When historians one day look back on the rise and fall of the American republic, it won’t only be our habitual deficit spending and lack of financial discipline they blame for our demise, but the deficit of faith and lack of religion in our children’s generation. The beliefs and values that once served as the […]
“Do you know any songs?” I asked my nearly 3-year-old granddaughter as the two us walked hand-in-hand to a nearby store. “Uh huh,” she answered. So I started “Itsy Bitsy Spider” and she joined in, shouting out the next word whenever I paused. Hmmm . . . “Father, Son, Holy Spirit,” I said, and she […]
No matter how many times I attend Mass, I still rarely attend with the presence of mind to realize I am attending a marriage ceremony. This is the most central and important aspect of my Christian life, and it just doesn’t occur to me that this is a wedding taking place. More specifically, the Mass […]
Somewhere, in the recesses of my consciousness, I was aware that it was morning. But the drug of sleep was heavy upon me… and I didn’t much care. My head was lead on my pillow and my face turned away from the alarm clock. Even if I had seen the time… even if it had […]
Don’t let your life be sterile. Be useful. Blaze a trail. Shine forth with the light of your faith and of your love. ~ Saint Josemaria Escriva, from “The Way.” Danielle Rizzo is 13 years old and still cannot speak. Nine years ago, when she was diagnosed with autism, her parents were devastated. “In the […]
Thirty-plus years ago, during my first semester of college, I found out that my student loans didn’t come through due to a glitch in the paper work. I dropped out of college and joined the army. To be honest, at the time I wasn’t a serious student. Nevertheless, I thought that by dropping out I […]
As a therapist, people often ask me, “What makes men happy?” Some believe it’s a happy marriage, a successful career, or a strong relationship with God. I say it’s all of these! However, they must be kept in the right order. I believe the secret for a happy life for men is having one’s priorities […]
Catholic Philosopher Chick Makes Her Début by Rebecca Bratten Weiss and Regina Doman Front Royal, VA: Chesterton Press, 2012 Catholic Philosopher Chick Makes Her Début is the intelligent Catholic woman’s beach read. This book is so much fun that you won’t want to put it down until you have turned the last page with a […]
Every so often, I feel the driving need to go thrift shopping. I don’t just “need” to go, I need to go. Most of the time, I’ll go and be happy I went. At other times, I’ll tell myself it’s a fanciful notion and try to ignore it, but that only lasts so long. The […]
I homeschooled my six children from kindergarten through 12th grade. In the beginning, we were very structured. I enrolled my children with a homeschool program that had once been a school. I spent my life monitoring them doing their “schoolwork”. Watching them produce this much schoolwork ( some of it ‘busy work’) every quarter, every […]
Recently, I’ve had opportunity to talk with several moms who have sons nearing or at young adult age. (Let’s say around the ages of 17-22) The mothers have asked me how we have handled influencing our late teen and young adult sons and how to do so that the sons will listen. In one instance, […]
I celebrated my birthday recently. My biggest wish was to celebrate with my five sons ages 13-24. A few of them are no longer living at home so I was thrilled that they were all able to be with me. Never far from my thoughts, however, were those seven precious babies I never got to […]
I have joked for years that MTV is destroying civilization as we know it. Then, the network gave us “Jersey Shore,” and proved my joke wasn’t funny, it was true. Now, I’m convinced the people at MTV actually sit around a conference table and ponder the question: How can we exploit and corrupt the innocence […]
Unbelievable. Tonight, our youngest child will be confirmed – our last Mohican. This is the last “big” sacrament we’ll celebrate as Fenelon Clan. Of course, receiving the holy Eucharist is a major celebration every single time we receive Him, and receiving the sacrament of Penance should simply delight us each time we’re reconciled, but I […]
And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. (Luke 1:35) When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled […]
The way Willie Bloomquist sees it, he’s living an impossible dream. Of all the players who try to make it to the major leagues, only a relative few actually get there. Bloomquist is one of those few, but he doesn’t attribute this to his own skills. The 34-year-old Port Orchard, Wash., native says he’s not […]
“Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” — Gospel of St. John, 15:13 There are some men who sum up the character of a nation. One such man was Vincent Robert Capodanno. Capodanno represented what was best about America, and now those who remember him would […]
As busy people with spouses, kids, jobs, responsibilities, we’re all bound to fall into a funk from time-to-time — a phase when we feel dejected, overwhelmed, ungrateful, unappreciated or just plain blah, sometimes for no good reason. So what can we do about it? Ride it out? Throw up our hands? Yell at our kids? […]
Dear Anthony, My girlfriend and I are very serious and talk about marriage. But I’m a little concerned about how she accuses me of being too friendly with other women. I guess I should be happy that she cares so much for me that she would be jealous of other women. But I wish she […]
There is a dichotomy in this question or quest, if you will. “Fitting in” calls for a person to make a choice of accepting a set of ideals that belong to a certain group of people in the community. These set of ideals should match those of oneself to truly fit in. These ideals should […]
We took our kids to a petting zoo where the highlight of the visit was the alpaca grazing area. There were several families with us looking over the fence. Then my six-year-old son, noticing a soccer ball in the middle of the field exclaimed, “I didn’t know alpacas played soccer!” There were laughs all around. […]
For as well as I know my only son, I never really understood him until I read John L. Parker Jr.’s Once a Runner. Often called the “definitive running story,” Once a Runner, published in 1978, remains a cult classic for those whose identities are defined by the sport of running. Through the tale of […]
Have you seen the U.S. Department of State’s definition and legislation for legal adulthood? The DOS website states: “When a child reaches the age of 18, they [sic] become a full legal adult in most U.S. localities. That may not be the case in overseas environments, where the age for acquiring adult status under another […]
ASTONISHING: The Washington Free Beacon has broken the news that although a baby can be aborted up until the ninth month in Washington DC, the White House Visitors Office requires that an unborn child must be counted as a full human being when its parents register for a White House tour. HEARTENING: The U.S. Conference […]
