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A Major Threat to Disability Rights and Inclusion

A Major Threat to Disability Rights and Inclusion

Sep 27 12 • 0 comments

The goal for disability inclusion into mainstream society has made major strides forward. But make no mistake, it has been a long and difficult road toward equality and inclusion for people with disabilities. A reluctant public was unaccustomed to seeing people with profound disabilities in their midst. Remember, for centuries people with serious disabilities were shut […]

Christian Revolution Under Constantine: 1700th Anniversary Series, Part 4

Christian Revolution Under Constantine: 1700th Anniversary Series, Part 4

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 In late Spring, AD 312, Constantine’s victories at Susa and at Turin in northwestern Italy liberated Roman domains as far east as Milan, much to the joy of Christians and also of many pagans alienated from the co-Emperor, Maxentius.  Misrule by Maxentius in the Roman diocese of Italia had […]

Poem: "F-16s"

Poem: “F-16s”

Sep 27 12 • 0 comments

F-16s I heard the roar of F-16s Cross the city overhead, Sentries high on kerosene Who on their airy pickets sped And we beneath a city wall Without a stone or battlement Thought no more of our downfall That such patrolling should prevent But when the walls go up it means There is a gate […]

Media-Perpetuated Hostility

Media-Perpetuated Hostility

Sep 26 12 • 0 comments

Nearly 40 years ago, in the chill of winter, the United States Supreme Court decided that abortion was legal in America for any reason at any point in pregnancy because women, in consultation with their doctors, should have the right to abort their own children. Fast forward 30 years. Malcolm Gladwell’s 2002 blockbuster, The Tipping Point, taught a […]

G’head, Tell ‘em You’re Catholic

G’head, Tell ‘em You’re Catholic

Sep 26 12 • 0 comments

It always happens. The person in the seat next to me on the plane asks, “So, where’re you headed?” Then I’ll say, “Oh, I’m headed to a conference.” Then they’ll ask, “So, what kind of conference?” Then I’ll say, “Oh, a Catholic such-n-such conference.” And then I’ll receive one of three responses: 1) Their smiles […]

Good News: More Catholic Physicians are Following Church Teaching

Good News: More Catholic Physicians are Following Church Teaching

Sep 26 12 • 0 comments

A wave of excitement is gradually making its way through a small community of Catholics in Houston, Texas. Married couples who embrace the Church’s teaching in Humanae vitae and who use natural family planning have waited too long. Houston, which boasts one of the largest and most highly regarded medical systems in the world has, for twenty […]

Unearthing Hidden Treasures: An Historical Case for Foster Parenting

Unearthing Hidden Treasures: An Historical Case for Foster Parenting

Sep 26 12 • 1 comment

“They had been discussing among themselves . . . who was the greatest. Then he sat down, called the Twelve, and said to them, ‘If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.’ “Taking a child, he placed it in the their midst, and putting his […]

The Catholic Woman Voter

The Catholic Woman Voter

Sep 25 12 • 1 comment

“The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women […]

5 Key Facts Bbout the Dangerous Assisted Suicide Ballot Measure in MA

5 Key Facts Bbout the Dangerous Assisted Suicide Ballot Measure in MA

Sep 25 12 • 0 comments

While the “Question 2” ballot initiative poses a real threat to the people of Massachusetts, the same pro-doctor prescribed death lobby has been promoting a nearly identical measure far and wide across the nation for nearly two decades with very limited success.   Despite numerous ballot initiatives, court challenges, and well over one hundred legislative efforts, […]

Mother-Daughter Uterus Transplants

Mother-Daughter Uterus Transplants

Sep 24 12 • 2 comments

I have seen a lot of marginalization of children with artificial reproductive technologies, but I think this may take the cake. Never in my life have I encountered such a callous disregard for the health and well-being of a child that is so supposedly “wanted.” Two women have donated their wombs to their daughters. A […]

Becoming Christ

Becoming Christ

Sep 24 12 • 9 comments

“Let us rejoice then and give thanks that we have become not only Christians, but Christ Himself. Do you understand and grasp, brethren, God’s grace toward us? Marvel and rejoice: we have become Christ.” This exuberant declaration, bold bordering on outrageous, comes not from some starry-eyed New Age huckster, but from a pillar of Catholic […]

Respect for Islam a Disservice to Peace

Respect for Islam a Disservice to Peace

Sep 24 12 • 2 comments

Following the September 11, 2012 terrorist attack on the U.S. Embassy in Libya that killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens, reported that it was a spontaneous act carried out by a Muslim mob moved to anger by an anti-Islamic movie trailer. It now seems rather clear that the video is being exploited by the […]

