Up until 1991, I worked for the Canadian federal Commission promoting employment equity in the workplace for Canadians with disabilities. One of the worst of offenders of disability employment discrimination was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC). Every year the federal human rights commission filed its annual report in the Canadian parliament showing the CBC failed BOMBED […]
By now there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the disturbing study from Princeton economists showing that middle-aged white Americans are the only demographic showing increasing death rates. Only the 45-54 age segment, and only in the United States. Worse yet, the rise in deaths is due to suicide and substance abuse. One of the […]
Where do you go when it starts to rain? That and some related “musical questions” have been playing over and over in my mind for the last few months. They have made for some interesting soul-searching. For me, the self-examination began on the road. I have to take three business trips annually, all to Kansas […]
President Obama’s State of the Union address was predictable for a President nearing the end of his second term. It was filled with lots of partisan legislative ideas that will never see fruition in a Republican Congress. It hearkened back to his original campaign ideas of bringing Washington together, which comes off as amusing when you […]
What could be more American than hard work? We are a country of people who believe in meritocracy, in striving to achieve The American Dream. Hard work traces back to our roots – much of it comes from the felt moral heritage of the Protestant Work Ethic. Yet, sadly, today’s American “hard work” is a hollow echo of […]
These seemingly harmless well-intentioned words, can appear on the surface to be a wonderful wish for someone we love or care about. I submit to you however, that they are rather more platitude than love, and more harmful than good. The world is filled with people far more experienced than I in many areas of […]
With summer vacations winding down and the world getting back to the business of school and work, it is the perfect time to read Redeeming Administration: 12 Spiritual Habits for Catholic Leaders (Ave Maria Press, 2013). Author Ann Garrido serves as a program director at the Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Lewis. Having been […]
In a powerful profile of his son Jamie, a young man with Down syndrome, Michael Be?rube? explores some of the key challenges that those with disabilities face when trying to enter the workforce: The first time I talked to Jamie about getting a job, he was only 13. But I thought it was a good idea to […]
A few weeks ago, I was reading an excerpt about how a man chose to serve as a missionary on a college campus following graduation. He said that he decided to become a missionary because he wanted to something meaningful with his life and not just push papers in an office. As an office worker […]
How you manage your time depends on who or what you put first. Does your family come first or does your job? And what about God? Ideally, our priorities will be God, family, and work, in that order. But with only 24 hours in a day, it’s hard to know how to give everyone their […]
Can women have careers without neglecting their children? Can women have children without neglecting their intellectual gifts? In short, can women have it all? My mother taught me that the answer was no. She quoted former U.K. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher fondly and often: “A woman can have a great career and a great marriage. […]
Occupy Wall Street activist and “independent journalist” Jesse Myerson recently made waves when he penned a piece for Rolling Stone in which he laid out five major policy priorities that Millennials should be fighting for, including such novel concepts as “guaranteed work for everybody,” and “take back the land.” Perhaps the best indicator of the sheer lunacy […]
Today is my first “normal” day back at work (from my home office) since Chris came home. Now, under ideal circumstances (everyone but me — including the dog — out of the house for an eight-hour stretch, the house clean and crock pot simmering), I enjoy working from home. However, since “ideal circumstances” seldom present themselves […]
Do you bring Christ to your workplace? If you work for a faith-based organization, the answer to that question may be an easy “yes.” However, the vast majority of Catholics and Christians work in secular institutions. What happens then? Should Christians leave their faith behind when they enter the office door. In Hope for the […]
Today I was listening to a podast and once again heard the quote, “Luck: preparation meets opportunity.” As I was thinking about that, I was reminded of everything I’ve learned over the past year or so. For those who don’t know, I just quit my full-tie job to ‘go solo’. It was a huge leap, […]
It was time to make another dreaded phone call telling my wife that problems had come up and I wouldn’t be coming home the next day as scheduled. I was thousands of miles away, yet I could hear the disappointment in her voice as she tried to be understanding. She was used to this happening, […]
I vividly recall the first really negative review I received on a book. It was for a particular title in the All Things Girl series and the young person who wrote it was fairly scathing in what she said. She identified herself as one of three sisters who ranged in age from 10 to 15. […]
There’s a dangerous tendency in America today to view disabilities of various kinds as insuperable barriers to productive and loving service. There is often an implicit, and sometimes explicit, disrespect of a basic feature of human dignity in the treatment of those with disabilities as merely passive recipients of government aid, the objects of public […]
For nearly two decades, I’ve been the wife of a police officer. Invariably, friends whose husbands do not require body armor to go to work ask how I cope with the inherent dangers of his job. They ask, as politely as possible, how I can live with the every-present possibility of being widowed and having […]
The question stared back at me from the email sent by a nurses’ professional group where I hold membership. I read it on a wet, dreary morning as I fretted about having to go to work. I wondered aloud when I would ever win the lottery. Still feeling sorry that I wasn’t an instant millionaire […]
Catholic nuns. When you think of them, you may harken back to grade school, or your great aunt Sister Mary, or maybe even Sally Field flying around your TV screen. But consider taking another look at Catholic nuns. They’re not all rulers, dunce chairs, and old women anymore. They’re marketing geniuses. (Crazy about nuns? So […]
“Wash more dishes,” my spiritual director inevitably advises me. This kicks off a prolonged spate of whining on my part. My children are brilliant whiners, and they have taught me well. “But … I’m not good at it!” I insist plaintively, sometimes silently, sometimes out loud. “And I don’t like it. And I didn’t do […]
I manage several social media accounts for various clients. From time to time, I get to help promote different products, events, and campaigns in order to get the word out. In addition to my client’s social media accounts, I have my own Twitter and Facebook account for EntreCatholic, my personal blog. While my Twitter account is […]
So here you are: Catholic, on top of the world, and loving everything about life. You naturally want to share the Good News with those you know, like your colleagues in the workplace. After all, having abundant life in Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church is pretty much the best thing ever! But often times […]
