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Mother-in-Law Words of Wisdom

I love Marie Barone in the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond.  Sure she’s a bit meddlesome. Admittedly she’s even a tad overbearing. Maybe she’s even off-putting to some. But her motivation is pure. She’s committed to her family. She really never puts herself first—even if we are led to believe that she does. If we are […]

Poem: “On Death, without Exaggeration”

On Death, without Exaggeration It can’t take a joke, find a star, make a bridge. It knows nothing about weaving, mining, farming, building ships, or baking cakes. In our planning for tomorrow, it has the final word, which is always beside the point. It can’t even get the things done that are part of its […]

In my Native City of Detroit, Atlas Has at Long Last Shrugged

You had better restrain government so that Atlas doesn’t shrug where you live.

Why Leakers Do It

Why do leakers do it? Probably many Americans have asked that question lately, moved by the cases of Edward Snowden, the security contractor who spilled the beans about government surveillance of phone calls and electronic communication, and Bradley Manning, the army private who leaked documents allegedly showing American blundering in Iraq. In passing, it’s easier […]

Rooting Out Government Leakers

The name is Monday. Agent Monday. I have an important job to do. Back in 2011 President Obama issued an executive order to root out security violators within the federal government — people like Edward Snowden, our most recent leaker of government secrets. The president ordered federal employees to report suspicious activities among their co-workers […]

The Massive Amnesia of the Contemporary World

Faith is a gift that is lived out in the material realm.  That is why the Church has always said that faith can flower simply by opening our eyes and our ears.  If we only try, we can see God in the face of Jesus Christ; we can see Him in the Eucharist, in religious […]

The Best Parenting Advice

When you care a lot about your vocation as parent, you think carefully about many of the choices you make: how to discipline, how to educate, how to feed them, keep them healthy, celebrate holidays, lead them in faith…. Big choices and little choices but most of them deliberate, though not always perfect. The problem […]

The Five Things that Impress Me Most About Pope Francis

Since his election to the papacy on March 13, 2013, I’ve been following Pope Francis – at times actively, and at times passively, but always keeping me eye on him via the Catholic newspapers, Internet sites, and Vatican news bulletins. Although I was initially skeptical about what kind of pope Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio would become, […]

Charity vs. Justice

In my public policy work on behalf of Kentucky’s Catholic bishops, I often have the opportunity to speak and write about the principles of Catholic Social Teaching. Discussion of the Church’s social doctrine, at least when it occurs before a large audience, almost inevitably gives rise to fierce opposition. This opposition can come from people […]

Breaking Silence: Catholics, Contraception, and Same-Sex Marriage

As the dust settles on the Supreme Court’s marriage rulings, Catholics and other defenders of traditional marriage have stepped forward with new energy and comprehensive strategies to preserve marriage as the union of one man and one woman. On Redstate.com, Ryan T. Anderson sees the dissenting opinions of Supreme Court Justices Alito, Roberts, and Scalia in the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) ruling […]

How To Design A Simple Social Media Strategy For Your Catholic Parish

As many may know, I am the guy behind the social media at my parish in Plymouth, Michigan – Our Lady of Good Counsel Catholic Church. I’ve been asked several times and contacted by many who want help or insights into developing and designing a social media strategy for Catholic parishes. So, I’ve decided to quickly […]

Extra Chromosome Silenced in Down Syndrome Cells

Amazing news was announced in the field of gene therapy last week. Scientists in Massachusetts have taken the cells of a person with Down Syndrome and have silenced the extra 21st chromosome in those cells. The Guardian has the story: Scientists have corrected the genetic fault that causes Down’s syndrome – albeit in isolated cells […]

Tabb’s Poetry XXVIII

Five poems by John B. Tabb.

Big-Hearted: Inspiring Stories from Everyday Families

Patti Maguire Armstrong and Theresa Thomas, who previously paired up to write and compile the wonderful “Stories for the Homeschool Heart,” have now come together to create Big-Hearted: Inspiring Stories from Everyday Families (Scepter Publishers, 2013). What makes a family big-hearted? It is a spirit of generosity with a focus on putting God first. “The […]

Peter’s Story

When I was 19 weeks pregnant, an ultrasound of my baby revealed markers for a condition called trisomy 18. We were offered amniocentesis, which we refused because we didn’t want to risk hurting our baby. We were told we would have more choices if we knew for sure. We said we would never abort our […]

The Window Fans

Even on the hottest nights of the summer, my father knew how to make our house ice cold. We lived in a modest two-story home typical of the ’60s and ’70s — red brick on the bottom, white aluminum siding on the top. There were four bedrooms upstairs and a master bedroom downstairs (my parent’s […]

SUCCESS

The Beauty of Worn Rings

One Saturday not long ago, I was sitting in my living-room and Colin, my 5-year-old grandson, was on my lap. I don’t remember what we were doing — watching “Peppa Pig” on TV or reading a Dr. Seuss book or playing out another episode of “Good Guys vs. Bad Guys,” I’m sure. Colin grabbed my […]

Researchers Acknowledge Abortion-Preterm Birth Link

The World Health Organization ignored it. Medical journals downplayed it. Now researchers admit – backhandedly – a link between abortion and preterm births. Authors of a new study hypothesize that modernizing abortion methods reduces the risk of premature births. Yet most notably, it admits that the link to abortion existed in the first place. Abortion […]

Posing Nude: A Symptom of Illness in the Church

The nude photograph of Agnieszka Radwanska has caused quite a stir inside and outside of the Catholic Church. Agnieszka is the fourth ranked world tennis champ who posed naked for ESPN Magazine. When the photo went public – and viral – she was dropped from the Polish Catholic youth movement, Krucjata Mlodych (Youth Crusade), where […]

Fear of a Racist Country

Faith in nothing but the power of racism leads to a hopeless future.

Worried About Privacy? How About Common Core?

We’re facing unchecked data collection as part of a significant and sweeping federal educational mandate.

We Need Saints!

Why are the Philippines, Malta, Costa Rica and now Ireland succumbing to the population control mentality and anti-religious sentiment? Compared to so many other Catholic nations, these have long held firm. What has kept the anti-life agenda at bay for so long has been the vibrant living of the gift of faith. It permeated every […]

The Trial the Media Missed – Death Sentence Commuted!

For the past several weeks the nation has been focused and absorbed with the George Zimmerman trial. This trial ended on 7/13/13 when a “Not Guilty” verdict was rendered by the jury after much evidence and testimony was presented in the courtroom. Another trial was also occurring this past week involving an unborn child who […]