sits beside a table with a top that shines and reflects As you were standing there, he says, I saw a figure Tall, and in a robe, and with a hood But it was you, he laughs, in your reflection on the table top Only you and […]
Seven former Planned Parenthood employees have expressed their support for Congress’ current investigation of the abortion giant, and offered to testify against the organization, in a letter released this week. News broke in September that the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce had launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood to determine whether the group mishandles criminal […]
The Greatest Miracle, an animated look at the source and summit of our faith, Holy Mass, opens today in 63 cities. It is a film that has me feeling quite conflicted. On the one hand, the concept of using film to explore what is going on spiritually in Mass is a wonderful idea. There are […]
Four decades ago, American neurologist Fred Plum and Scottish neurosurgeon Bryan Jennett were searching for a jargon-free term to classify severely brain-damaged patients whom they considered awake but unaware. They combed through the Oxford English Dictionary and settled on “vegetative,” noting that the adjective describes “an organic body capable of growth and development but devoid […]
A House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday heard testimony regarding the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PreNDA), which would make it illegal for abortionists to perform an abortion sought on the basis of the child’s race or gender. The bill lays sanctions against anyone coercing a woman to abort based on race or sex, abortionists who perform such […]
We conclude our reflection on the mysteries of the rosary with an examination of The Luminous Mysteries 1. The Baptism of the Lord Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come […]
[This document was prepared on behalf of a group of Catholic parents to address issues locally that may also be going on elsewhere in the country. It is published here as a resource for parents who may find it useful.] Teaching Tolerance in the Catholic School: Parental Concerns and Suggested Remedies When Pope Benedict authorized […]
Prepare Sunday–Second Sunday in Advent Prepare the geography of your soul For the caller of every ewe, The shepherd of verdant proclamations: Water the wastelands of unforgiveness With torrential tears See dust turn to dew. Level the mountains of peaked pride So they become grazing fields Feeding the least and hungriest of these, All those […]
Last week I wrote an article on Deer Season a half century ago, focusing on my grandmother’s town in the mountains of Emporium, Pennsylvania. Each year, my grandmother and other households opened their doors and kitchens and beds to perfect strangers who came to town to shoot a deer—and there were no problems. The piece […]
I was born in Norwich, CT at William Backus Hospital; and lived in Norwich until I was three years old. My family then moved to Hartford, my father worked downtown as a State employee and I was raised in Hartford until reputable families fled the city for the suburbs. East Windsor was home until college, […]
As active U.S. military involvement in Iraq draws to a close, what does the moral scorecard on this adventure look like from an American point of view? Granted that a comprehensive weighing of results will only be possible some years from now, at the moment the picture is something like this. In a perverse way, […]
In 1954, Father M. Raymond, O.S.C.O., a Cistercian priest, observed that the world was as pagan then as when Christ was born, that Catholics were suffering from amnesia, that they had forgotten the purpose of their lives and much of what it meant to be Catholic. More than fifty-seven years later, some argue that many […]
Book Review: Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home, by Elena Maria Vidal Through our baptism, we’re called to be royal, priestly parents to our children, exercising our God-given authority with kindness and benevolence. When we truly understand the essence of our authority, we can be leaders and nurturers of our children […]
