Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol is a perfect action-thriller flick. It’s slaying at the box office, too, which shows that audiences are paying attention. Tom Cruise is back, he’s still got it (in spades), and really pulls and keeps the whole project together. He doesn’t swagger, but he leads his MI team with “hunches,” bravery and physical […]
Spending and taxes will be center stage in the 2012 presidential election, but at the heart of those pivotal issues is one that is paramount in terms of America’s future: cascading mandatory spending on entitlements such as Medicare and Social Security. Erskine Bowles, co-chair of President Obama’s bipartisan reduction commission, the one he ignored, recently described the […]
Couples in Kenya are embracing Natural Family Planning (NFP) with the help of a new clinic opened by the pro-life group Human Life International (HLI) Kenya in collaboration with the Catholic Church. The St Mary Mother of Charity and Consolation Clinic for NFP opened last November in Nyeri, Kenya as part of the pro-life outreach […]
Is it possible that secular liberals, some of them anyway, are starting to realize that knocking the supports out from under traditional marriage may not be such a great idea? If so, and if their next step is to think seriously about how to halt this destructive process, it will be the dawning of a […]
If you follow professional sports, and especially if you are a football or hockey fan, you undoubtedly are aware of the rash of concussions that have rendered players unfit to play. Now there’s a rash of lawsuits being filed against the National Football League, the latest of which includes a group of 106 retired football […]
I suffered a sneak attack last week while sitting at the head table for a dinner at Providence’s prestigious Hope Club (my husband Toshi was the evening’s speaker). Surrounded by the grandeur of the old place (still Christmas-clad) and enjoying a good meal, I was happy to be placed between a Navy fighter pilot getting […]
Just how frustrated are American parents with the leftist Kool Aid being passed off as curriculum in our nation’s public schools? It’s come to this: Last week, the New Hampshire legislature overturned a gubernatorial veto of a bill that will allow parents to object to material being taught in school and further empowers them to […]
Very few people actually argue that there should be no tax to support the functions of government. Distributists accept that government has a proper role in society and needs to exist for the fulfillment of that role. The functions of government have a cost which must be covered, therefore, we must address the question of […]
The great G.K. Chesterton once quipped: “When you break the big laws, you do not get liberty; you do not even get anarchy. You get the small laws.” Dr. Arthur Hippler’s Citizens of the Heavenly City : A Catechism of Catholic Social Teaching is a book about the big laws. One of the beauties of Catholic Social Teaching (CST) is […]
I’ve been battling this same problem for years now: the papers on the dining room table. You see, we have an 8 person table, and usually 4-5 people eating, so I’m able to use one end for the mail. And it piles up, and around, and occasionally down…as paper clutter will do. So yesterday a […]
It is a commonplace among believers in God’s written word to express a longing to have lived in the times depicted within its pages. To have seen, perhaps even conversed with, such towering figures of faith as Abraham, Moses, Samuel, and Nehemiah. To thrill at the great victories God granted through Joshua, David, and Jehosaphat. […]
When I first saw this story, I was surprised. Then I was vaguely sympathetic, for a few seconds. Then, I became completely incredulous that anyone could think about this for more than a minute and still believe that it’s a good idea: Free cars for poor fuel road rage. Not only did somebody apparently think […]
The Crib and the Cross “…and His sepulcher shall be glorious!” (Isaiah 11:10) The crib – In the shadow of the cross Rough and hard No lustrous gloss No lustrous gloss Or polished sheen Just wood for His birth And for the death scene For the death scene they thought Would end all Casting its […]
As reported by ABC News, while fielding questions at a campaign event in Windham, NH on January 5th, Rick Santorum was challenged to defend his faith by a voter who said, “We don’t need a Jesus candidate, we need an economic candidate.” “My answer to that,” Santorum responded, “We always need a Jesus candidate. We […]
Just to clarify; I was the one in the sweats and athletic shoes. Likely the Cardinal–more precisely Cardinal-designate–was in his clerical shirt, pectoral cross and other black garb, fitting for a man of his office. And, I suppose I didn’t really “meet” him, since we already knew each other; I had met Archbishop Timothy M. […]
At the conclusion to Part 2, we weighed certain of Murray’s arguments in favor of an historically nuanced understanding of the traditional teaching on religious liberty. We will begin Part 3 with what he labeled the “decisive proof.” Murray goes on to quote the Syllabus of Errors of Pope Pius IX, extracting from it what […]
Today the Supreme Court decided its most important religious liberty case in twenty years, Hosanna-Tabor Evangelical Lutheran Church and School v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The government lost 9-nothing as the Court unanimously rejected its narrow view of religious liberty as “extreme,” “untenable” and “remarkable.” The unanimous decision adopted the Becket Fund’s arguments, saying that […]
We marvel at the physical miracles, big and small, that Jesus performed during his time here on earth – for example raising Lazarus from the dead and healing St. Peter’s mother-in-law of her fever. And well we should. But what we often overlook is the frequency with which Jesus spoke to and expelled demons – […]
The American economy remains sluggish and, from all over the political spectrum, particularly the left, people have turned their attention to inequality. The Occupy Wall Street movement, though without actual plans for reform, emphasizes the growing inequality between the top one percent and the 99 percent of Americans below them, with the implication that income […]
It is a constant chant from those who would like the defenders of unborn life to disappear, and leave them undisturbed in their killing. “Your concern for life does not go any further than the uterus.” “All you want is to stop the abortion, and then you abandon the mother.” “You don’t care about the […]
I heard a fantastic homily awhile back – well, the first part of it anyway. Father’s initial comments set me on a train of thought that I will pass along in the body of the article. Father asked us to contemplate the incredible gifts that God has given us. He pointed out that we humans […]
There is much merit in Gabe Lyons’ book, The Next Christians: The Good News About the End of Christian America. In fact, in the second chapter of this book, Mr. Lyons offers his readers a lucid and accessible account of the cultural state wherein Christians find themselves today (23). Although he attributes the beginning of […]
The latest episode of This American Life follows the story of Mike Daisey and his investigation into the origins of Apple products, especially the iPhone which is “Made in China.” What might the iPhone say if it could speak for itself? Ira Glass provides some answers to such a question in the opening moments of this episode, “Mr. […]
In politics, as with many competitive enterprises, frontrunners love to promote the myth of inevitability. Having squeaked out the narrowest of wins in Iowa and now polling favorably in New Hampshire, Mitt Romney is attempting to capitalize on the notion that his nomination is inevitable. If Republicans want to defeat President Obama come November, primary […]
