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Movie Review: <em>Spotlight</em>

Movie Review: Spotlight

Spotlight is the recounting of the Spotlight team of intrepid investigative reporters at the Boston Globe who broke the Catholic Church’s clergy sex abuse story in January 2002–mainly concerning the Archdiocese of Boston. For starters, this is not a Church-bashing film, even though it easily and rightfully could have been. It’s an accurate, stark, almost […]

Divided America Flag

Tracking America’s Suicide

“We must live through all time, or die by suicide.”

Why are the Middle-Aged Dying?

Why are the Middle-Aged Dying?

Nov 11 15 • 1 comment

By now there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the disturbing study from Princeton economists showing that middle-aged white Americans are the only demographic showing increasing death rates. Only the 45-54 age segment, and only in the United States. Worse yet, the rise in deaths is due to suicide and substance abuse. One of the […]

Book Review: <em>Waiting for Eli</em>

Book Review: Waiting for Eli

This book is a must read. It is the beautiful story of what could be considered a miracle birth, and as such it can help couples who may find the going very difficult when confronted with a very challenging pregnancy. Waiting for Eli chronicles this spiritual journey from fear of one’s personal limitations to self-abandonment […]

Five Ways to Imitate Christ

Five Ways to Imitate Christ

Nov 10 15 • 0 comments

In St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians, he exhorts his readers to be imitators of God. I venture to say that St. Paul exhorts us to imitate Christ, who is God. After all, Paul had the encounter with the Risen Lord on the road to Damascus, which changed his life forever. How do we begin […]

Physician Assisted Suicide Undermines Efforts to Reduce Suicide

Physician Assisted Suicide Undermines Efforts to Reduce Suicide

Nov 10 15 • 0 comments

Last week’s New York Times featured a haunting portrayal of suicide in America. Across the nation, suicide rates are on the rise—particularly among rural adolescents. But, as the article highlights, “suicide is a threat not just to the young. Rates over all rose 7 percent in metropolitan counties from 2004 to 2013, according to the […]

Book Review: <em>Intimate Graces</em>

Book Review: Intimate Graces

The Jubilee Year of Mercy is right around the corner. Why not take advantage of that year to work on your marriage? In Intimate Graces (Ave Maria Press, 2015), Catholic media maven Teresa Tomeo (Pastore) and her husband Deacon Dominick Pastore examine how practicing the works of mercy can bring out the best in marriage. […]

Poem: "Whatever the Journey, Whatever the Road"

Poem: “Whatever the Journey, Whatever the Road”

Nov 9 15 • 0 comments

Whatever the Journey, Whatever the Road My hand is upon you, As you well know. I walk with you daily, In the sand and the snow. Together we are bound, For the journey you take. To serve My Father In this place. Days will come, When life will be hard. And others shall be As […]

The Widow’s Mite

The Widow’s Mite

The time lag between the two widows in this Sunday’s readings was considerable.  Lots of things change in 800 years. But one thing their two societies had in common–they didn’t offer social security, welfare, 401K’s, or pension plans.  With no husband to provide for them, both widows were literally at the mercy of those around […]

The Meaning of Human Sexuality

The Meaning of Human Sexuality

Nov 6 15 • 0 comments

As the concept of gender grows ever more fluid (you can pick any one of 58 gender options on Facebook), it’s worth asking why God created humans as male and female. Bacteria have no gender and reproduce mostly by dividing their cells. Some species of fish are sequentially hermaphroditic, changing genders throughout their lifetime. Angels, […]

African Women’s Solutions to War Clash with Feminists’ Agenda

African Women’s Solutions to War Clash with Feminists’ Agenda

Nov 6 15 • 0 comments

When the UN Security Council adopted its latest resolution on the role of women in international peacebuilding and security last month, a familiar clash of opinions surfaced—among women. In particular, feminists driving the international policies are on opposite sides of women living in the realities of war-challenged areas. At a panel hosted by Liechtenstein, a […]

dating, marriage, love

Let Your Spousal Love Grow

Nov 6 15 • 0 comments

This past summer, after nearly 16 years of marriage, my husband and I took our first bona-fide, airline-ticket “weekend away.” As you might imagine, it was quite a logistical undertaking for a family with four children. More than once I questioned whether we were being selfish for doing it at all. But something happened that […]

