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Legislation Banning Sex Selective Abortion Gains Momentum

Legislation Banning Sex Selective Abortion Gains Momentum

Jun 5 12 • 0 comments

You would think that any piece of legislation that wins a 246-168 majority of the votes of the House of Representatives would be on a fast track to become law. Passing pro-life legislation though, whether it be the earlier ban on partial-birth abortion, or the Prenatal Non-Discrimination Act (PreNDA)–a bill to make it unlawful to […]

The Marriage of the Lamb

The Marriage of the Lamb

Jun 5 12 • 0 comments

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 […]

Remembering the Significance of D-Day

Remembering the Significance of D-Day

At 0227 hours on the morning of June 6, 1944, Lieutenant Robert Mathias saw the red light flash above the door of his C47 “Dakota” aircraft, signaling his men to get ready to parachute into a terrifying blackness that was streaked with machine-gun tracers and punctuated by exploding rounds from four-barrel 20-millimeter Flakvierling-38 anti-aircraft guns. […]

Mary and the Eucharist

Mary and the Eucharist

Jun 4 12 • 2 comments

“If we wish to discover in all its richness the profound relationship between the Church and the Eucharist, we cannot neglect Mary, Mother and model of the Church…Mary can guide us toward this most holy sacrament because she herself has a profound relationship with it.” (Blessed Pope John Paul II, Ecclesia de Eucharistia) At the […]

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Awakening

Jun 4 12 • 0 comments

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 […]

The Fall of Icons

The Fall of Icons

Jun 4 12 • Comments Off on The Fall of Icons

A writer who practices his art at home does not want to turn his place of residence into a library warehouse. And so, every so often, in order to maintain a dynamic equilibrium between acquisitions and dispersals, he must sift through his material and separate the transitory from the enduring. It is a practice akin […]

Looking for Clarity? Try St. Francis de Sales

Looking for Clarity? Try St. Francis de Sales

Jun 4 12 • 0 comments

We are all called to holiness. Sometimes this can seem like an impossible call, especially when things get tough. And, at times the path to heaven can look like a fork in the road. What to do? If you read the lives of the saints, you’ll discover that they’re all so different that no one […]

Poem: "The Master"

Poem: “The Master”

Jun 4 12 • 0 comments

The Master Immortality achieved Age indefinitely deferred The new immortal sits Scrutinizing games On the full moon as a screen Synchronous in orbit Until as ages pass He slumps and snores alone While robot servants dust Whispering in limpid tones So as not to wake the master With their sub-atomic chatter Pavel July 25, 2011

Poem: "The Hound of Heaven"

Poem: “The Hound of Heaven”

Jun 2 12 • 1 comment

The Hound of Heaven I fled Him down the nights and down the days I fled Him down the arches of the years I fled Him down the labyrinthine ways Of my own mind, and in the midst of tears I hid from him, and under running laughter. Up vistaed hopes I sped and shot […]

An 'Imaginary' President Appeases a Very Real Islam

An ‘Imaginary’ President Appeases a Very Real Islam

Jun 1 12 • 0 comments

American intellectual Will Durant’s The Lessons of History—co-written with wife Ariel and published in 1968, when the Soviet Union posed a threat to the United States—still offers insightful lessons, especially concerning American-Muslim relations. In the chapter titled “History and War,” the Durants posit some hypothetical speeches and approaches concerning war. First, an imaginary U.S. president […]

Mute Splendor: An Autistic Child Deepens Her Family's Faith

Mute Splendor: An Autistic Child Deepens Her Family’s Faith

Jun 1 12 • 1 comment

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 […]

It's When We Look Back That We See the Blessings

It’s When We Look Back That We See the Blessings

Jun 1 12 • 2 comments

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 […]

Sex-Selection Abortion Ban Wins Strong House Majority, Fails to Clear 2/3 Hurdle

Sex-Selection Abortion Ban Wins Strong House Majority, Fails to Clear 2/3 Hurdle

May 31 12 • 0 comments

A bill to outlaw abortions based on a child’s gender received a strong majority of votes in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday but failed to gain the two-thirds margin of support needed for passage. The House voted 246-168 in favor of H.R. 3541, known as the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PRENDA). 226 Republicans and 20 […]

Male Happiness: What Men Really Want

Male Happiness: What Men Really Want

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 […]

Movie Review: <i>U.N. Me</i>

Movie Review: U.N. Me

Every once in a while, I watch a movie that I hate. U.N. Me is just such a movie. I hated watching it but I have to recommend that others see this movie.  Why?  Because I believe that even if the truth is brutally hard to digest, it’s better than ignorance. I hated what was […]

Poem: "The Weaver"

Poem: “The Weaver”

May 31 12 • 0 comments

The Weaver Inspired by Mk 6:34-44 The other boys laughed when he walked kinda slow. They stole his sandals and tore at his clothes. They made him the butt of all of their pranks, Yet he prayed for them, each night giving thanks. He spent most of his time, alone by the sea- The lonely […]

Prayer <em>is</em> All

Prayer is All

May 30 12 • 0 comments

How many times have we met with dear friends who are distraught about a family member, perhaps a child who has left the faith or a family crisis hinging on poor decisions? After looking at the details, exploring the possible harms, and coming to grips with what is at stake, the conversation usually ends with […]

Thank Goodness I Can Still Cringe

Thank Goodness I Can Still Cringe

May 30 12 • 2 comments

When speaking to the broader public—as opposed to what they tell each other—pro-abortionists will often feign an attitude that they, too, understand that abortion is serious business and not to be trivialized. They don’t mean it for a half-second, of course, but for public consumption it helps take the edge off their fanaticism. I thought […]

Book Review: <i>Catholic Philosopher Chick Makes Her Début</i>

Book Review: Catholic Philosopher Chick Makes Her Début

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 […]

Watching Movies Through Catholic Eyes

Watching Movies Through Catholic Eyes

May 30 12 • 0 comments

In How to Read a Film, author James Monaco writes that movies “have drastically changed the way we perceive the world… yet we all too naturally accept the vast amounts of information they convey to us in massive doses without questioning how they tell us what they tell.” When it comes to movies, how we […]

Substitute Vatican Sec. of State Discusses Leaks' Impact on Pope

Substitute Vatican Sec. of State Discusses Leaks’ Impact on Pope

Pope Benedict is said to be “saddened” by the discovery that one of his closest aides, Paolo Gabriele, 46, his valet or butler, has betrayed his trust, copying and disseminating secret Vatican documents from the Pope’s own apartments. Some in Rome are concerned that the emotional strain of these events could harm the health of […]

On the Vatican's Norms for Discerning Private Revelation, Part One

On the Vatican’s Norms for Discerning Private Revelation, Part One

May 29 12 • 0 comments

A couple of months ago I openly questioned Andrea Tornielli’s publishing the Latin text of the Vatican’s document Normae S. Congregationis (NC).[i]  This past week, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) published not only the Latin text of the document, but also issued a translation in the major European languages.[ii] As the […]

Refusing to Render Unto Caesar That Which is God's

Refusing to Render Unto Caesar That Which is God’s

May 29 12 • 1 comment

“Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.  But Peter and John replied, “Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God.  For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”  Acts […]

Therapeutic Thrifting

Therapeutic Thrifting

May 29 12 • 8 comments

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 […]