Shortly after the most recent study indicating that women who are seeking abortions are not moved to change their minds after they view an ultrasound, Slate’s Katy Waldman weighed in with her view. Waldman writes that “anti-choicers”—people like me—believe that “when a woman glimpses her little bean during a sonogram, her maternal instinct awakens and prompts her to carry the pregnancy to […]
The leader of Catholics in Syria has issued an urgent appeal to the faithful in Syria, and people throughout the world, to pray for the success of this week’s Geneva II peace conference to be held in Montreux, Switzerland. Damascus-based Melkite Greek Catholic Patriarch Gregorios III has called on every Syrian Catholic, whatever their circumstances, […]
Can women have careers without neglecting their children? Can women have children without neglecting their intellectual gifts? In short, can women have it all? My mother taught me that the answer was no. She quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fondly and often: “A woman can have a great career and a great marriage. […]
One of the stupidest things I ever said was to two street urchins in Dublin, Ireland. My friend Margie and I were college students headed back to our bed and breakfast after a night on the town. The two bedraggled boys of around 8 or 9 years of age had asked us for candy. “Go […]
Aubade at Half-Past Six on a Cold Winter Morning Dawn’s first light shivers through half-opened blinds, creating new patterns on our old blanket. The rise and fall of your chest tethers me to the moment tighter than the memory of your warm embrace. I get up anyway and make the coffee. Maria Johnson
John the Baptist stood waist deep in the Jordan River. Thousands of faith-seekers came to be baptized by John for the forgiveness of sins. John believed that baptizing was his calling in life, the reason that he was born; indeed it was. Then one day Jesus arrived and the life and mission of the Baptist took on a […]
The U.S. edition of the men’s style and lifestyle magazine Esquire recently named Pope Francis as its Best Dressed Man of 2013. The magazine explained that the decision was “unconventional,” but insisted that the way that the pope dresses has “signaled a new era (and for many, renewed hope) for the Catholic Church.” Mark-Evan Blackman, […]
I attended an ecumenical prayer service for Christian unity in 2011. A Baptist pastor, United Church of Christ pastor, United Methodist pastor and our parish priest took part. As we prayed together, my heart went out to the Protestant ministers. I see them, and I think of my dad, the Protestant minister. Simultaneously, I find […]
The Protestant Church is all about the Bible; the Catholic Church is all about the Sacraments. Right? Not exactly. When it comes to personal Bible reading, Protestants often put Catholics to shame. But as far as Sunday worship goes, it is hard to find a more biblical service than the Mass. The readings are awesome […]
A Birthday My heart is like a singing bird Whose nest is in a water’d shoot; My heart is like an apple-tree Whose boughs are bent with thick-set fruit; My heart is like a rainbow shell That paddles in a halcyon sea; My heart is gladder than all these, Because my love is come to […]
On Monday, Judge Nan G. Nash of the Second District Court in Albuquerque struck the decades-old New Mexico law which protected the state’s citizens from assisted suicide. Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the ACLU of New Mexico and Compassion & Choices, Judge Nash concluded that that killing a terminally ill patient with that person’s […]
As in seasons past, our recent Advent, Christmas, and New Year’s celebrations are now only distant memories. The weather remains quite frigid and winter has not yet let go of its grip. But even if the days remain dark, we know that spring is ever closer and the sun will shine brighter with each coming […]
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has decided to hear the case of Adelina Parillo v. Italy (no 46470/11), which has serious implications for the question of the legal status enjoyed by the human embryo. The case concerns a woman who in 2002, at the age of 48, decided together with her husband to […]
Occupy Wall Street activist and “independent journalist” Jesse Myerson recently made waves when he penned a piece for Rolling Stone in which he laid out five major policy priorities that Millennials should be fighting for, including such novel concepts as “guaranteed work for everybody,” and “take back the land.” Perhaps the best indicator of the sheer lunacy […]
Everyone knows that sex-selection is rampant in the places like China and India where ultrasound and legalized abortion mean that roughly 160 million women are “missing.” What many people do not know, or refuse to acknowledge, is that the practice of aborting girls just because they are girls is growing in the West as well. […]
There are two questions most people avoid. The questions are: “Why am I here?” and “Where am I going?” They are such penetrating questions that vast numbers of people spend their lives going to great lengths to avoid them.Questions call for answers and these two questions pierce to the core of who and what a […]
Nebraska–the latest offering from director Alexander Payne (Sideways, The Descendants)–is more of Payne’s unblinking look at the difficulty of human relationships and relatedness. Reminiscent of David Fincher’s The Straight Story, Nebraska is in the road trip film genre, a physical journey of an old man (an unbelievable performance by Bruce Dern) trying to set things […]
Have you ever gone on a karaoke date night? It can be a great way to get to know each other and see each other’s sillier side. And definitely, you can get up and dance together to a great song someone else is singing. You might be asking yourself “What if I embarrass myself or […]
An obstetrician in the Shaanxi province of China was sentenced to death for child trafficking this week. The 55 year old woman repeatedly told her patients that their new born infant was either deformed or sick. She persuaded the new parents to give up their children for adoption. Instead of adoption, however, the infants were sold to […]
In Handle with Care, Picoult refers to a “language of loss” that parents and children endure in the most intimate family relationships. Within adoptive families, these losses can be especially complex — if for no other reason, because of the number of people involved in the family bond. As parents, however, we must be willing to see – and […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 49:3,5-6; Psalm 40:2,4,7-10; 1 Corinthians 1:1-3; John 1:29-34) Seeing Jesus More Clearly, a Work of the Holy Spirit I did not know him. (John 1:33) When John the Baptist saw Jesus coming toward him, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin […]
During a wintery January night in my apartment, while attending college years ago, I was channel surfing, and found a sci-fi movie, 2001: A Space Odyssey. I watched in hypnotized awe at the spectacular cinematography. Later on, I was shocked to learn the movie was made in 1968, and not during the late 80s as […]
A frequent refrain to those who love traditional liturgical piety is that our piety, while nice and beautiful, is no longer culturally relevant. They tell us it is near impossible to teach today’s generation with these bygone customs. One of the customs they believe this applies to most is the issue of saying Mass ad […]
I usually avoid marriage-help books like the plague because, in general, I find them far removed from the reality of married life. “Theology of the Body” is beautiful and the ideal, but at least in my sixteen years of experience, has relatively little to do with the ins and outs of getting up every day, […]
