Mary Kochan, former Senior Editor of CatholicExchange, is one of the founders and Editor-at-large of CatholicLane.com. Raised as a third-generation Jehovah's Witness, Mary worked her way backwards through the Protestant Reformation to enter the Catholic Church on Trinity Sunday, 1996. Mary has spoken in many settings, to groups large and small, on the topic of destructive cultism and has been a guest on both local and national radio programs. To arrange for Mary to speak at your event, you may contact her at kochanmar@gmail.com.
Did you wish all your Facebook friends a Merry Christmas? Sure you did. And probably clicked over to Linkedin, Google+, and Twitter too. Or maybe I am leaving out your favorite social media hangout. Social media is an important part of the online day for many of us Catholics and for many of us it […]
The Greatest Miracle, an animated look at the source and summit of our faith, Holy Mass, opens today in 63 cities. It is a film that has me feeling quite conflicted. On the one hand, the concept of using film to explore what is going on spiritually in Mass is a wonderful idea. There are […]
Did you have a difficult childhood or do you know someone who had a difficult childhood? What difference does it make, anyway, to one’s adulthood, what kind of childhood is in the background? I think we can use the analogy of constructing and furnishing a house, for constructing and furnishing a “self.” A reasonably happy […]
Today, on the Feast of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin, let’s consider the making – the crafting – of the Ark of the Covenant. Here it is, in part: Moses said to the Israelites, “See, the Lord has chosen Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and has filled him […]
Another day, another Catholic scandal – or that is how it seems lately. If you are like me, you are just sick of it, yesterday already. I felt myself reeling a bit with the news about German bishops, and needing a little balancing support, I decided to run a few questions by my friend Rod […]
Given the recent incoherent attempts by Herman Cain to articulate what he claims is a pro-life position, it is apparent that he needs some lessons in how to make the prolife case — if indeed, he is pro-life. If he is pro-life, then some humility is in order, like recognizing that his answers so far have […]
There is a lot of talk on the streets and in the media about a thing called “corporate greed.” This greed is supposed to reside in entities called corporations that are somehow exploiting people to make a profit by valuing profit over people. The only problem with this construction is that a corporation is a […]
The state of American politics is such that the question of whether or not their own grandchildren should be torn limb from limb and thrown in the garbage has become a routine subject of speculation for presidential candidates. The state of American presidential candidates is such that they can dispassionately entertain the dismemberment of their own smallest progeny. They are the men of whom C. S. Lewis wrote, the men without chests.
A friend once said to me that all religions are by nature conservative and so are people who take religion seriously because religion exists to bring something from the more or less distant past forward into the future. G. K. Chesterton said that “the Catholic Church is the only thing which saves a man from […]
I received a press release yesterday about a new film project. In part it read: Paramount Pictures and New Regency Productions jointly announced today that Academy Award nominated director Darren Aronofsky will direct the feature film Noah, with Academy Award nominated screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) coming aboard to re-write the script by Aronofsky & […]
September 30, 420 saw the death of the Latin Church Father St. Jerome and hence September 30th is his feast day. Jerome spent the last half of his life rendering the Scriptures into the contemporary Latin of his day. Since Latin was at that time, the common or “vulgar” tongue, his translation was called the […]
Pop quiz — I’ll give you the plot; you name the movie: Up and coming rookie sports star in need of an attitude adjustment accidentally strands himself in a small heartland America town where he runs into a former top performer in his sport who left the limelight years ago but has profound life-changing wisdom […]
As hurricane Irene bears down upon the east coast, many people are anticipating how to get by without power for some days. Yesterday I wrote about preparations regarding water: Emergency Water: Store it Now! This will focus on dealing with the perishable foods you already have on hand when you are anticipating an event that […]
I notice on Facebook people are talking about getting ready for hurricane Irene and storing supplies. An emergency that gives you days of warning to prepare is my favorite kind. Unfortunately though, emergencies don’t always give us warning like that. So let’s take a clue from our collective attention to this storm bearing down on […]
A few weeks ago I published an article entitled “Responsibility, Solidarity, and Healthcare,” its several points being: Covering routine, non-catastrophic healthcare increases costs and reduces access to healthcare in two ways a. it makes the health care cost more b. it makes insurance more costly The Catholic principle of solidarity means that we should not […]
My first exposure to Procter and Gambles’ and Wal-Mart’s Family Movie Night program was Secrets of the Mountain a Nancy Drew-type story, billed as an action/adventure film, with the protagonists a divorced mother and her three children instead of a teenaged detective and her friends. The basic theme was of a family drawn together by […]
A few years ago, when the news was filled with the reports of priests who had abused youths and the bishops who had been so derelict in their handling of the predator priests and in protecting the faithful, I remember thinking, “The problem is that they don’t believe. They don’t really believe.” I found myself […]
A recent article on Catholic Lane took up the question of whether widespread misuse of insurance was contributing to rising healthcare costs and in turn making healthcare less affordable. The point was made that when people are self-employed and purchase their own coverage, they usually opt to have only catastrophic coverage, reasoning that the cost […]
June 21 is the first day of summer because it is the day of the summer solstice. Okay, just a quick review of your high school astronomy. In summer and winter we have solstices — the summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the winter solstice is the shortest day of the […]
In case you missed Meet the Press Sunday morning: Blah, blah, blah, job growth… unemployment numbers. Blah, blah, blah, recession… debt reduction. Blah, blah, blah recovery… tax credits. Blah, blah, blah health care… social security. Blah, blah, blah, Democrats… Republicans. Blah. And so it went up to the interview with Rick Santorum and through the […]
For the past couple of hundred years, Catholic apologists, along with other Christians, have found it necessary to oppose a thing that came to be called “modernism.” Many of us cut our apologetic teeth on its associated “isms.” Against humanism we have recalled man to a measure that goes beyond himself. Against scientific positivism we […]
They grace the cover of Time magazine this week, do Kate and William, with not one but two full-page spreads inside: of the coach ride after the wedding and of the Westminster Abbey recession. Days after the grand affair, the world still gawks and talks. Much of the talk is about what the newlyweds have […]
A non-Catholic acquaintance was visiting my home recently. On seeing one of the Sacred Heart pictures in the house, she commented that that one of her older relatives was an Italian Catholic and liked those “Sacred Heart pictures too, but really, I think they are pretty morbid.” “Oh, my dear,” I thought, “it would take hours….” […]
Okay, so the government is about to shut down. Partially. Good. Because if we don’t stop the killing of innocents in the womb inthis country, if we don’t at least show our Almighty and Most Holy and Just God, that we are seriously willing to bear some cost, some pain, or at least some inconvenience […]
