Liberals are nervous. They should be. As the 2012 election grows closer a soft rumble builds throughout thousands of Evangelical Christian churches across America. Pastors and churchgoers alike are waking up to the disturbing reality that we as a nation have strayed drastically from our historical Judeo-Christian moorings. Though many may try, none can honestly […]
I’ve long been confused by the story of Martha and Mary from Luke 10:38-42. It reads: As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what […]
October, the month of the rosary and the Pro-life Rosary Campaign, is over. Forty Days for Life has just ended. Things will quiet down until January with the various state marches and the National March for Life. There will be various prayer vigils before the march. In the spring there will be a new Forty […]
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 […]
The question posed in the title might itself be somewhat problematic, since “conservatism” is not one thing, but a rich and often contentious variety of positions. Nevertheless, a sufficiently large portion of conservatism marries a social and religious traditionalism with a more or less pure capitalism. But is this a suitable marriage? For what we […]
[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 […]
For a religion that is perpetually “misunderstood,” the consistency of Islam is remarkable. Consider how ostensibly diverse issues—complaints of “human rights” abuses at an American university and murder in an Egyptian classroom—are interconnected. First, the American story. According to Fox News: The Washington, D.C. Office of Human Rights confirmed that it is investigating allegations that […]
What then shall we say to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but handed him over for us all, how will he not also give us everything else along with him? Who will bring a charge against God’s chosen ones? It is […]
The Arab upheavals of 2011 have inspired wildly inconsistent Western responses. How, for example, can one justify abiding the suppression of dissidents in Bahrain while celebrating dissidents in Egypt? Or protect Libyan rebels from government attacks but not their Syrian counterparts? Oppose Islamists taking over in Yemen but not in Tunisia? Such ad hockery reflects […]
He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth (Isaiah 53:7). Perhaps the most stunning revelation of Christianity is the deep humility of God. In Jesus of […]
Rosie grabbed my arm as I walked into Mass one weekday morning. Whispering in a hushed tone she asked: “Can you help me measure the candle? I can’t reach the top of it to measure it. I was helping to set up for a funeral, and I dropped the candle and broke the glass that […]
The other day, I was half-jokingly trying to talk my friends into doing a reality show about homeschooling moms. Unfortunately, they weren’t buying the idea. As one put it, “I’d much rather have people believe the myth.” The Sept/Oct 2011 issue of the HSLDA Home School Court Report features an article by Michael O. Farris […]
It’s almost here! The new Mass — from the revised Roman Missal — is coming November 27, so we should not just get prepared but excited too. I do admit, however, that I have a preference to stick with what I already know. For instance, every new computer program and most of the technology in my world, […]
Why do I act shocked every time the stores pull out the Christmas merchandise before I’ve purchased Halloween candy (which has been sharing shelf space with the Back to School supplies since August)? Why do I let it gross me out year after year? I know it’s going to happen. But still…. I wandered into […]
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 […]
Ever since the industrial revolution and the mass migration of Americans from rural areas to cities, there have been periodic fledgling back-to-the-land movements. Each of these trends was a reaction to the low wages and exploitation of factory workers. Nostalgia for “simpler times” and the desire for more self-determination inspired many to move back to […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Proverbs 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31; Psalm 128:1-5; 1 Thessalonians 5:1-6; Matthew 25:14-30) Bearing Fruit for the Kingdom of God Come, share your master’s joy. (Matthew 25:21) Quick! Ask yourself: “As I read this parable, did I identify more with the third servant in this parable than with the […]
Incredible as it seems, there is more gore spewing from Planned Parenthood’s inner sanctum each passing day. Let’s begin in Kansas where documentation is destroyed and late-term abortionists are held in the highest esteem. It seems that all of the records required by law to ensure that Planned Parenthood was complying with the law, regarding […]
ABC has just announced that on Thanksgiving Day, as Americans sit back to digest the turkey and stuffing, the network will air a 90-minute prime-time special “A Very Gaga Thanksgiving.” Call me a cynic, but I’m thinking this won’t be your typical “Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” kind of show. Hopefully, the pop star won’t be wearing […]
Most news reports about Mississippi’s proposed “personhood amendment” have cast the measure’s pro-life sponsors as the aggressors in a brand-new phase of the abortion wars, one in which abortion opponents rely on clever linguistic tricks to launch an unprecedented attack on abortion rights. That storyline omits one important fact: Abortion-rights advocates are the ones who […]
Catholics are very familiar with the parts of the Mass—perhaps too familiar. Sunday after Sunday, we recite certain words such as, “Amen…Thanks be to God…Alleluia…Holy, Holy, Holy Lord….” These words are so ingrained that we often say them robotically, out of simple routine. Indeed, if someone poked us in the middle of the night and […]
Several mainstream media “fact checkers” piled on to GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain after the latter reaffirmed his statements condemning Planned Parenthood’s eugenic roots. They downplayed founder Margaret Sanger’s eugenicist philosophy and accused Cain of a “pants on fire” lie. In what became one of the highest-profile attacks on the group’s eugenic history in recent […]
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 […]
Protecting immigrants from oppression is a centuries old duty of both Jews and Christians. “You shall not oppress or afflict a resident alien, for you were once aliens residing in the land of Egypt. Exodus 22: 20.” Most, if not all, of the people with whom I work in the pro life apostolate take that […]
