From the Irish Catholic comes news that confirms just how far Ireland has fallen from its tradition of being the “land of saints and scholars”: The Taoiseach, the Minister for Justice and the Minister for Children are all indicating that a proposed new law will require priests to break the seal of confession if someone confesses […]
The peaceful creation of South Sudan bodes well for the fledgling nation, but disaster could yet unfold unless serious issues are addressed quickly, according to leading bishops in the region. Bishop Eduardo Hiiboro Kussala hailed the success of formalities on Saturday, July 9th, marking the independence of South Sudan, describing it as a “wonderful day […]
At one time or another, we’ve all dreamed of a perfect world. Imagine a company where everyone is productive, a government full of honest politicians, a church where all are saints. Dreaming about such things is natural; expecting such things is dangerous. Unrealistic expectations lead to discouragement, despair, even cynicism. That would be bad enough. […]
Living as we are in a period that exalts individual desires, especially regarding sexuality, many persons who consider themselves Catholics believe that they have a right to contract marriage in the Church in accordance with their own opinions on marriage. But really that is not the case. Baptized Catholics have the right to celebrate marriage […]
PRAY DAILY. I had only been in town a couple of days when I started noticing these bumper stickers. I saw them on cars, trucks, and vans around the city, and many of the same cars bore another sticker that read, TRUST JESUS. I thought, “Could there be a correlation?” Pray daily. Trust Jesus. If […]
Religious progressives are often quick to condemn those who extol the virtues of market economies for focusing too much on material concerns. This charge of materialism is, in fact, a core and valid insight contained in most critiques of consumerism, a phenomenon in which people tend to equate their own value and meaning with the […]
She was the perfect villainess: a callous, self-centered, derelict mother straight out of central casting. When her toddler daughter disappeared, she partied for a month without reporting the child missing. Then she blamed everyone from a fictional nanny to her own parents for the demise of the little girl whose remains eventually were found rotting […]
Summer is a rough time to experience a breakup because it’s the sunny season of barbecues and socializing. Chapter Eleven of my book is Coping with Disappointment and Betrayal. Most people who date have their heart smashed once or twice. It’s not pleasant! Here are a few quick tips that should help you weather the […]
Pardon my exasperation, but there are times when the elitist views of the mandarins who set rules for the rest of us from the federal bench and other similarly exalted vantage points are indeed upsetting. As an example, consider the Supreme Court and its decision last month on selling and renting violent video games to […]
Mark Twain is usually credited with the quip that “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” The same is certainly true of our dependence on foreign, and often unfriendly, sources of energy – particularly when gas prices soar and every American feels the pinch. The difference, of course, is that we […]
A citation and 93 days in jail. That’s what planting veggies in your front yard could get you, at least in Oak Park, Michigan. Ridiculous, you say? Hardly; it’s a reality, and it’s happening to Julie Bass. Julie and her family live in an average neighborhood in an average home in Oak Park, and a […]
Great new DVD from the makers of The 13th Day, Finding Fatima is shot in the same Bresson-esque and super-stylized way as The 13th Day. While hearkening to and honoring filmmaking’s past, the Brothers Higgins are simultaneously bringing the story and message of Fatima to a new generation. As much as I love watching documentaries, I was […]
I wonder how many people who criticize the Casey Anthony jury have tried to get out of jury duty when they were called. There was a time, before I served on a jury, when I was one of those whose life was so busy there was no way I wanted the inconvenience of it. I […]
The headline, “Outcry in America as Pregnant Women Who Lose Babies Face Murder Charges,” speaks volumes about the lengths that some will pursue to express misplaced outrage for the sole purpose of defending the reproductive rights of women. The lead case in the article involves Rennie Gibbs, a young woman who became pregnant at the […]
We know that all creation is groaning in labor pains even until now; and not only that, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, we also groan within ourselves as we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. (Romans 8: 22-23) This passage from St. Paul to the Romans is […]
[Part 1] Conservatives express great frustration with the egregious violations of the Constitution by the legislatures and the courts, violations which ensure that power gravitates to the federal government, while the states become mere bureaucratic subdivisions of the federal apparatus rather than partners in a political union. In response, they call for a devolution, a […]
During the dark days of Republican profligacy, when earmarks were the rule and GOP House and Senate members routinely voted for massive discretionary spending bills (many loaded with pork and earmarks) there was one man who bucked the tide of red ink: Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Arizona). “I believed the earmarks game was robbing us as […]
[This document was prepared on behalf of a group of Catholic parents to address issues locally that may also be going on elsewhere in the country. It is published here as a resource for parents who may find it useful.] Mary and Marian Devotions in the Catholic School Parental Concerns and Suggested Remedies This report […]
Casey Anthony’s acquittal of the killing of her precious child, Caylee, has shocked the nation. Many who watched the trial on TV – and who were not constrained from taking into account inadmissible evidence, the punditry of various talking heads, or the overwhelming public sentiment against Ms. Anthony – have been critical of the jury’s […]
After years of opposition from disability advocates, more experts are beginning to question the validity of the “persistent vegetative state” (PVS) diagnostic label that paved the way for Terri Schiavo’s starvation death. A Discover magazine article published online July 6 explained that PVS often fails to account for a broad swath of traumatic brain injury […]
As chairman of our country’s central bank, the Federal Reserve Board, Ben Bernanke is expected to put the economy on a sound footing and foster strong economic growth. Unfortunately, Bernanke faces “mission impossible”—partly because the policies implemented by Congress, the president, and bureaucrats account for much of what happens to the economy, and partly because […]
With liberal activists emboldened by their recent legislative victory in New York (where a same-sex “marriage” bill was passed into law on June 24th) one can reasonably expect to see efforts redoubled to further promote the “gay rights” agenda nationally. With this in mind I’d like to offer some observations. Victory for Freedom? In […]
Peoria, Mobile, Boston, Chicago, Baltimore, Atlantic City, and now Milwaukee, my home town, has been plagued by violent flash mobs. And that’s just in the past week. Flash mobbing initially began as an experiment in social networking. On June 17, 2003, a crowd of about 100 people, drawn by text messages, emails, and blogs, gathered in […]
I’ve always loved gardening. Seeds I’ve planted include carrot, cucumber, and of course, zucchini. In each case, I’ve planted seeds in neat rows, expecting nearly all of them to sprout and yield fruit. But the farmer in Jesus’ parable (Mat 13:1-23) uses the broadcast method. Lots of seed cast everywhere. And predictably, many of these […]
