Somewhere along the expanse of rails from New Haven to New York, as I daydreamed during the two-hour train ride to visit my dad in the hospital and take my mom back to the apartment, I realized the accuracy of the term “sandwich generation.” This was my second weekend trip to New York in so […]
Thousands of Catholics and non-Catholic supporters turned out for a prayer service Monday night, processing through the streets of Boston and singing hymns in response to a threat by a Harvard university secularist group to hold a Satanic “black Mass” on campus. Although a statement from the group, the Harvard Extension Cultural Studies Club, claimed […]
What’s the most widely read literature of the 20th century? According to an informal, non-scientific poll (consisting of me and Mom, who happened to be talking about this on the phone), it’s not Pride and Prejudice, or The Lord of the Rings—it’s the cereal box. Now, obviously that’s not because packaging prose is particularly powerful. […]
This past Sunday in the continental U.S. mother’s everywhere were remembered and cherished by cards, calls and candy — not necessarily in that order or limited to those means of gratitude. I too am a mother and now a grandmother, but it wasn’t always so. The road to motherhood was deliberately delayed as I made […]
Celebrate Mother’s Day a Different Way (Originally published in CL 5/7/13 With Mother’s Day approaching, like any modern day mom, I am looking forward to celebrating the day. I must admit, I love breakfast in bed, I love receiving the gifts, the flowers, the homemade cards. I particularly enjoy enjoying relishing in the graces of […]
What’s in your kid’s college fund? Or are you putting all your efforts into rearing a bright child who will ace the SATs and get scholarship offers? Whatever your plan, the thought of college tuition raises fear in the hearts of many parents. How to pay? The Morlino family has one solution. “Everything we’ve been […]
Dear Anthony, I could use some advice as the non-Catholic party in my relationship. My boyfriend is a very nice Catholic guy. He knew I was not Catholic. We get along just great. But he’s “really” Catholic, and I’m “really” not. He isn’t insisting on me being Catholic or anything like that. But I can’t […]
It’s a troubling fact today that many Catholic children don’t know the basics of the faith. Many come to religious instruction in parishes without knowing how to make the Sign of the Cross or recite the Our Father or Hail Mary. Teaching children growing up in a secularized world, catechists and teachers can’t assume that […]
American education is in trouble—that much seems to be a given. Our public schools and colleges are getting poor results, our young people are drowning in debt, new graduates can’t find jobs, and our overall rankings in the world are pretty dismal. We are greatly in need of a transformation, but we need to think […]
Reporters called one program “x-rated.” Another was dubbed “kindergarten sex ed.” A World Health Organization version led to a spectacular defeat in the European Parliament. UN delegates reject it as an assault on their culture. Comprehensive sexuality education often goes unchallenged – until people discover what it teaches. Now a new paper explains the politics […]
Whether it’s through his exhortation “Be Not Afraid!” or the deep insights contained in Theology of the Body, Blessed John Paul II has had an enduring impact on families and fathers. John Paul, who led the Church into the new millennium, will be canonized April 27, along with his predecessor, Pope John XXIII. Over the […]
Marriage Ministries recently gave me the opportunity to demo their Catholic Marriage Prep Class AND their Natural Family Planning Class—both of which are available exclusively online. Below is my review. Marriage is easily and often misrepresented in our society today, not necessarily always as something bad, but certainly often as something far short of the glorious elevated […]
A few days before Easter our clan would gather around the dining room table, cover it with newspapers, and get dirty. Or rather: colorful. Lots of little fingers got stained purple, pink and green while dipping hard boiled eggs into cups of die. The more artistically inclined among us would draw crayon designs on their […]
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, whom I do not know personally and don’t have any authority or desire to judge, having their own back-stories, needs, and wounds (just like me!), are “consciously uncoupling” from their marriage. This phrase I feel I can objectively judge. ‘Cause it’s goofy. Their advisors, Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Dr. Sherry Sami, are […]
Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, a Dominican nun who has recently come under fire for a presentation she made to a group of Catholic students in North Carolina, has been doing the same type of presentation for years. Her subject matter is Catholic teaching on the truth about human sexuality—popularized by Pope John Paul II as […]
The other day on Facebook, a reader learned that for my forthcoming book, called Chastity is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, the target audience is adults, and primarily young ones.* She suggested that in the future, I target teens instead. Another reader, who had asked if the book is fit for teens, suggested […]
Love is in the will. When a man and a woman get married, they pledge their love to each other with the words “I do.” That “I do” is a consent of the will. Our will is that aspect of us that decides and acts. The will differs from feelings and emotions. Your will is […]
A friend of mine recently asked: “What graces are promised in sacramental marriage? Is the guarantee and promise something that we give or something we expect to get?” The answer is: The grace to do the work of marriage is promised to a baptized man and woman who unite in matrimony. What they do with that grace is […]
Whether it’s because of the Research Triangle Park near Raleigh or favorable conditions for business or the relaxed climate for retirement in coastal towns, the population of North and South Carolina has swelled in recent decades. And even though the area is still known as the Bible Belt, the Carolinas have seen significant increases in […]
It was a rainy, inside day, so I went to the craft boxes to see what I might find. Cereal boxes—perfect! I generally try to save cereal boxes for just such occasions when you find yourself unexpectedly confined indoors—you can do a million different projects with those things—and today, with some markers and scissors, construction […]
I watched a thirty-seven year marriage end. It was a tragedy for everyone involved. The husband’s infidelities came to light and his wife was overwhelmed by deep and justifiable feelings of betrayal and grief. She was an emotional wreck: One moment she was shouting and stomping around her house, the next moment she was sad […]
Don’t ever imagine that infidelity can’t happen to you. The Internet is abuzz with a duel of sorts between Patheos blogger Simcha Fisher and young, engaged-to-be-married Emma Smith, who wrote on Catholic Exchange that she knows for a fact that she and her husband will never have to face the issue of infidelity. “God is faithful, but we’re not […]
Out of habit, I still had an extra home pregnancy kit around. When a pink line emerged indicating a positive result, it took my breath away. “Well, okay; here we go,” I thought. I would be 47 and Mark 48 when the baby was due. At ages 50 and 51, we would have a 3-year-old. Our family numbered […]
When a man and woman profess their vows and drive off with a “Just Married” banner, will they find enough service stations down the road to fill their relationship tank and fix what may break down? That’s the kind of question some experts are asking about the support—or lack of it—the Church and the Catholic […]
