Archive for January, 2016

Rejecting Abortion, Affirming Life
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Rejecting Abortion, Affirming Life

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by on Jan 28, 2016 in Contraception & Abortion, Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured, Marriage, Those in Need
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Thousands braved severe weather last week to attend the March for Life in Washington, D.C., giving a vital public witness to the sanctity of life. In this column, however, I will reflect on a very personal situation with my wife’s first pregnancy six years ago, when abortion was presented to us as an option. Our […]

Eliminating Poverty or Eliminating Children?
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Eliminating Poverty or Eliminating Children?

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by on Jan 27, 2016 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured, Those in Need
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We are not alone in being suspicious of the United Nations when it comes to the life issues. Beginning with the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo in 1994, abortion advocates have been attempting to use the language of U.N. documents, as well as the statements of certain U.N. committees themselves–think the Convention […]

A Matter Of Penance or Radical Permission
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A Matter Of Penance or Radical Permission

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by on Jan 27, 2016 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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This past Advent as I attended Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest mercifully imposed a seemingly unchallenging penance: say one “Our Father.” The 10-year-old Mike would have loved that penance a whole lot more than what the priest typically prescribed at the time. I’ll never forget the day he prescribed young Mike an entire Rosary as […]

The Seductive Siren Song of Genetic Enhancement
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The Seductive Siren Song of Genetic Enhancement

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by on Jan 26, 2016 in Cloning, Embryo Research & Genetics, Featured
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Two recent magazine covers together give us a glimpse of the possible future of humanity. They seem completely unrelated. Next to each other on a coffee table, most people would never make the connection. Yet they are inextricably linked, jointly warning us to take action before it’s too late. The first, which appeared on the […]

Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources
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Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources

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by on Jan 26, 2016 in Cooking & Food, Evangelization, Featured, Men, On Media, Parenting, Women
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Lent comes early this year. February 10th is Ash Wednesday! That’s just three weeks away, folks. So instead of waiting until the last minute and grasping at your old standbys (giving up chocolate or God forbid, coffee), why not plan ahead using our convenient list of resources below? Make this your most spiritually fruitful Lent ever! Reprinted with […]

Broken (Liturgical) Windows
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Broken (Liturgical) Windows

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by on Jan 25, 2016 in Apologetics, Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ
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In a large urban parish which I attended some years ago I have noticed that the liturgical life seems to be shrinking in both action and attitude. The priests no longer hear confessions before Sunday Mass. On minor federal holidays the two regular daily Masses are reduced to only one mid-morning when most working people […]

The Conversion of St. Paul
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The Conversion of St. Paul

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by on Jan 25, 2016 in Saint of the Day, Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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THE great apostle Paul, named Saul at his circumcision, was born at Tarsus, the capital of Silicia, and was by privilege a Roman citizen.  Citizenship carried great distinction, and several exemptions were granted by the laws of the empire. He was early instructed in the strict observance of the Mosaic law, and lived up to […]

St. Timothy, Bishop, Martyr
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St. Timothy, Bishop, Martyr

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by on Jan 24, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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TIMOTHY was a convert of St. Paul. He was born at Lystra in Asia Minor. His mother was a Jewess, but his father was a pagan; and though Timothy had read the Scriptures from his childhood, he had not been circumcised as a Jew. On the arrival of St. Paul at Lystra the youthful Timothy, […]

St. Vincent, Martyr
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St. Vincent, Martyr

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by on Jan 23, 2016 in Saint of the Day
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VINCENT was archdeacon of the church at Saragossa. Valerian, the bishop, had an impediment in his speech; thus Vincent preached in his stead, and answered in his name when both were brought before Dacian, the president, during the persecution of Diocletian. When the bishop was sent into banishment, Vincent remained to suffer and to die. […]

St. Raymund of Pennafort
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St. Raymund of Pennafort

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by on Jan 23, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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BORN A. D. 1175, of a noble Spanish family, Raymund, at the age of twenty, taught philosophy at Barcelona with marvellous success. Ten years later his rare abilities won for him the degree of Doctor in the University of Bologna, and many high dignities. A tender devotion to our blessed Lady, which had grown up […]

The Great Value of the March for Life
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The Great Value of the March for Life

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by on Jan 22, 2016 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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Is the March for Life a waste of time? It seems like every year some people ask the question, even as around half a million folks take over the National Mall of Washington, D.C., and dozens of other marches challenge the complacency of state capitals around the country. The answer, by the way, is “no.” […]

Pray for laws to protect the unborn
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Pray for laws to protect the unborn

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by on Jan 22, 2016 in Saint of the Day
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A Knights of Columbus poll conduced in January 2015 found a supermajority of Americans favoring bans on abortion after 3 months’ pregnancy, and opposing taxpayer funding of abortion.

