This is a heartwarming children’s book, but it will make readers of any age feel closer to the birth of our Savior. In 40 pages, Edward Looney crafted a story giving a message that does good to the soul: Christmas is about Baby Jesus. It’s about going with the Holy Family as they journey through […]
Today the Church celebrates the Feast Day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, a great appearance of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Juan Diego, which forever changed the course of history in the Americas. Her appearance on Tepeyac Hill, Mexico in 1531 helped convert millions and millions of people in the New World — Native Americans, […]
Well, his name isn’t really Fred, but when I’m telling a real story about real people and maybe the people don’t come out sounding too good, I like to make up a pseudonym. I just think it’s the decent thing to do. I’m writing about Fred because he’s an example of really bad, I mean epically […]
Rape, incest, and mother’s life…oh, and abused children. Better aborted than abused. How many times have we heard these “acceptable” exceptions to an outright ban on abortions? It is easy to understand and even sympathize with the mindset that finds these exceptions to be allowable. No sane person wants to inflict further suffering on someone […]
Since it’s too soon for the Twelve Days of Christmas, here are twelve tips for celebrating Advent instead. These tips include what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, and what you can get away with (I’ll promise never to tell). What to Do this Advent 1. Explore other cultural traditions: Learn how the custom of […]
Third Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 35:1-6,10; Psalm 146:6-10; James 5:7-10; Matthew 11:2-11) View NAB Reading at USCCB.org Allowing the Eucharist to Transform Us They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God. (Isaiah 35:2) Thinking about the Eucharist always brings certain Scripture passages […]
For those who believe that life begins at conception, abortion hangs over society like a dark cloud. So long as the culture and the courts continue to embrace this barbaric practice as simply a matter of “women’s health care,” there remains a need for pro-life advocacy and activism. According to the most recent statistics gathered […]
Just recently, Pope Francis said that the Church should be a “field hospital.” In the Central African Republic, this is now everyday routine. Thousands of people have sought shelter in the mission stations and monasteries. The Carmelite monastery in the capital Bangui has also been turned into a refugee camp. Normally the monastery is a […]
Croatians cast their ballots last Sunday and the result was swift and clear: 66% voted to add marriage is a “union between a man and a woman” in Croatia’s constitution. Government officials were unhappy, and called the marriage referendum divisive, discriminatory, and a waste of money. Reports of officials intimidating supporters leaked in the weeks […]
I have just finished my annual routine of climbing into the attic and hauling out the box that stores our much-used Advent wreath. Candles? Check. Prayers? Check. Matches? We’ll need to get more of those. Like most families, the season of Advent falls right in the middle of a very busy time. School, work, extracurricular […]
Catholics tend to have a love/hate relationship with the concept of a homily. In Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis laments how everyone suffers when it comes to the homily. The priest suffers because he has to give it, and the laity suffers having to listen. This can be made worse by the fact that preachers can have […]
The Advent season includes the feasts of many popular saints, including St. Nicholas, St. Ambrose, St. Juan Diego, and St. Lucy. As I mentioned in my post about St. Nicholas, I didn’t learn much about the lives of the saints until I was an adult. I recognized St. Valentine’s Day and St. Patrick’s Day because they […]
Brown Sugar and Cinnamon Heaven smells like brown sugar and cinnamon, Don’t you think? And if it doesn’t, what then? It must smell like fresh rain, then. Or my grandmas’s kitchen on a Saturday afternoon. It could smell like a baby after a warm bath, part soap, part lotion, part angel. Or firewood on a […]
The Kenyan government recently outlined a new brand of coercive population control. Unlike China’s policy which uses coercion to control the number of births, Kenya is trying to control population earlier in the reproductive process by changing women’s desires to have children. In the early 1980’s, the average woman in Kenya had 8 children. In […]
If you’ve been following the litigation challenging the now-infamous Health and Human Services mandate requiring employer-provided group health plans to cover abortifacients, sterilization, and artificial contraception, you may be aware that a company named Eden Foods has filed one such lawsuit. Eden Foods is an organic food company that began as a co-operative venture with the mission of providing […]
The season of Advent is about hope. That is the message to be taken from the Letter of Saint Paul to the Romans. His message of hope in Christ speaks to Christians throughout the millennia as it did to the Church at Rome c. AD 57. Back then the Roman Christians experienced persecution at the […]
Last week we kicked off the Fathers for Good Advent series with a reflection on the virtue of fortitude and discussed ways in which it can help us grow with our families in these blessed days before Christmas. (You can read Week One here.) This week, we match the cardinal virtue of prudence to our Advent […]
I never have been a big fan of winter. Give me 90-degree temperatures with a chance to wear shorts and a T-shirt rather than 20 degrees, layers of clothing and slick streets. I’ll take baseball, walks to the ice cream shop and the smell of fresh-cut grass any time. Well, there is one thing I […]
I just finished writing a thesis about the late Father Stanley Jaki’s work for a Master’s degree in Theology, and my brain hurts. I love that about scholarship. You learn, assimilate, and then possess new knowledge. It’s hard, but you earn it. In the end, it’s more exciting than going to the mall, buying a […]
I have always said that if you want accurate information about stem cell research and its possibilities, you should be reading the business section. Anything else is probably misleading, hyped or even flat out lies. In other words, follow the money. The money will tell you what is truly promising research. The money is painting […]
When the Snowbird Sings The snowbird sings his winter song And sings it merrily, When frost is sparkling in the sun There on the holly tree. The lovely song of tinkling bells Is bright and sweet to hear, And like the white and silent snow Falls softly on the ear. So tiny snowbird sing your […]
To some of the finest people I’ve been privileged to know: For decades I heard the call in prayer to stand up against the monstrous evil that has been unfolding in this nation since Roe v. Wade, which was handed down when I was twelve years old. For years I blinded myself to the horror […]
Growing up, Saint Nicholas Day meant three things: the fireplace, stocking caps, and the biggest pair of shoes you could find. It started the evening before, when we finished the family rosary. We always ended our rosary with the ‘blowing of the candle.’ Well, actually it wasn’t a candle, it was a little oil lamp […]
