I first became a mother at the age of 38 when my husband and I became foster parents to three children under the age of five. Three frightened, angry, fragile kids who spent every waking minute – which, between them, constituted pretty much 24/7 that first year – thinking of creative ways to destroy the […]
You would think that, with Louisiana State University’s 7-1 overall record and 3-1 Southeastern Conference record, fans of the No. 6-ranked college football team would focus all their attention on the upcoming game against No. 1-ranked Alabama. Face it, this will be a big game. But seriously, folks. An interesting issue has risen out of […]
Healed through Cancer by James Littleton is a treasure trove of faith, scripture quotes, and brotherly advice, as well as a personal account of one man’s journey through cancer and the fruits of that journey. With depth and understanding, Littleton takes his readers through the physical, spiritual, and emotional “valley of death” as he learns of […]
Some days in life are just so stinkin’ hard. The most difficult part of hard days is the part I play in them. The failures that are mine, all mine. If I have twenty balls up in the air and manage to keep ten of them up, hoorah for me! But still I drop the […]
Editors note: This was given as a homily on Sunday, October 14th, 2012 at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in New Brighton, MN. The gospel was for the 28th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B, Mark 10:17-30. Recently I spoke with a senior at a Catholic high school and he was telling me that […]
How can your family find healing, strength, and protection in the sacraments? They can learn how in the book, Seven from Heaven (The Crossroad Publishing Company) by Elizabeth Ficocelli. As a matter of fact, that question is the exact subtitle of her book. “God’s powerful presence in the seven sacraments is the reason they hold […]
I only wear mascara for special occasions: Easter, Christmas, Sunday Mass, an evening out with hubby, lunch with friends. It isn’t a daily, automatic thing for me. So when I was getting ready to attend the Paul Ryan rally in our area this past week, I thought it odd that my instinct was to put […]
Elizabeth Crnkovich also contributed to this article. Gardasil has been controversial from the beginning. While other vaccines protect against diseases spread by casual contact, Gardasil was developed to protect against a sexually transmitted disease called Human Papilloma Virus or HPV. Merck & Co., the manufacturer, has been very effective at lobbying governments around the world […]
If bananas thrived in Alabama, my family and I would be eating banana leaves using bare hands every single meal. Scratch that. For all meals, we’d have bananas all day long so I can dispense with cooking. Then we’d all have to wear disposable banana leaves uniforms as clothes every single day. Also, anyone under […]
In a recent talk during this 40 Days for Life campaign, I mentioned that the pro-life movement is made up of sinners. We are all sinners and the pro-life effort includes many who have had abortions, doctors who have done abortions and thousands who at one point sincerely defended abortion but are now pro-life. Many […]
Unless you’ve been living under the rock for the past month or so, you’ve probably noticed that the campaign season has kicked into overdrive. One of the critical voting blocks being targeted by Democrats are women. The airwaves are clogged and mailboxes stuffed with the message that the crusty old white men who comprise the […]
A Catholic Mother’s Companion to Pregnancy: Walking with Mary from Conception to Baptism is the book I wish I had owned and read when I was going through my own pregnancies. Sarah Reinhard, a self-described “non-baby” person – even though she has three lovely children of her own, takes an honest and faith-filled look at […]
One of my favorite films in recent months was the wonderful movie October Baby. Today, I’m happy to share my recent interview with Theresa Preston in celebration of the release of October Baby: A Novel. Enjoy! Q: Theresa, thank you so much for your time. Would you kindly begin by introducing yourself and your family to […]
Soon citizens in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington State will vote on whether to redefine marriage. Perhaps the following article will help deter some voters from playing an accessory role in waging war against “the laws of nature and of nature’s God.” In proportion as people plunge into practices which are, as the Catechism indicates, […]
On those very rare occasions when all 10 of us attend the same Mass – Christmas, Easter – we have been told that we look like the perfect family: well-behaved, clean, kneeling and standing at the right times……perfect big Catholic family. We’re not perfect of course, but it’s kind of nice of them to say. […]
If it weren’t so obvious, it might be ironic. On Monday, a USA Today/Gallup poll among likely voters in the top 12 battleground states revealed a startling demographic shift: Women are moving toward Republican Mitt Romney, thanks in large measure to the candidates’ respective performances in the first presidential debate earlier this month in Denver. […]
For the past few months, the image followed me. At work, I shuddered as I came across it in one of our study workbooks. This week again at a TOB seminar, there it was in its full, blazing glory: Caravaggio’s depiction of “Doubting Thomas” sticking his probing finger into the glorified wound of the Risen […]
Two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey, they had an argument and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who had been slapped was hurt but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: Today my best friend slapped me in the face. They kept on […]
Dear Anthony, My pastor is skeptical that long distance relationships can have the personal and practical growth to move toward marriage. My fiance lives in California, and I’m in Canada. He first wrote me on AMS nine months ago. We met the first time two months ago. A month ago I flew to California for […]
Most of the country has heard of the decision by one public school system in Rhode Island to amend its policy towards “gendered” activities for its students. Cranston hosts the typical middle school events — father-daughter dances and mother-son sports outings — which facilitate family and community bonding. Such light-hearted group activities provide memories and […]
When my wife and I were dating, she would travel quite a bit as a part of her job. On one occasion, we had a conversation about whether she would be able to attend Mass on Ash Wednesday during her travels. She explained that where they stayed in the city she was going to, there […]
Four was our magic number. Before my husband and I got married, we’d both agreed we wanted four children, and since gender couldn’t be planned, we didn’t care what kind we’d have. For the first two years of our marriage, I was busy preparing for the bar exam so we’d held off on kids until […]
The mission statement of Philadelphia’s Charles Carroll High School, displayed prominently on its website, offers a hopeful vision of an educational institution: “Providing all students with the academic, technological & social skills needed to be productive & contributing citizens in our society.” This week, the specific mention of “social skills” and citizenship likely sounds like […]
The Wall Street Journal recently ran an article on The Perils of Texting While Parenting. The point it was trying to make was simple. Parents are spending too much time on their mobile devices and not enough time paying attention to their children. Also, while there is only anecdotal evidence, it is believed that this […]
