Archive for October, 2014

Immigration, Amnesty, and the Rule of Law
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Immigration, Amnesty, and the Rule of Law

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by on Oct 22, 2014 in Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice, The Social Order, Those in Need
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In the ongoing Kentucky U.S. Senate race, both candidates have accused the other of supporting “amnesty” for “illegal immigrants” and of not upholding the rule of law. Immigration is a complex issue, and the laws governing it are even more complex. Political campaigns, at least in our day, are not well-suited to serious debates about […]

Christians Struggle to Rebuild Their Lives in Syria
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Christians Struggle to Rebuild Their Lives in Syria

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by on Oct 21, 2014 in Featured, International Issues, Those in Need
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“War is a terrible and cruel thing.” SISTER MARIA of Nazareth has committed herself to an extraordinary mission. The Argentinian nun from the Institute of the Incarnate Word has been living in Aleppo, Syria, for the past two months, ministering to a traumatized Christian community in the former million-strong metropolis in the north of the […]

<em>Isn't She Lovely</em>: A Million Grandfathers Say
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Isn’t She Lovely: A Million Grandfathers Say

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by on Oct 21, 2014 in Featured, Men, Parenting
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In 1976 my daughter was born. I was head-over-heels in love with her. At the time I was a commercial writer for a television station; I remember clicking away on my manual typewriter in time with a new tune by Stevie Wonder: Isn’t She Lovely. To me (and a million other new fathers) that song […]

A Case of Surrogacy’s Gordian Knot
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A Case of Surrogacy’s Gordian Knot

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by on Oct 21, 2014 in Featured, Reproductive Technology
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What a mess. What a God-awful mess the new reproductive technologies in general—and commercial surrogacy, in particular—are making of family life. What a legal, emotional, and moral mess. Case in point: A commercial surrogacy contract was litigated in Tennessee all the way to the state’s Supreme Court—which was forced to sort out the chaos that […]

Jail Bars and Hands
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Dangerous Liaisons: Martha Coakley and Bernard Baran

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by on Oct 20, 2014 in Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice
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Justice is obscured when prosecutors use criminal convictions to bolster political ambition. Justice is defeated when prosecutors deny their mistakes to get elected. The French word, “liaison” comes from an older French word, related to the Latin word, “ligere”, meaning “to bind together.” Somewhere in its tangled etymological history, “liaison” was transformed in common usage […]

Blessed Jerzy Popieluszko
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When the Communists Murdered a Priest

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by on Oct 20, 2014 in Columnists, Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice
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Fr. Popieluszko was beatified in 2010.

Building Technology Boundaries
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Building Technology Boundaries

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by on Oct 20, 2014 in Featured, Parenting, Tips, Tools, Tech
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As much as I don’t like to think about it now, my 2-year-old daughter will not always desire to spend every waking minute with her mom. She prefers to engage with me now, but I know that the television, computer, phone and movies will grab her attention as she gets older. So I strive to […]

Book Review: <i>Seven Saints for Seven Virtues</i>
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Book Review: Seven Saints for Seven Virtues

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by on Oct 20, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ, On Books
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In our modern world, it can be extremely challenging to live a virtuous life. “The concept of virtue is often considered outdated and old-fashioned, but for Catholics, becoming virtuous is essential for eternal salvation.” What, then, can we do? Thankfully, we have saints we can look to as role models in virtue as we journey […]

Poem: "Spiritual Communion"
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Poem: “Spiritual Communion”

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by on Oct 19, 2014 in Poetry
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Spiritual Communion Come, my Lord, to this poor dwelling, You are Lord of all, and heaven is at hand As You approach. Come in Spirit to my humble abode, At your coming, the angels make ready. They spread their wings over Your Mercy Seat, Come be enthroned here in my heart. Allow the splendor of […]

Render unto Caesar
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Render unto Caesar

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by on Oct 18, 2014 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Despite their flattering words, they were trying to trap him, to force him into a no win situation. Consider the circumstances.  They are living under the iron boot of a brutal empire which filled the earth with its idolatry.  Patriotic Jews longed to throw off the tyrants’ yoke.  They prayed for an anointed king who […]

The Pope Who Confronted the Modern World
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The Pope Who Confronted the Modern World

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by on Oct 18, 2014 in Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ, The Shepherd's Voice
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A third 20th Century pope advances toward sainthood this weekend with the beatification of Giovanni Battista Montini, Pope Paul VI (1963-1978). In canonizing Popes, the general rule is that we raise men to the honor of the altars and not papacies.  Pope Montini, however, is so inextricably linked with the Second Vatican Council, over whose […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: Christian Hope

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by on Oct 17, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, The Shepherd's Voice
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Pope Francis’ General audience this past Wednesday was about hope. Like many other virtues, hope can be twisted into many different definitions. Pope Francis clarified, “Christian hope is not simply a desire a wish: for a Christian, hope is expectation, fervent, passionate expectation for the final definitive fulfillment of a mystery, the mystery of God’s […]

40 Days for Life: Saving Lives Around the World
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40 Days for Life: Saving Lives Around the World

