The great theologian and catechist Frank Sheed wrote in his book Are We Really Teaching Religion: “The aim of teaching religion is that at minimum, children should emerge with a tremendous devotion to Christ, Our Lord, with an awareness of Him, a considerable knowledge of His Life and Personality, and a desire to increase that knowledge” […]
At the time Mark and I became engaged, our diocese required couples to complete a six-month Pre-Cana program that involved meeting a few times with an older, more experienced couple, attending a one-day retreat, and taking a premarital inventory. We were excited to complete the program, because we wanted to start things off right. We […]
Sometimes we act as if sins are just black marks against us in God’s ledger, debits against our rewards account. But the gospel story of the paralytic (Mark 2:1-12) should wake us up to the real nature of sin. For sin is more than a demerit–it is distancing of a person from God, who happens […]
If you read the emails and tweets coming from abortion-rights members of congress and pro-abortion feminist groups you have probably heard that Senator Blunts amendment will prevent women from obtaining contraception. International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) claims making birth control inaccessible is by male design to set us back to the dark ages when there […]
The Fall In the garden we plucked heavenly fruit and slept in the chaste shade, contemplating the untouchable loveliness of our flesh. We shared dreams like kisses and marveled as they formed a single body, so it seemed I was you and you were me. We studied each other like rare stones and like rare […]
Action! Saint James tells us that we must demonstrate our faith with actions. As Catholics, that means taking up our crosses and following the Lord. “Faith of itself, without works, is dead,” James says (2:17). His teaching comes directly from the Lord. At Mass word and deed connect. The Scriptures offer the affirmation that […]
When my daughter was about four, I was telling her that while we were in church everyone needs to be extra quiet. When we are, Jesus can talk to us in our hearts. And if we are quiet, we can hear Him. She said, “Okay, Mommy,” and about a minute later she said, “Oh Mommy, I hear him.” […]
No attempt to defend the constitutionality of the mandate On Thursday, the Obama administration filed its first legal response to Belmont Abbey College’s lawsuit challenging the controversial contraception mandate. This was its first opportunity to explain to the court and the country why the mandate is not illegal and unconstitutional. So what did the administration […]
We do have the ability to control human genetic engineering without it controlling us. To do that we must draw a line in the sand between morally laudable therapy and human altering enhancement. My previous article, What is the Catholic View on Genetic Engineering, was all about the distinction between gene therapy and genetic enhancement. Now, […]
A fascinating theory has been advanced by Dick Morris, which, in turn, is being considered by Rush Limbaugh and other leading conservatives. Morris speculates that the Obama HHS mandate on contraception, sterilization, and abortifacients is a fight with the Catholic Church that Team Obama wants — and with the focus based narrowly on contraception, not […]
The individual mandate not only forces individuals into private purchases, it also effectively mandates personal payments for surgical abortion coverage without exemption for individual’s religious or moral objections. This is the argument presented by seven medical organizations in an amicus brief filed Monday in the U.S. Supreme Court by lead counsel Bioethics Defense Fund (BDF), […]
Before you say it, I agree: there’s no such thing as a mom that doesn’t work. I’m all for moms that work, stay home, and those somewhere in between. —JDF A few weeks ago, an article “Motherhood and the Call to Holiness” seemed to pop up on every website, blog and feed I visited. Here, […]
No one can be rightly coerced by the state to be directly complicit in the commission of a wrong. This goes for any businessman, employer, insurance company, or individual, regardless of faith. After three weeks of outcry from religious leaders regarding its Health and Human Services contraception insurance mandate, the Obama administration announced a “compromise” […]
The myth of Narcissus is very suggestive for our day. There are many variations to the story, but they all end the same way. Narcissus is cursed to forever experience the pain of unrequited love. That happens to be our own curse, too. But first, here’s how it happened to Narcissus. Narcissus was a handsome […]
Give Barack Obama credit: The man has chutzpah. How else do you describe a president who uses his executive authority to unilaterally manufacture a government mandate for contraception coverage — a mandate with no conscience protection for the vast majority of religious institutions to which it applies — and then, when confronted with bipartisan backlash, […]
This Tuesday Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) chairman of the U.S. China Commission presided at a hearing entitled “The Case and Treatment of Prominent Human Rights Lawyer Gao Zhisheng” with Co-Chairman U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D–OH). At the same time China’s Vice President Xi Jinping (in line to assume the presidency in March 2013) was meeting with President Obama and Vice […]
Barack Obama may have just lost the election. He has foolishly gone to war in an election year with tens of millions of Catholics, Protestants and Jews – Democrat, Republican and independent alike. He has thrown down a radical feminist gauntlet and dared the Church to pick it up. They’ve picked it up. From running […]
On January 31st 2012, the third section of the European Court of Human Rights issued a judgment in the case of Sindicatul Pastorul cel bun c. Roumanie (no. 2330/09) whereby it determined that the refusal to register a trade union established within the Orthodox Church was contrary to freedom of association guaranteed by Article 11 […]
When it comes to 21st-century environmental and energy debates, a little knowledge is a dangerous thing. Especially when what little knowledge you may have is incorrect. And most especially when could be a lie. That’s the conclusion of documentary filmmakers Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer, who are on a quest to shed some light – […]
Last Friday, President Obama responded to Catholic bishops’ concerns over his controversial mandate compelling Catholic institutions to provide contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing pharmaceuticals. Many media sources reported Obama’s action as an “accommodation,” with some describing it as a “reversal.” It is hardly that. Many Catholics find it arguably worse. Without dissecting the president’s action, the […]
Why Is Selling Eggs an Exception to Law? Catholic teaching is consistent and clear. The sale of human organs and tissues is immoral because it demeans human dignity and regards the human person as a commodity. John Paul II addressed the subject in a speech to the 18th International Congress of the Transplantation Society in […]
Obama and Sebelius sittin’ in a tree K-i-s-s-i-n-g First comes sex without marriages Then come empty baby carriages The teasing little rhyming ditty familiar to children for generations, of which the above is a parody, bespeaks that even children know something very fundamental about the natural and right order of things – that first comes […]
I would like to introduce you to an exciting new men’s prayer group based on the Gospel of Mark’s story of Four Men who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus for healing. Through their faith they obtained their friends’ healing and the even greater miracle of the forgiveness of his sins. Members of this prayer […]
In response to President Obama’s announcement of a government compromise over the new controversial mandate requiring employers to pay for abortion-causing drugs and other services, over 300 academics have signed a statement entitled: “Unacceptable.” “This is a grave violation of religious freedom and cannot stand,” state the scholars. “It is an insult to the intelligence […]
