Second Sunday of Advent Meditation and Questions for Reflection/Group Discussion (Isaiah 11:1-10; Psalm 72:1-2,7-8, 12-13,17; Romans 15:4-9; Matthew 3:1-12) Growing in Godly Patience and Love Welcome one another, then, as Christ welcomed you. (Romans 15:7) Jesus sure has a lot of patience, doesn’t he? Day in and day out, he puts up with our erratic […]
After they rejected the hierarchical Catholic Church, one of the early tasks of the protestant reformulators was to redefine what Church is; more precisely, to define the visible nature of the New Covenant community of God’s chosen people. It being clear to them through sacred Scripture that Christ Jesus actually did established a Church; they […]
Have you ever looked at a priest or religious and wondered how it was that he or she came to be there – what made that person willing and able to say “yes” to God’s call? Susie Lloyd, author of Please Don’t Drink the Holy Water and Bless Me, Father, For I Have Kids, decided […]
College football fans across the country are still buzzing over the shocking outcome of the Alabama-Auburn game. As a graduate of Florida State University, I couldn’t be more proud of Auburn. What a game! War Eagle! As expected, the odds makers picked Alabama to win. Who wouldn’t? Alabama has been unstoppable all year, and this […]
A reflection on today’s Sacred Scripture: “They glorified the God of Israel” (Matthew 15:31). Wherever we turn these days, Christmas music plays, and for some of us this year, the words to the traditional carols we’ve come to know by heart have suddenly taken on new meaning. Old familiar jingles about Christ’s birth now seem […]
It’s Christmas time again, and the Church focuses on the Incarnation, a word coming from the Latin “in carne,” which means, “in the flesh.” Christmas is God in the flesh: no longer only an eternal Spirit who fills the universe, but our brother, whom we can hear, see, and touch. One of the reasons he […]
Trying to come up with an intentional and authentic name for a blog is challenging. It needs to encompass a bit of who we are, and inviting enough for further readership outside of one’s own loving mother. I ended up choosing; Poured Myself Out In Gift. It is not something mind-blowing to be sure, or […]
How do we make “Keep Christ in Christmas” more than a bumper sticker in our family’s life? This Advent, let us prepare to welcome our Savior into our homes and into our hearts in a new and special way, setting our own pace for the season and setting aside the commercial pressures of the culture. […]
Continental Congress, Pres. Washington, Pres. Lincoln
In my last article, I discussed the importance of evangelizing in ways that speak to the needs of the human heart. This is especially important, because the culture at large is too often allowed to control the conversation by insisting that the message of Christianity, Catholicism in particular, is one that is ultimately at odds […]
Just diving right in: 1. Do not get your news and information about your religion, your Church, your Pope, or anything even remotely related to any of the aforementioned, from secular mainstream media, whether televised, in print, or online. They are not with us, and they are not neutral. They are against us. Moreover, they […]
Led by the wealthiest of the wealthy—Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffet—an organized effort is afoot to entice fellow high rollers to be charitable toward the less fortunate. Their brainchild, a club for billionaires, is exclusively for those who are worth at least a billion dollars and have pledged to give no less than […]
Nov. 19th is the 150th anniversary of Gettysburg National Cemetery.
Can I be honest here for a sec? This is a review about a book about NFP –Natural Family Planning- and in the interest of disclosure, I feel like I need to tell you something up front – I hate NFP. My husband hates NFP. Hate. It. Oh, but the bluebirds of sunshine say, think […]
Recently, there was some discussion on the topic of private revelation in an article recently posted to Catholic Lane. I want at this time to point to some additional information that is not commonly known which will help shed some light on why the spiritual writers of the Catholic tradition as well as the Catechism […]
“Marketing a movie rivals to some degree running a Presidential campaign.” So says two term US Senator and 2012 Presidential contender, Rick Santorum. During last year’s election cycle, Santorum exhibited his organizational and communication skills in winning eleven Presidential primaries, enough to give Mitt Romney a run for his money. In part, no doubt, it […]
The Supreme Court is hearing a landmark case whether public meetings may begin with prayer, but it could have wider implications on the foundational American principle of freedom of religion. The town of Greece, New York, opens its public meetings by allowing citizens to voluntarily deliver prayers. In February 2008, Americans United for Separation of […]
Back in my other life, when I was a full time high school English teacher, I had a lot of good stories. Almost daily something funny or tragic would happen because I was working with two highly dramatic and unpredictable groups: teenagers and teachers. Throw in parents paying high property taxes and administrators protecting their […]
