When our first son was born, my oldest daughter was 7. She had been an only child for so long, we believed she might have some concerns and insecurities over this new addition. I remember talking to her the night our son was born. Mom was still in the hospital. I explained that the addition […]
Gently making its way toward the front of the room, is this beautiful parade of humanity. The timelines of their lives, their histories… overlap, envelope, criss-cross, consume. At times, one who hasn’t been seen in Too Long is reached for. Hushed promises to Get Together Soon are whispered. Not empty promises. Life does get in […]
Was the Trayvon Martin story about race? I can’t sit in judgment on what was in Zimmerman’s heart and mind, but objectively, from what the media has passed on to us, it does look to me like an issue involving prejudice. As a white girl growing up in the fifties and sixties in Washington State, […]
My second oldest, Sebastian, always gets his older brother Ezra’s hand-me-downs. One day I was telling them that in heaven we won’t need our earthly bodies, but will get new heavenly bodies. Immediately, with a look of disgust, Sebastian said, “Am I just going to get Ezra’s old one?” -Drea, mother of 4.
I was at a cocktail party with my husband. “You don’t work?,” one woman said with pity in her voice, “ I could never stay at home and do nothing.” Do nothing? Really? I had to giggle. This woman obviously didn’t know my bursting-at-the-seams life of cleaning and cooking, gardening, driving, loving, meal planning, shopping, learning, writing, […]
This story by Heather Gemmen Wilson is a dramatic testimony to the value of life–even life that results from a rape. It was featured in the Amazing Grace for Survivors book. It had been more than a year since Casey was stillborn, and it seemed Steve and I would never be able to have the third child […]
Santa Claus? Check. Easter Bunny? Check. Tooth Fairy? Check. Even Leprechauns. My 5-year-old believes in all these things. Yet last Sunday on the drive to Mass she announced: “I don’t think Jesus is real. I think he’s made up.” Wwwhat?! I thought I had till at least 10 or 12 before that started (or what […]
During Pope Benedict XVI’s General Audience on March 14 about praying with Mary, he pointed out times in Mary’s life that were pivotal to salvation history and in which she demonstrated particular aspects of prayer. When I read the Pope’s words, I was inspired to take them a step further and to explore ways in […]
Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened. Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? […]
Dr. Vincent Fortanasce knows the field of medicine as well as anyone. He has studied psychiatry at Yale, neurology at the University of Southern California and orthopedic rehabilitation at Rancho Los Amigos Hospital, one of the top rehab centers in the country. He has spent decades treating thousands of patients, including world-class athletes and celebrities. Many […]
The association of being a Christian and a Catholic comes with a great personal responsibility. It is no doubt an expectation of those who know us to be a Christian that we act like one. This is a natural expectation. People seem to lose the focus about what they expect from a Christian when it […]
I was mourning my third miscarriage and seeking a book that would offer me comforting words from a Catholic mother who had also lost a child. I found Letters to Gabriel by Karen Garver Santorum. In the pages of this book I got to know Karen as she spoke to her son Gabriel, who is […]
I remember falling to the floor when I felt a sharp, jabbing pain in my lower abdomen. I curled up into a ball and could hardly move. All I could think was “Oh my God!” and then my mind went blank as I tried to remain conscious. I was only about 16 and didn’t know […]
The masculine and feminine. A two-hour survey of evening activities: 1. The newscasts (“HHS Saves Women’s Health!” “Same-Sex Marriage Approved in ______!“), 2. Channel-surfing (have you seen “How I Met Your Mother”? “The Bachelor”? even “The Voice”), 3. And even giving up and going for a walk (bumper sticker: “Abortion is Healthcare. Healthcare is Good.“). […]
When I was asked to share my perspective on the HHS mandate, I thought there must be a mistake. Surely folks would rather hear from a good Catholic. A perfectly NFP-practicing, saved herself for marriage—five, six, seven-kid-having Catholic woman. That hasn’t exactly been my path. Not to mention, what could I possibly add to the […]
It’s a provocative question abortion opponents have been asking for years: If it is ethical to kill an unwanted child before birth, why not kill her afterward? Pro-lifers pose that question rhetorically, as a means of exposing the weakness of pro-choice arguments that devalue the human fetus until the moment she clears the birth canal. […]
Some years back, Mark and I visited with friends of ours, an older couple for whom we had great admiration. Dick and Pat showed near perfect complementarity, worked like a team, and had a way of disagreeing without actually disagreeing. This couple had a way of filling the room with peace and joyful energy at […]
I read once that when a neurosurgeon touches a spot on the human brain with a probe, he elicits memories. All kinds of memories: a moment in childhood, a school day, a family vacation from years past. Sights, sounds, tastes, smells, feelings. Pain and pleasure, fear and fury and fun. Whatever is stored on that particular […]
Many of the most violent attacks on morality taking place today seem to be centered around questions of sexual morality. The controversies surrounding sex education in schools, acceptance of homosexual conduct, pornography, divorce, and, of course, the paramount matter of abortion—all these would seem to have sex as their common theme. But though all these […]
Lent is a time when we make an attempt to address things about our corporeal and spiritual lives that need addressing. Many give up sweets as a gesture of putting aside objectively good things associated with feasting to live the days of mourning in preparation for when they will feast again at Easter. Some attempt […]
My children were really amusing me. And I mean that with the utmost sarcasm. “Who’s coming over?” one asked. “No one,” I said. “Then why are you doing that?” “What do you mean? I do this all the time!” I said. “Oh, we’re having company?” chimed in another. “No!” I said firmly. “Yeah, right. Who […]
A smooth shaved head, dark tear drop forever etched by her left eye, and Roxanne scrawled in ink across her neck, this young woman stood before me, arms over crutches to support her newly amputated leg and smiled. “I can’t believe I’m getting to meet you,” she said. “I finished your book today. You’ve been through so much,” she […]
If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. ~ Psalm 130:3-4 I’m working on not being so judgmental. I wonder why I judge people, what the need is to reckon another person’s rectitude with God. It’s a […]
Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28) As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, […]
