It happens every year: after weeks and weeks of summer break, there are times when I just can’t take one more minute of family “togetherness.” The bickering. The teasing. The incessant need to be entertained. Sometimes I let the kids out of the car at the bottom of the 500-foot driveway and make them run […]
A few days ago, I logged on to my Facebook account and saw a desperate plea for help. A husband left his wife and children. A concerned friend and Good Samaritan decided to request donations for the abandoned family. The message came soon after I talked with Joe Patch IV of Spirit & Truth Live […]
Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And […]
For fatherhood in America, these are the best of times and the worst of times. So says a new Pew Research Center report on fathering trends. The report, released in June, found that today’s fathers are active in their children’s daily lives to a degree not seen in nearly half a century. Live-in dads now […]
How many times have you heard an expectant mom say, “I don’t care if it is a boy or a girl, as long as the baby is healthy?” But what happens when the baby isn’t healthy? How does one’s world change when a child is diagnosed with major health issues, either before or soon after […]
[This document was prepared on behalf of a group of parents to address issues locally that may also be going on elsewhere in the country. It is published here as a resource for parents who may find it useful.] Dances in the Catholic School: Parental Concerns and Suggested Remedies This document addresses parental concerns with […]
When my daughter was researching prospective colleges and universities a few years ago, she claimed for a time that her No. 1 choice was a world-famous Jesuit university in the East. A friend, revealing a touch of cradle Catholic cynicism, joked, “I thought you were looking at Catholic schools.” Ba dum ching. Or maybe you […]
Who can name the geniuses who have wrought our modern world? The scientists and engineers whose imagination, sweat and determination created the artifacts of material culture we use and rely upon each day? I’m not talking Thomas Edison, Henry Ford or the Wright brothers. Everyone already knows about light-bulbs and cars and airplanes. But how […]
The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field (Matthew 9:37). It will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of the Father speaking through you (Mt 10:20). I am not ashamed of the gospel, it is the power of […]
Dr. Morse gave this speech April 23, 2011, at Hong Kong Baptist University, at a conference of Western and Chinese scholars, entitled “The Family and Sexual Ethics: Christian Foundations and Public Values.” China is experiencing numerous problems due to family breakdown, including the one child policy, high divorce rates, and an imbalanced sex ratio. This […]
“Home-grown.” “Hand Picked.” “‘Native Produce.” Signs like this are beginning to dot the roadside as sticky hot August rolls into cool crisp September. Ask anyone in my family and they’ll tell you that it is my favorite season of year. Why? Because I absolutely love farmer’s markets, roadside stands, and U-Pick produce! In an age […]
Dr. Morse gave this speech April 23, 2011, at Hong Kong Baptist University, at a conference of Western and Chinese scholars, entitled “The Family and Sexual Ethics: Christian Foundations and Public Values.” China is experiencing numerous problems due to family breakdown, including the one child policy, high divorce rates, and an imbalanced sex ratio. This […]
What if our children could be given the gift that Solomon received? During his audience with those gathered at the papal summer residence in Castel Gondolfo recently, Pope Benedict XVI spoke in reference first Mass reading of Sunday July 24, which described Solomon’s request to God for a “docile heart” so that he would know […]
The last thing in the world same-sex “marriage” advocates want to talk about is polygamy. If you ever tell them marriage recognition for same-sex relationships requires recognition of polygamy as well, the usual response is, “we’re not talking about polygamy.” Nor will they, even if you want them to. Polygamy exposes the weakness of the […]
Author’s Note: I read with interest Mary Kochan’s article on the Catholic Lane website, “Catholics, Please Say Something about Jesus!” I was somewhat surprised by the passionate responses, both pro and con, to her article. As I said in my own response to Mary’s article: “I think the argument should not be over what you […]
I recently heard the first radio ad of the season for school supplies, so it won’t be long before the bell rings and America’s children file back into the classroom for another year. Perfect timing for a pop quiz. Everyone grab a No. 2 lead pencil and join in. Question 1: At the end of […]
My brother John has a great photo from the birth of his first child. It’s a picture of his daughter’s unbelievably tiny baby-hand gripping his finger. His daughter’s whole hand, so perfectly formed and so amazingly small, can only just wrap around John’s bony knuckle. You just can’t conceive how they were ever that little. […]
The College of St. Mary Magdalen in Warner, New Hampshire, has had a make-over. On October 16 of 2010, this small liberal arts college rededicated itself to rigorous intellectual and spiritual formation while unveiling a new name: the College of Saint Mary Magdalen. The name was modified to serve notice that the Catholic identity remained […]
Had not the LORD been with us, let Israel say, Had not the LORD been with us, when people rose against us, they would have swallowed us alive, for their fury blazed against us. The waters would have engulfed us, the torrent overwhelmed us; seething waters would have drowned us. Blessed be the LORD, who […]
The chattering classes have focused fresh attention on what they perceive as that last definable sin: hypocrisy. They claim to have found it anew in Sarah Palin’s family, because her son — recently married — seems to have conceived his first child before exchanging vows. This has naturally led to heated discussions over the abstinence-based programs […]
Valley Park Middle School is in the news again. Some weeks ago, this Toronto, Canada, school was highlighted for allowing Muslim students to hold a 30-minute prayer service in the school cafeteria during class time each Friday afternoon. That brought an initial wave of uproar from both sides of the debate regarding the permitting of […]
Not too long ago my daughter came up the basement stairs in tears. It seems her two big brothers and one younger brother were destroying her eight year old world and she had had it! “Mom, you have no idea what it is like to have to deal with 3 brothers!” She wailed. A perfect […]
When I decided my daughter’s first birthday cake would be a carrot cake made with whole wheat flour, I should have known God’s humor would one day smack me. Though I have relaxed, when my children were babies, I was a nutrition Nazi. Processed foods didn’t touch our table. When my daughter was three and ate […]
Benjamin Franklin said, “Sin is not hurtful because it is forbidden, it is forbidden because it is hurtful.” Someone ought to hang that quote in every doorway of every school and office of the Atlanta Public Schools system. Last week’s release by GeorgiaGov. Nathan Deal of an investigative report on widespread cheating within APS on […]
