Our then 4-year-old daughter decided that she’d had enough. We’d heard the complaints about a small group of boys in her preschool class and their trucks for a while. I can’t remember now exactly what it was the boys were doing with those trucks, except that they were breaking preschool truck rules in a way […]
“You can sit here and talk about jihad from here to doomsday, what will it do? Suppose you prove beyond any shadow of doubt that Islam is constitutionally violent, where do you go from there?” Such was Columbia professor Hamid Dabashi’s response to my assertion that Islamists seek to resurrect the caliphate and wage offensive […]
The radical liberals are coming for your children. It’s time to wake up, people. These extremists have become emboldened by the decaying morals and rising apathy in America and they are now hard at work re-programming your children through our educational system. A recent article from the Catholic Family and Human Rights Institute included several […]
In our family we observe a common Catholic tradition: whenever we hear a siren, we say a Hail Mary, “for whoever is in need and for the first responders”. Since we live just a few blocks from a fire station, we get lots of practice in this devotion. Which also affords our daughter Liz, now […]
While getting ready for a dance at the University of Detroit during a freshman college orientation weekend, I had a life changing experience. It was a moment of awakening that has stayed with me for over thirty years. The roommate I was assigned for the weekend was a tall, slim girl with short black hair. […]
It was 65 years ago, March 5, 1946, when Winston Churchill delivered his “Iron Curtain” speech in Fulton, Missouri. It was a speech that rocked the world and changed history. By then, Churchill was no longer British prime minister. He and his conservatives had been replaced by Clement Attlee and the Labour Party, which busily nationalized […]
I grew up in Bombingham at a time in history when the unholy trinity was “Catholics, niggers, and Jews.” Somehow, I rejected that fairly early as I rode my ice blue bike with the white banana seat in the shadow of Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church. I had earned that bike by going to summer school […]
Beloved Pope John Paul II, already acclaimed “the Great” by so many, shaped the faith of millions of Catholics for whom he was the face and mind of the Church all during their formative years. With his beatification nearing, we are journeying together to a very special Lent. In addition to the graces of any Lenten […]
Perhaps you’ve visited the popular weblog of the inimitable Fr. Z (AKA Fr. John Zuhlsdorf at WDTPRS.com) where one of his trademark battle cries is, “Save the liturgy, save the world!” If you haven’t, I highly recommend it. “If you throw a stone, even a pebble, into a pool it produces ripples which expand to […]
One quiet evening, I decided to call my brother to ask how his new teaching position as a religion teacher was going. His first position took him to an all-boy’s Catholic high school in Southern California. After an initial pause he emphatically stated; “They don’t know anything!” I asked him to clarify his statement. He […]
Hear Gary Zimak on EWTN radio’s Son Rise Morning Show Tuesday, 3/8 at 6:45 a.m. and on Ave Maria/EWTN Catholic Connection Friday, 3/11 at 8:35 a.m. No matter how close we are to God, the season of Lent provides a great opportunity to grow closer to Him. One of the biggest mistakes that we can make is to not take advantage of […]
This week I’ve been reading Servant of God Fulton Sheen’s Love, Marriage and Children, and was struck by how much this man – a celibate who died more than thirty years ago – understood about contemporary married life. (His profound understanding of the human condition is partly responsible for the fact that his nationally syndicated […]
If every decision we make causes ripples that affect our ultimate future, what chance do we really have to end up where we are supposed to be? Some of the seemingly tiniest choices I’ve made throughout the course of my life, have, in hindsight, resulted in life altering changes. I can trace these moments back […]
In his letter accompanying the 2007 Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, Pope Benedict XVI invited the bishops to report in three years on their experiences in implementing the new liturgical legislation, which is designed to make Mass celebrated according to the 1962 Missal more widely available. Last fall the Pontifical Commission Ecclesia Dei began to review […]
God, I’ve found, utilizes a “just-in-time” operational model. And He chooses the most unexpected vendors and suppliers, mixing them together in unforeseeable combinations. As this mystery story reveals. It’s a mystery that begins with a love of books, is leavened with some good old-fashioned cheapness, and ends with a Black Day turned Red, thanks […]
Standing at the base of an old, graying, wooden ladder I didn’t know what I would find in that mountain-cave turned church. As I ascended those ten or 12 steps my heart pounded, my breath grew short and my eyes were filled with awe. What I found in that stone-cooled room in the middle of […]
Visitors from other Christian groups to an Orthodox Divine Liturgy will often find some similarities to their own religious services along with some major differences. For example, visitors from other liturgical Churches will recognize the Epistle and Gospel readings, the Alleluia, and the Anaphora or Canon before the distribution of the Eucharist. One major difference, […]
I am kneeling in a place of absolute peace. Soft music plays in the background, telling everyone of God’s unfailing love. The pungent smell of incense hangs in the air. The lighting in the room is dim, except for a solitary spotlight. This spotlight illuminates the monstrance, which contains Jesus Christ in the form of […]
When I look out my kitchen window, I see seven girls dressed in plain black and white with just a touch of red on their bonnets. They chatter all day long and love to sunbathe. They pick at each other, they eat non-stop and don’t gain weight. These girls are industrious if querulous farmhands. They […]
“The Catholic Church — and I am a life-long member — has disgraced itself beyond belief. If evidence should be revealed that a Cardinal was implicit in this cover-up, he should be indicted. I’m having trepidation as I prepare to attend Mass this morning. I’m afraid that if my pastor reads The Cardinal’s BS letter, […]
Last week, the Obama administration revised controversial government regulations intended to protect the conscience rights of medical professionals. Put into place by the Bush administration, these conscience rules had allowed health care workers to opt out of performing medical interventions that they believe are morally objectionable. The new rules limit the medical procedures what medical […]
Two thousand years ago, the Son of Man walked by the Sea of Galilee and told stories to His friends. With His stories, He applied the Law of the Prophets to the lives of real people. After His death and Resurrection, His followers shared his story, first by oral tradition and then by written word […]
We continue our examination of the Liturgy of the Eucharist at the Ecce Agnus Dei: After once again receiving the Lord’s blessing, The peace of the Lord be with you always, and responding, And with your spirit, the next change that we encounter takes place when the priest elevates the Host and Chalice and says: […]