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by on Oct 17, 2014 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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40 Days for Life is a grassroots effort. Even as the campaign continues to grow, our headquarters team tries to visit as many 40 Days for Life locations as possible. It’s important for us to meet with you, and your fellow volunteers, at your prayerful vigil. With 297 cities in 11 countries conducting 40 Days […]

Movie Review: <em>Men, Women and Children</em>
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Movie Review: Men, Women and Children

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by on Oct 17, 2014 in Featured, On TV and Movies
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Do not see Men, Women and Children unless you are inured to today’s porn and sex and sex and porn everywhere. The language and visuals are graphic and explicit and involve teens (and remember, today’s sex is degraded), but after a few seconds of getting into it each time, the camera mercifully cuts away. But […]

The Synod and Being Afraid of the Gospel
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The Synod and Being Afraid of the Gospel

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by on Oct 17, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ, Marriage
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As editor here at Catholic Lane, we’ve received a lot of submissions regarding the synod. Our correspondent Karee Santos has been busy giving you her thoughts on the Synod from the standpoint of someone who deals with marriage prep in the real world. I’ve received several submissions from readers who wish to offer their own […]

The Loss of Christian Empathy
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The Loss of Christian Empathy

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by on Oct 16, 2014 in Featured, Government & Politics, MyChurchParish.com, The Social Order, Those in Need
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Maclean’s recently featured a compelling summary of our rapidly-deteriorating communities titled “The End of Neighbours.” The expertly-written piece by Brian Bethune is one of the better articles you’ll read this year, and it gets at a key tragedy that is particularly convicting for a Christian conservative: We have forsaken our neighbors. For decades, Americans and Canadians have been […]

The Trouble With Uterus Transplants
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The Trouble With Uterus Transplants

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by on Oct 16, 2014 in Featured, Health & Fitness, Reproductive Technology, Women
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Last week doctors in Sweden announced the birth of a baby after a uterus transplant. The baby is so far healthy being born at only 31 weeks gestation. I am very happy that mother and baby are healthy enough to leave the hospital and I wish them continued health. I  also wish that this procedure […]

Reflections for Sunday, October 19, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, October 19, 2014

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by on Oct 15, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 45:1,4-6; Psalm 96:1,3-5,7-10; 1 Thessalonians 1:1-5; Matthew 22:15-21) Moving Forward in Faith through God’s Open Doors Thus says the Lord to his anointed … opening doors before him and leaving the gates unbarred. (Isaiah 45:1) “A new door will open for you today.” Have you ever […]

Breaking Body
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Breaking Body

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by on Oct 14, 2014 in Evangelization, Featured, MyChurchParish.com
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Who is The Church? Who is the Body of Christ? Who belongs? A temptation exists to spend so much time answering these questions correctly and identifying who is with us and who is against us that we miss out on membership ourselves. Some of us are so busy counting heads, checking purses, and securing a […]

Poem: "The Relic of the True Cross"
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Poem: “The Relic of the True Cross”

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by on Oct 14, 2014 in Poetry
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The Relic of the True Cross I saw you today, You tiny speck. Small though you are, You are astounding to see, Resting in your reliquary. I gazed upon you, Expecting some miracle, To happen, then and there, And to me. Tiny you are in your resting place. Blessed by Him who touched your face. […]

In Lebanon, a Major Catholic Village Walks its Way of the Cross
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In Lebanon, a Major Catholic Village Walks its Way of the Cross

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by on Oct 14, 2014 in Featured, International Issues, Those in Need
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The village of Kaa is in the north of the Bekaa Valley, close to the Syrian border. It has a population of some 13,000 Christians, most of them Melkites. After the city of Zahle, this is the home of the country’s the largest Catholic population. Kaa is surrounded by mostly Shiite Muslim communities. Kaa has […]

Struble's Holy Land Adventures a Generation Ago
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Struble’s Holy Land Adventures a Generation Ago

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by on Oct 14, 2014 in History, Travel
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With the Middle East in mayhem, I’ve been thinking back to my travels in Egypt and Israel during a less tumultuous time.  Upon returning to my teaching post in snowy Salzburg Austria, I found myself suffering from a fever – possibly a result of the sudden change from shirtsleeve weather to freezing cold.  From the […]

The Kettle to the Pot
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The Kettle to the Pot

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by on Oct 13, 2014 in Columnists, Featured, Parenting
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We were having oatmeal for breakfast, and the one-year-old handed me his spoon and said: “Feed!” He likes it when I feed him sometimes (as in: as often as I’ll agree to). The morning in question he was just too cute to turn down, so I took the offered spoon and started feeding him. He […]

Go Through Doors of New Possibilities
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Go Through Doors of New Possibilities

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by on Oct 13, 2014 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured
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Helen Keller was deaf and blind from early childhood, yet she became one of the great humanitarians of the 20th Century. When news of her death in 1968 came over the radio, I remember my father said, “There goes a great person.” I was fifteen years old at the time and too self-absorbed to care […]