Site Map

Site Feeds

Pages

Categories

Monthly Archives

Tags

All Articles

Obamas in Church - Sunday, January 20, 2013

Obama’s National Prayer Breakfast Remarks

We lack the will to alleviate many of society’s ills.

A Fresh Look at Birth Control

A Fresh Look at Birth Control

Feb 12 15 • 0 comments

It’s happening again, article after article appearing in my news feed. The theme is the same, although each has a slightly different slant to offer. Just as last year, I pour over each one, nodding all the while as my eyes scan the screen. The topic is birth control and each post does a good […]

On Being Invisible

On Being Invisible

Feb 11 15 • 0 comments

Recently, a Facebook conversation turned into a discussion over when we feel “invisible” while driving. It started innocently enough. I commented on how people seem to “not see” me when I am driving our family vehicle (which happens to be a 12-passenger van). My mom said she feels invisible when she drives their white car, […]

US Senators Urge Funding UN Agency Tied to Abortion and Prostitution

US Senators Urge Funding UN Agency Tied to Abortion and Prostitution

Feb 11 15 • 0 comments

A group of U.S. senators is urging President Obama to fund the UN’s controversial population agency despite its ties to abortion and coercive population control programs, and its new push for countries to legalize prostitution. “We are disappointed that despite UNFPA’s critical work around the world, a number of misperceptions about the organization persist,” wrote […]

Reflections for Sunday, February 15, 2015

Reflections for Sunday, February 15, 2015

Feb 11 15 • 0 comments

Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: Leviticus 13:1-2,44-46 2nd Reading: 1 Corinthians 10:31–11:1 Responsorial: Psalm 32:1-2,5,11 Gospel: Mark 1:40-45 The Power of the Cross to Cleanse Us of the Leprosy of Our Sins The man … began to publicize the whole matter. (Mark 1:45) Have you ever watched a […]

Ask, Seek, Knock -- Your Gift Awaits

Ask, Seek, Knock — Your Gift Awaits

Feb 10 15 • 0 comments

I always have been taught that faith is a gift. And who doesn’t love receiving gifts – especially if it is the perfect gift, something sorely needed, something for which we have asked? That could be faith in anything, I suppose: faith in your family’s helping when times get tough, faith in being justly rewarded […]

Doctors Must Refuse to Cooperate With Court's Assisted Suicide Decision

Doctors Must Refuse to Cooperate With Court’s Assisted Suicide Decision

Feb 10 15 • 0 comments

In his book The Nazi Doctors, author Jay Lifton wrote about the Nazi euthanasia program. He pointed out that it was important to blur and ultimately destroy the boundary between healing and killing to convince German doctors to participate. The imagery of killing in the name of healing was an effective tool in achieving this […]

Okay to Euthanize the Disabled Says Canadian Supreme Court

Okay to Euthanize the Disabled Says Canadian Supreme Court

Feb 9 15 • 0 comments

People with disabilities must be killed when they consent under a February 6, 2015, decision by Canada’s highest court striking the Canadian law protecting against assisting suicide. Unlike doctor-prescribed suicide laws in Oregon, Washington and Vermont that theoretically are limited to those with terminal illness, the sweeping ruling allows killing any Canadian who “has a […]

This Lent, Rediscover What Love Does

This Lent, Rediscover What Love Does

Feb 9 15 • 0 comments

Though my wife and I both grew up with dogs, we do not have dogs. There are a number of reasons, not the least of which is that some of in our family have allergies. But this did not keep us from hosting a dear, elderly couple for dinner last week, their little “Sparky” in tow. Love […]

Preach It!

Preach It!

The Bible is not just for Churches and Synagogues. Portions of it are read as literature, even in secular university classrooms.  Invariably, when you look at the syllabus of such courses, you find Job. It’s not hard to see why.  Job poignantly expresses what all human beings experience at one time or another–the feeling that […]

Poem: "Lead, Kindly Light"

Poem: “Lead, Kindly Light”

Lead, Kindly Light Lead, kindly Light, amid the encircling gloom, Lead thou me on! The night is dark, and I am far from home,– Lead thou me on! Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see The distant scene,–one step enough for me. I was not ever thus, nor prayed that thou Shouldst […]

Why Settle for Shades of Grey?

Why Settle for Shades of Grey?