How Modern Eugenics Discounts Human Dignity

How Modern Eugenics Discounts Human Dignity

Nov 5 15 • 0 comments

In this modern age, many people are no longer afraid of eugenics. It is not that they are ignorant of the past. They know all about the movement of the early 20th century that tried to create a better human race by preventing the birth of those deemed “unfit.” Eugenics literally means “good birth,” and […]

The Only Good Catholic

The Only Good Catholic

Nov 5 15 • 0 comments

Driving my kids home from school on one of our faster moving country roads, I was stopped short by a dog wandering stupidly around the yellow lines.  I couldn’t get out of the car to help because my son has a life-threatening allergy, so my frustration mounted as I realized that, until someone else came […]

What the Legacy of China's One Child Policy Can Teach America

What the Legacy of China’s One Child Policy Can Teach America

Nov 5 15 • 0 comments

News broke last week that China has reversed its infamous one child policy after 35 years, increasing the permitted number of children per family to two. The Washington Post ran a story reviewing the history of the policy, a brutal and heartbreaking legacy of forced abortion, corruption, and despair. China’s one-child policy is a prime […]

Poem: "Gifts"

Poem: “Gifts”

Nov 5 15 • 0 comments

Gifts The gifts He gave me, I thought were me. I was them, they were mine. I used them, enjoyed them, Ignored, and wasted them. Some I squandered. A gift that blossomed, It was my planting! A gift that bore fruit, It was my growing! No thought of giving them. No thought of sharing them […]

God’s Gift to Man: The Transforming Power of Music

God’s Gift to Man: The Transforming Power of Music

Nov 4 15 • 0 comments

This article is a reflection on how music has shaped my devotion to the Church. There will be links to my favorite music: liturgical, hymns and other. I’d be grateful if readers would note in comments their favorite music. I won’t say much about the psychology of music or how music affects the brain. A […]

The Light of Christ Can Stop the Brutal Darkness of Abortion

The Light of Christ Can Stop the Brutal Darkness of Abortion

Nov 4 15 • 1 comment

The October 26th 2015 edition of LifeNews.com carried an article entitled “Abortionist Caught Saying It Would be a “Great Idea” to Burn Aborted Babies for Energy.”[1] The article attributed the quote to Michigan abortion mill owner, Renee Chelian, at a 2014 conference in San Francisco for the National Abortion Federation (NAF). Chelian owns the Northland Family […]

Movie Review: <em>Jem and the Holograms</em>

Movie Review: Jem and the Holograms

Jem and the Holograms is a live-action tween movie based on the animated TV series of the same name that aired from 1985-1988. Although I have been informed by some fans of the TV series that the film is not cleaving exactly to the TV version, it is nonetheless a delightful, “family-oriented” film that is […]

FDA Blasts, WHO Downplays, Risks of Depo-Provera Contraceptive

FDA Blasts, WHO Downplays, Risks of Depo-Provera Contraceptive

Nov 3 15 • 0 comments

A week before a huge global family planning conference in Indonesia, the World Health Organization (WHO) issued a short statement reiterating its position that injectable contraceptives are safe – for any duration – even for adolescents despite being linked to progressive bone density loss and other harmful side effects. It came shortly after the U.S. […]

Feathers in the Wind: Scandal and Sharing Online

Feathers in the Wind: Scandal and Sharing Online

Nov 2 15 • 2 comments

St. Philip Neri once told a woman that as penance for her gossiping, she should scatter a pillowful of feathers into the wind and then walk about the town collecting every feather. The task was impossible, of course, and it emphasized that we can’t take back our words once they’ve been uttered. That’s especially true […]

Poem: "With You in Mind"

Poem: “With You in Mind”

Nov 1 15 • 0 comments

With You in Mind Still unfolding in Time, God built the Universe With you in mind. Matter abounds in precise measure, Yet only mind cares To count the treasure. The Nature of Reality Weighs only upon Man. Mind, immaterial, Counts on Science to understand. But mensuration once obtained Must be thought to think things through, […]

<em>THE 33</em> Spotlights Faith, Hope of Trapped Chilean Miners

THE 33 Spotlights Faith, Hope of Trapped Chilean Miners

From Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros. comes this exciting and moving film based on the real-life event when a gold and copper mine collapses, trapping 33 miners underground for 69 days. Antonio Banderas and Lou Diamond Phillips star. In theaters Nov. 13.

All Saints Icon (detail)

Is Praying to the Saints Idolatrous?

Oct 30 15 • 1 comment

Praying to the Saints is the opposite of idolatry.