Our present culture does not value and esteem womanhood very much. Catholic writer, speaker, and podcaster Pat Gohn is working to change that. With Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood (Ave Maria Press, 2013) , Gohn “seeks to celebrate womanhood by exploring a woman’s dignity, gifts, and mission.” As one might […]
As someone who has long appreciated the catechetical value of CS Lewis’ The Screwtape Letters, it was a great pleasure for me to have the opportunity to interview Max McLean, director of the stage adaptation of The Screwtape Letters and its lead actor, portraying Screwtape. McLean originated the role of Screwtape in New York, Chicago, […]
Stephanie Wincik is a registered nurse who doesn’t consider herself pro-life, or subscribe to any particular religious belief, yet after 25 years of working with the medically fragile disabled patients, she stumbled upon an article which galvanized her into writing a pro-life book, Making the Case for Life, which has in its enhanced second edition, […]
One of my passions is Gregorian Chant and since we are in the heart of Lent, it is a good time to look at a chant piece proper to the season: The Kyrie in the Sundays of Advent & Lent (Kyrie in Dominicis Adventus et Quadragesimae): Kyrie XVII. Though there are a few variations of […]
Today is the first day of spring because it is the day of the vernal (spring) equinox. 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 year. […]
This is a reflection I wrote after viewing Spiritual Growth in Tough Times which centers around the healing process. Sister Joyce Rupp discusses the process of healing with the analogy of the seasons. We all want to live in the spring and summers of our lives but we have to live through the difficulties of […]
Television is discovering the Bible makes for good viewing. In addition to The History Channel’s airing an epic 5-part Bible series, the second season of The American Bible Challenge game show begins this Thursday, March 21 at 9 pm EST on GNS. Hosted by Jeff Foxworthy, this fast-paced, one-hour game show pits Bible loving groups […]
Some things come as a surprise and others do not. My family and I watched the first episode of The Bible, the History channel’s 5-part series, so it was no surprise to us that it premiered as the #1 cable telecast of the year and the #1 trend on Twitter. It was spectacular; just the […]
March 6, 2013, Wednesday — Silence Silence, of a sort, has descended over the meeting of the cardinals in the lead-up to the Conclave. The American cardinals today canceled their scheduled press conference at the North American College — the NAC, as it is called, on the Janiculum Hill just above the Vatican. Cardinal Timothy […]
Andrea Maglio-Macullar is a Catholic artist whose religious art has appeared in many venues, including publications by Loyola Press and Our Sunday Visitor. Her art is bright, colorful, and eye-catching. Many of her pieces have a stained-glass quality to them which makes them very appealing. Maglio-Macullar has been drawing since she was a young child. […]
Recently, Pope Benedict XVI, now Pope Emeritus, criticized the media for it’s continued misrepresenting of Vatican II. In response, NET (New Evangelization Television) debuted a 10-part weekly series called Vatican II: Inside the Vatican Council, on Thursday, February 21 at 8:30 PM ET. CNA/EWTN reported that “Pope Benedict XVI said that many of the misinterpretations of the Second […]
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The Bible speaks for itself, or rather, it speaks for God. Yet, we have a generation of young people that are generally more excited about video games and special effects than the Word of God. So, what’s a parent to do? If you are executive producer Mark Burnett and his wife, “Touched by an Angel” […]
If you have a garden you probably already know that earthworms are good for your garden. You may be aware that one of the best fertilizers is worm castings. If you already compost and do your best to amend your soil with organic matter, you are already going a long way toward attracting these garden […]
February 24, 2013, Sunday — Angelus “The Lord is calling me ‘out to the mountain’ to devote more time to prayer and meditation, but this does not mean I’m abandoning the Church.” –Pope Benedict XVI, in his final Sunday Angelus address as Pope, at noon [Feb. 24] in St. Peter’s Square The Sun Broke Through at […]
When I was in graduate school studying theology, I took a course on the Trinity. It featured a very large scholarly book and lots of Greek words. I found it fascinating, but understood relatively little. There is a reason why the Trinity is considered a mystery. In The ‘One Thing’ is Three: How the Most […]
“[N]ews reports abound which are often unverified or unverifiable, or completely false…” –Communique this morning from the Vatican’s Secretariat of State, released at the Vatican Press Office The Vatican Speaks Out Evidently concerned that the upcoming papal conclave to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI (the conclave is now expected to be held between […]
“…As we grow older the world becomes stranger, the pattern more complicated…” –T.S. Eliot, The Four Quartets, East Coker The Witnesses Last night, my phone rang twice, just before 3 in the morning. In the morning, I found three emails from the same person, a priest I know. He called again this morning. He wanted […]
“Therefore is my spirit overwhelmed within me; my heart within me is desolate” — Psalm 143:4. The Secret Report Given to the Pope on December 17 Today a veil of secrecy was shredded in this eternal city. Today therefore marked the beginning of a difficult, important struggle for the purification of the government of the […]
A new book by Alex Schadenberg, executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC), challenges the myth that vulnerable people are not at risk under euthanasia and assisted suicide legislation. Using only data gathered from peer reviewed journal articles and studies, Schadenberg proves this assertion false in Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, published in […]
God does not call the equipped, he equips those he calls. That is, if they answer his call. Mother Angelica used to say that any dodo will do—those not worried about their lack of ability, but willing to say yes to God. She was just such a dodo who volunteered to serve him. In spite […]
My uncle died a couple of years ago. At the time of his death, I had cause to go back to a particularly beautiful chant piece for funeral Masses called the “In Paradisum” (IP). The Latin text (with my own rough English translation beneath) is as follows: In Paradisum deducant te Angeli; (May the Angels […]
Randy Hain is a model of a man with an “attitude of gratitude,” and his new book tells something of his personal journey from a man with little hope to one with much to be thankful for. Raised a Southern Baptist, he left that church for pursuit of his own worldly goals, but God kept […]
Garry Wills [ex-seminarian]: “What we really need are no priests.” James Carroll [ex-priest]: The pope “has seen only a solemn obligation to defend the church.” [Italic added.] Richard Sipe [ex-priest]: “Certainly, he did a lot, but it was all reactionary.” [Italic added.] Daniel Maguire [ex-priest]: The “scandal of the papacy [is] one of the last absolute monarchies in a […]