Feb 6 15 • 2 comments

Remember the scene in the movie The Passion of the Christ when the androgynous, almost-beautiful-but-not-quite Satan character is carrying a baby, and when the face of the baby is revealed, it turns out to be old, ugly, and creepy rather than a sweet baby face? This was confusing for a lot of viewers, and when […]

CL9e - hbratton notxt

How to Celebrate St. Valentine’s Day Like Adults

Feb 6 15 • 0 comments

Men, you are being bombarded with advertising telling you that your wife would love to have a Teddy Bear for Valentine’s Day.  Here is a little flowchart to help you decide if you should get your wife a Teddy Bear.

Help Mary in Her Mission -- Offer Your Communion

Help Mary in Her Mission — Offer Your Communion

Feb 6 15 • 1 comment

Fr. Emil Neubert, SM, one of my favorite Mariologists, wrote many books on Mary including Mary and the Priestly Ministry and My Ideal, Jesus, Son of Mary. Recently, the Franciscans of the Immaculate, through their publishing house, Academy of the Immaculata, have renewed interest in Father Emil Neubert by translating his French works from the 1950’s into English. […]

Book Review: <i>The Power of Daily Mass</i>

Book Review: The Power of Daily Mass

In The Power of Daily Mass: How Frequent Participation in the Eucharist Can Transform Your Life (Ave Maria Press, 2015), popular Catholic author and speaker Bert Ghezzi shares how attending daily Mass has enriched his life. He also offers quotes from other daily communicants on the value this practice has for them. He reflects on […]

Poem: "My Work"

Poem: “My Work”

Feb 5 15 • 0 comments

My Work Knowing my routines as close neighbors do, They regard me with suspicion as I drive off to church- “It’s a weekday, for chrissakes!” They don’t know it is my job. My work to adore the sacristan’s bounty of a dark and empty church, to polish the holy vessels of the Precious Body and […]

Why Unemployed Men Don’t Do Housework

Why Unemployed Men Don’t Do Housework

Feb 4 15 • 3 comments

Women have long been annoyed that they do more housework than men, as demonstrated by many studies, but now they are really steamed. Last December, The New York Times reported on a regrettable trend. The number of men between the ages of 25 and 54 who are unemployed is at all-time high: 16 of every […]

Why the Vatican Statement on Plastic Surgery is Important

Why the Vatican Statement on Plastic Surgery is Important

Feb 4 15 • 0 comments

Last week the Pontifical Council for Culture released a document in preparation for the coming plenary assembly that will be discussing the theme “Women’s Cultures: Equality and Difference.” The document contained a strong stance against unnecessary plastic surgery. The Catholic Herald reports: The preparatory document looked at how much pressure women face regarding their body […]

Recapturing the Joy of Children

Recapturing the Joy of Children

Feb 4 15 • 0 comments

I love children for their sense of wonder! Babies can teach their grandfathers anew how to be enchanted with life. That is the great gift my grandchildren gave me. Revisiting wonder, enchantment, joy. They also made me ashamed that I lost those child-like qualities somewhere along the path between early childhood and adulthood. But living and […]

Human Dignity Exterminated in Frankenstein's Kitchen

Human Dignity Exterminated in Frankenstein’s Kitchen

Feb 4 15 • 0 comments

Dignity is a word that is creating a stir in some philosophical circles, and for the life of me, I cannot understand why. For example, one writer tells his readers that “Dignity 1.0, the older conception shared by Christians, natural law theorists and others, refers to the idea that humans have ‘inherent worth of immeasurable […]

A Need We All Have

A Need We All Have

Feb 3 15 • 4 comments

I love music. I love good music. I really love great music. But it truly is in the ear of the beholder as to what makes good or great music, isn’t it? I mean, I love The Allman Brothers; many people don’t like the bluesy sound and long jams. I love the work of the […]

Is the World Ready for Aging?

Is the World Ready for Aging?

UN population experts promoting low fertility were dumbfounded when asked what lies ahead for countries that will grow old before they have a chance to become rich. At a UN panel last week an expert from Harvard University said, “There are economic and health benefits from fertility decline.” During a presentation to UN delegates at […]

God's Gift: Husbands Should Reverence Their Wives

God’s Gift: Husbands Should Reverence Their Wives

Feb 3 15 • 2 comments

It can be quite tempting for husbands to misuse their authority as the head of the household in relating to their wives. Within my own therapy experience, I have seen men misquote Scripture as justification for disregarding their wives’ opinions and wishes. The fifth chapter of Ephesians is a popular source for this kind of […]

How Will History Remember You?

How Will History Remember You?

Feb 2 15 • 0 comments

Consider for a moment the sheer gravity of this truth: that a society is fully capable of being blinded to the clear and absolute evil of an ideology, practice, or undertaking. Just think about it, regardless of your views; there is simply no denying society’s capacity for the normalization of that which even the most […]