Chivalry is Not Chopped

Chivalry is Not Chopped

Sep 24 12 • 2 comments

I got the rare chance the other night to watch the Food Network show, Chopped. I have seen the show maybe two or three times. It’s an interesting premise. Professional chefs challenge each other to create something delectable and wildly authentic using the most ridiculous combination of ingredients, in a constrained, high pressure feat of culinary […]

40 Days for Life - What You Can Do

40 Days for Life – What You Can Do

The Scripture readings for this week remind us of the value of life. Psalm 54 emphasizes “The Lord upholds my life.” God is the author and provider of life. Without God, our heart would never pulse a single beat nor would we ever take a single breath. He alone has the right to choose when […]

Poem: "Where Can Your Hiding Be?"

Poem: “Where Can Your Hiding Be?”

Where Can Your Hiding Be? Dark Night of the Soul II Part One BRIDE Where is your hiding place? Beloved, you’ve left me to moan While like a stag you flee Leaving the wound with me? I followed, calling loud, but you’d gone O shepherds, you that, yonder Go through the sheepfolds of the slope on […]

“It Has Something to Do With the Power of Love”

“It Has Something to Do With the Power of Love”

Sep 22 12 • 0 comments

In 2001, I wrote the following first paragraph:”On January 22–on the 28th anniversary of Roe v. Wade–North Carolina Superior Court Judge Charles Lamm sentenced 27-year-old Rae Carruth to a minimum of 18 years and 11 months in prison for his role in the execution-style murder of his pregnant girlfriend. Miraculously, doctors were able to save […]

Parents Militant: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Parents Militant: With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility

Sep 22 12 • 1 comment

The minute a child is born, his identity begins to form. As he is exposed to different things, he learns how to perceive the world. He learns what is right, what he should not do, what happiness is, and what sorrow means. He observes and then reacts. Most of all, his virgin mind absorbs the […]

My Dad, Dying with Dignity

My Dad, Dying with Dignity

Sep 21 12 • 0 comments

My Dad, bless his heart (which nearly killed him more than once), has been dying since 1980.  Thirty-two years ago, I was a Peace Corps volunteer in the Marshall Islands when a telegram arrived for me in Majuro, and informed me to fly to Eugene, Oregon on the next available flight.  My father had a […]

Spiritual Growth Within a Catholic Family, Part Two

Spiritual Growth Within a Catholic Family, Part Two

Sep 21 12 • 0 comments

Please read Part One of this article here: Spiritual Growth Within the Catholic Family, Part One If you’re a Catholic Mom or Dad, chances are good that you might be striving to make your faith a hallmark in your family. That’s a great goal. But what that looks like day-to-day and year-to-year may shift and […]

The Winners and Losers From QE3

The Winners and Losers From QE3

The only doubt about the Federal Reserve’s decision to embark on a third round of quantitative easing was about when it would begin. It was a foregone conclusion that Chairman Ben Bernanke’s Fed would resort to more quantitative easing. Under his leadership, the Federal Reserve has become a one-trick pony. Their solution for every economic […]

“I Am a Mystery to Myself” The Last Days of Padre Pio

“I Am a Mystery to Myself” The Last Days of Padre Pio

For half the 20th Century, Saint Padre Pio suffered the wounds of Christ. All of them, including the cynicism of doubt and the tyranny of false witness. In the August-September issue of Inside the Vatican magazine, Australian journalist Paul MacLeod has a fascinating article reviewing two books by Paul Badde, The Face of God (Ignatius Press 2010) […]

Mother Teresa at 100: The Life and Work of a Modern Saint

Mother Teresa at 100: The Life and Work of a Modern Saint

Sep 20 12 • 0 comments

In recent weeks, as we’ve celebrated her feast day and the 101st celebration of her birth,  we’ve been pondering the life and amazing contributions of a tiny woman who made a huge impact on our world. While the Church refers to her as Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta, many of us already believe her to […]

Forced Abortions Continue in China

Forced Abortions Continue in China

“Reports that the Chinese Party-State has ended its practice of forcibly aborting women pregnant in violation of the one-child policy are premature,” says Steven Mosher, President of the Population Research Institute. Mosher, who blew the whistle on forced abortions in China back in 1980, points out that “The Chinese Party-State has asserted for over three […]

Pope Paul VI's Playlist

Pope Paul VI’s Playlist

Sep 20 12 • 1 comment

In an attempt to stay plugged in to American culture while I live overseas for 16 months, I have regularly acquainted myself with the Billboard Top 40. Not surprisingly, in reflecting on the love proposed by Humanae Vitae, the concept of faithfulness is glaringly absent from mainstream media and culture.  Not that freedom, totality, and […]