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 […]
In 1954, Father M. Raymond, O.S.C.O., a Cistercian priest, observed that the world was as pagan then as when Christ was born, that Catholics were suffering from amnesia, that they had forgotten the purpose of their lives and much of what it meant to be Catholic. More than fifty-seven years later, some argue that many […]
Book Review: Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home, by Elena Maria Vidal Through our baptism, we’re called to be royal, priestly parents to our children, exercising our God-given authority with kindness and benevolence. When we truly understand the essence of our authority, we can be leaders and nurturers of our children […]
How to be a 24/7 Catholic! The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work, by Randy Hain, Liguori Publications, November 23, 2011 Reviewed by Mark Armstrong It is always interesting to see our Faith in action from those who arrive at Catholicism from a different Christian doorway. Randy Hain integrates his life choices beautifully […]
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 […]
[wp_carousel]ID[/wp_carousel] For some people, the journey towards God begins through relationships with people. Mitch Albom, a Detroit Free Press sportswriter who wandered far from his Jewish roots, experienced God through two very different men: one a Jewish rabbi and the other an African American pastor of a poor, inner-city Detroit church. The story is dramatized […]
Something is very wrong when priests join forces with gay activists in any cause whatsoever. The presumption must be that the priests in question are sympathetic to gay activism, and this constitutes scandal. That’s why I was glad to see Cardinal Sean O’Malley stand by the editor of his diocesan newspaper when some priests joined […]
My spiritual and secular sojourns began early in my life. My journeys have been far and wide, and have taken me down forks, in circles or off the beaten path. The trips I’ve taken have enriched my life in many ways, and these in turn have enriched my Catholic family and my travel agency located […]
Here we go again. A powerful, intelligent and charismatic conservative black man seeks high office in the United States of America, and is subject to the scurrilous slings and arrows that are always deflected from their liberal counterparts by the shields of the mainstream media. In our nation, where the election of Barack Obama might […]
Imagine you are a Catholic priest in your 30s. Suddenly, at your mother’s deathbed, your world is turned completely upside-down. This was Polish Father Romuald Waszkinel experience when he learned that his real name is Yaacov (Jacob) Weksler and that his birth mother was a Jew. His Jewish Mother, Batia, had given him to Polish […]
I am not a coffee drinker; my mother on the other hand, having grown up in New Orleans, would gulp down ten to twelve cups a day. But not me. So what do I do on my coffee break? I indulge in a quick read here at Catholic Lane or on my other favorite Catholic […]
When I was in 4th grade, I wrote my first short story. My teacher was the first in my school who wanted to try a “creative classroom.” After we finished our assigned work, she had stations we could go to with extra projects. One included story starts. I took one of the cards and wrote […]
What do a 70-year-old widow and a 45-year-old father of five have in common? Three things: They both reside in the Archdiocese of Atlanta (the fastest growing archdiocese in the country), they are long time friends and they both had a goal of starting a Catholic radio station in their diocese. After much prayer, Mark […]
This week’s episode of Fox Television’s prime-time musical comedy show Glee featured two teenage couples, one heterosexual and one homosexual, engaging in sex for the first time. Titled “The First Time,” the episode depicted two couples – a young man and woman, Finn and Rachel, and two young men, Kurt and Blaine – each losing […]
[On Monday], the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a press conference in front of the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to bring attention to a case involving an Episcopal priest, Bede Parry, who is being charged with molesting young boys while he was […]
Beautiful Irish Catholic actress and mother Roma Downey has produced a new series of DVDs for children called Little Angels. I recently interviewed Roma about the new series, her favorite charity and her devotion to the Blessed Mother. To celebrate the release of Little Angels, Grace Hill Media, a company that promotes quality entertainment for faith-based […]
With the name of the great author Charles Dickens, titles such as A Christmas Carol or Great Expectations frequently come to mind. Otherwise, Hard Times and A Tale of Two Cities will leap to the lips of those more literate. Yet one of his lesser-known works highly deserving of attention is Little Dorrit, written in the […]
Canadian author Dorothy Pilarski writes with profundity and wit about matters practical and divine in her book, Motherhood Matters. Full of anecdotes and humor, this book makes us take an honest look at the lives of women today, and helps us to focus on what matters most. Has “liberation” truly led to greater happiness for women? Are […]
Pope Pius XII and World War II The Policies and Politics of Pope Pius XII: Between Diplomacy and Morality, by Frank J. Coppa. New York: Peter Lang, 2011. 205 pages. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-4331-0521-0. $36.95 Dr. Frank J. Coppa is a history professor at St. John’s University and has authored a number of books on the […]
When most people think of Roma Downey, they think of angels due to her long-standing role as Monica in Touched by an Angel. It will probably come as no surprise that she is the executive producer of an exciting new DVD series for children called Little Angels. She took a few minutes out of her […]
I wish, as I first read the article by Marybeth Hicks, “Some Belated Parental Advice to Protestors”, that I had stayed calm long enough to read the blurb after the article and to realize that it was actually written for the Washington Times, not for a Catholic publication. I only realized this when I read James […]
Last week, “Saudi Arabia’s religious police arrested an Indonesian housemaid for casting a magic spell on a local family and ‘turning its life upside down.’” The maid “confessed” to using sorcery, and “commission experts took the magic items to their office and managed to dismantle and stop the spell.” Far from being absurd aberrations to […]
Call it an occupational hazard, but I can’t look at Marybeth Hicks’ article without wondering, “What is this piece doing on a Catholic website? To be fair, the article was written for the Washington Times where it possibly feels more at home in the larger context of her “conservative” political column. Hicks has described that her […]
***Spoiler Alert—The plot is discussed here in detail for parental benefit. I intend for the level of detail I provide here to help facilitate a discussion with your child even if you have not read the series yourself. Parents want to know who their children are spending time with, what music they are listening to, […]