Mercy Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry?
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Mercy Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry?

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by on Jan 21, 2016 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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“Why do they only have 45 minutes for confession?” asked my Protestant dad when I was home over the holidays. “Well,” I tried to explain, “Most church-goers don’t go to confession that often. They don’t really think they’re doing anything wrong.” A senior deacon from one of the first classes of people trained in the […]

Racial Discrimination Escalating
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Racial Discrimination Escalating

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by on Jan 21, 2016 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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Cultural silence on the subject of Racial Eugenic Targeted Abortion is deafening and yet RETA is not only a fact, but also a very good example of racism. Let’s revisit the year 1982 and the gruesome discovery of the bodies of nearly 17,000 aborted babies in Woodland Hills, California. As Erma Clardy Craven—a pro-life black […]

St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr
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St. Agnes, Virgin, Martyr

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by on Jan 21, 2016 in Saint of the Day, Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. AGNES was but twelve years old when she was led to the altar of Minerva at Rome and commanded to obey the persecuting laws of Diocletian by offering incense. In the midst of the idolatrous rites she raised her hands to Christ, her Spouse, and made the sign of the life-giving cross. She did […]

St. Sebastian, Martyr
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St. Sebastian, Martyr

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by on Jan 20, 2016 in Saint of the Day, Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. SEBASTIAN was an officer in the Roman army, esteemed even by the heathen as a good soldier, and honored by the Church ever since as a champion of Jesus Christ. Born at Narbonne, Sebastian came to Rome about the year 284, and entered the lists against the powers of evil. He found the twin […]

Little Lies, Big Lies, and Narratives
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Little Lies, Big Lies, and Narratives

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by on Jan 19, 2016 in Apologetics, Featured, History
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Recently I read a collection of essays by various Catholic historians published in a book entitled Catholicism and Historical Narrative, edited by Kevin Schmiesing. As Schmiesing says in his introduction to the book, the fundamental job of historians is to “uncover the truth about the past.” “Yet,” he reminds us, “most historical debate occurs not […]

Seize Eternal Life in the Here and Now
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Seize Eternal Life in the Here and Now

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by on Jan 19, 2016 in Disability, Sickness & Suffering, Featured, Live in Christ
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Jesus’ prayer in the 17th Chapter of John is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. In verse three we read “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” In the past, I have plowed through this verse without giving […]

St. Canutus, King, Martyr
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St. Canutus, King, Martyr

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by on Jan 19, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. CANUTUS, King of Denmark, was endowed with excellent qualities of both mind and body. It is hard to say whether he excelled more in courage or in conduct and skill in war; but his singular piety eclipsed all his other endowments. He cleared the seas of pirates, and subdued several neighboring provinces which infested […]

Family Ties that Lift Us Up
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Family Ties that Lift Us Up

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by on Jan 18, 2016 in Evangelization, Featured, Live in Christ, Marriage, Men, Parenting
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Jesus’ invitation to discipleship comes with a warning: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mk 8:34). He made this statement shortly after Peter confessed him to be the Messiah, and he told his disciples what that role entails. The suffering involved in denying oneself and […]

St. Peter's Chair at Rome
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St. Peter’s Chair at Rome

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by on Jan 18, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. PETER having triumphed over the devil in the East, the latter pursued him to Rome in the person of Simon Magus. He who had formerly trembled at the voice of a poor maid now feared not the very throne of idolatry and superstition. The capital of the empire of the world, and the centre […]

St. Anthony, Hermit
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St. Anthony, Hermit

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by on Jan 17, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. ANTHONY was born in the year 251, in Upper Egypt. Hearing at Mass the words, “If thou wilt be perfect, go, sell what thou hast, and give to the poor,” he gave away all his vast possessions. He then begged an aged hermit to teach him the spiritual life. He also visited various solitaries, […]

St. Honoratus, Archbishop
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St. Honoratus, Archbishop

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by on Jan 16, 2016 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. HONORATUS was of a consular Roman family settled in Gaul. In his youth he renounced the worship of idols, and gained his elder brother, Venantius, to Christ. Convinced of the hollowness of the things of this world, they wished to renounce it with all its pleasures, but a fond pagan father put continual obstacles […]

The New Way to be Pro-Choice
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The New Way to be Pro-Choice

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by on Jan 15, 2016 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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There is a new theme emerging in the media: an explicit attempt to normalize abortion to a degree we haven’t seen before. Pro-choice advocates were once content to refer to abortion as an unfortunate necessity, but in the face of pro-life gains in legal and cultural fronts, pro-choicers are going for broke on a new […]