Would go to the lion’s den for your faith? I’m guessing everyone has asked themselves this question. These days, in this country, we are more likely to go to court than the lion’s den. Standing up for our faith is having social and legal consequences, sometimes huge ones. For most of us, it’s about having […]
VidAngel is the market-leading entertainment platform empowering users to filter language, nudity, violence, and other content from movies and TV shows. It continues to earn a surge of grassroots support as the company prepares for its preliminary injunction hearing in late October. Disney—along with Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, and Lucasfilm—has taken legal action to […]
The air is turning cooler, football is on TV and the kiddos are back in school. While for some that may be a sigh of relief, we quickly realize that back to school doesn’t really free up much of our time. Soccer practices, homework, dance class, school parties and religious education begin to fill up […]
With Christmas busyness behind, the yard in winter dormancy, and tax season still far enough ahead not to be urgent, it’s that time of year when thoughts turn to home organization. Our God is not a God of confusion and disorder, but a God of peace (1 Cor. 14:33). Order brings peace to our minds and […]
As much as I don’t like to think about it now, my 2-year-old daughter will not always desire to spend every waking minute with her mom. She prefers to engage with me now, but I know that the television, computer, phone and movies will grab her attention as she gets older. So I strive to […]
At first glance, it may seem odd that social media places a premium on less. The internet makes vast amounts of information and images available instantly, yet Twitter limits “tweets” to 140 characters. Snapchat allows captions on photo and video message “snaps,” but the entire message disappears one to ten seconds after it is displayed. […]
I could be having a great day and a nasty exchange on the Internet will always bring me down. Whether I am involved or not, uncivil discourse sucks the joy out of the Internet for me. I suspect it does for most people who are not secret psychopaths. I am especially discouraged when I see […]
Remember when social media fasting was trending during Lent? My big undertaking for Lent was to fast from Facebook, and though it wasn’t complete, it was my first attempt and pretty strict. It was such a huge change for me that months later, I’m still processing the experience and reaping rewards from the fast. My […]
We all probably wish we could take back some things we have said and done online, not only for our own sake but for the sake of other people we were called to bring closer to God and instead pushed further away. I often read some of the comments on Catholic blogs, (and sometimes the […]
What do half-a-dozen major sex crimes in America have in common? According to a new documentary by Family Watch International (FWI), they often start with pornography. Launched at the first End Exploitation summit last week, which was primarily organized by Morality in Media, “The Porn Pandemic: The Devastating Effects on Children, Family and Society” features […]
Webinars are an increasingly popular tool for spreading the word about a company or product. But are they the right tool for spreading the Word of God? They certainly can be. The key is to turn a webinar into an online retreat by creating a spiritual atmosphere that reminds people that where two or three […]
I’m entering a new phase of my life. You know the new phase. The one I’ve been holding off as best I could for as long as I could. The one that includes gigabytes, apps, meta pixels, and data plans. I ordered a smartphone. No, seriously. I did. I ordered a smart phone. For myself. And […]
Pro-lifers have told people without fail that “abortion stops a beating heart,” but perhaps no technology made that clearer than the fetal heartbeat stethoscope, allowing mothers and dads to hear the “whoosh-whoosh” of their unborn child’s pumping circulatory system. That is, until maybe now. For years, the fetal heartbeat stethoscope was a specialized piece of […]
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 […]
As Catholic parents we all want to see our children grow in the Faith, overcome their temptations, and ever approach sanctity, but when John and Jane are screaming at each other over who is going to get the stuffed monkey, we might wonder how they are going get there. Rather than telling them to share, […]
A Brazilian company is using 3D prenatal imaging technology and 3D printing to produce physical replicas of a baby growing in the womb, allowing moms- and dads-to-be to hold a model of their unborn child in their hands. Neva Fairchild of the American Foundation for the Blind told Tech Page One that the models would […]
Colleen Scariano also contributed to this article. January is the month of new year’s resolutions. It’s a month that sees new gym memberships surge and bad habits wane (hopefully)! What’s really interesting, however, is how ‘resolved’ folks are come next month. Will your life remain changed next month? Will you still be a new person? […]
Spike Jonze’s film Her, currently out in theaters and an Academy Award nominee for Best Picture, is a cautionary tale of the future that awaits us if we continue to hail technology as our savior. Set in the not too distant Los Angeles, Tom Twombly (masterfully portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix) is reeling from a failed […]
If we want our children to become saints, they will need to hear the call of God — a vocation to holiness that applies to all of us. But how will they be able to hear that call if their lives are full of noise? In our digital age, young people have more noise and […]
As a cradle Catholic, I’ve had the privilege of learning about and praying for the intercession of many saints for all my life. Lose my keys again? Calling on Saint Anthony. Test coming up? St. Joseph of Cupertino to the rescue. Pregnancy issues? Alternate between St. Gerard Magella and St. Raymond Nonatus. Husband unemployed? […]
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 […]
At Ave Maria Press, I enjoy working closely with authors to help them “develop their craft.” Rewriting and platform-building are two of the most challenging tasks for any writer, so I am always looking for helpful resources. Vinita’s new book, The Art of Spiritual Writing, is one I highly recommend for those new to the spiritual […]
I suggest making one last resolution for the New Year: stop making them. Within the first month, most people have broken their resolutions anyways. Ask any health club manager about the January spike that levels out by February. You don’t need the first day of January to improve your life; you need God. Life is […]
God’s love came to us in circumstances of radical poverty. The Creator of the universe was born in a stable, poor and homeless. How then has the preparation for the celebration of this miracle come to include Black Friday brawls and countless tips to reduce holiday induced stress? We blame stores for advertising Christmas in […]
