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Poem: "The Convent Threshold"

Poem: “The Convent Threshold”

The Convent Threshold There’s blood between us, love, my love, There’s father’s blood, there’s brother’s blood; And blood’s a bar I cannot pass: I choose the stairs that mount above, Stair after golden skyward stair, To city and to sea of glass. My lily feet are soiled with mud, With scarlet mud which tells a tale […]

Change for the Better – Reflections on Evangelization, Part III

Change for the Better – Reflections on Evangelization, Part III

Feb 28 14 • • 0 comments

To wrap up this series on evangelization, it would be good to review briefly what’s been noted in previous articles in the series and to offer some reflections on both the goal of evangelization and the methods that bring about the fulfillment of that goal. In the first article I noted that evangelization is often […]

<em>Son of God</em> on Screen

Son of God on Screen

There are less people spending time with the Bible than with Facebook.  Having the Word of God get passed over by social media is sad.  Yet, as mere flesh and blood we are so easily distracted.  But it’s Jesus we are talking about—our Savior who suffered and died for us.  Can we have a little […]

Religious Sisters Escape Being Raped in the Central African Republic

Religious Sisters Escape Being Raped in the Central African Republic

Feb 28 14 • • 0 comments

A local priest has reported on the looting, killings and rape that have followed the withdrawal of Seleka rebels into Chad from the Central African Republic, including the attempted rape of two religious Sisters. Father Aurelio Gazzera,  Caritas Director of the Diocese of Bouar, made his report to international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the […]

TV Show <em>Intelligence</em>: Patriotic Transhumanist Propaganda

TV Show Intelligence: Patriotic Transhumanist Propaganda

Feb 28 14 • • 0 comments

My husband watches the new TV show Intelligence starring Josh Holloway (previously Sawyer from Lost) as Gabriel, a man with a rare genetic mutation (or some such) that allowed the U.S. government to put a chip in his brain. This chip gives Gabriel unlimited access to the Internet directly into his consciousness. As an agent […]

Stronger Than

Stronger Than

Feb 27 14 • • 0 comments

This great quote from St Ambrose bears deeper reflection; “Stronger than the person who conquers the strongest fortresses, is the one who conquers himself; nor is there any greater height of virtue.” “Conquering self,” what is that all about? There is a great term often used in statements about chastity called, self-mastery. This word says […]

The Book Whisperer: Favorite Books on Prayer

The Book Whisperer: Favorite Books on Prayer

Feb 27 14 • • 1 comment

This week in Confirmation class we talked about the Rosary, and about how prayer is an important part of Christian life. Here are some of my favorite books on prayer and the saints. 33 Days to Morning Glory by Michael Gaitley. This “do-it-yourself” retreat is a wonderful introduction to Marian devotion (including the Rosary) and Christian […]

European Human Rights Court Hears Case on Same-Sex "Marriage"

European Human Rights Court Hears Case on Same-Sex “Marriage”

A once respected judicial authority, the European Court of Human Rights is increasingly turning into a spearhead of a cultural revolution that has nothing to do, but indeed contradicts and undermines, the values enshrined in the 1950 European Human Rights Convention. This sad development is illustrated inter alia by the way in which this Court […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel

Front Row With Francis: Anointment of the Sick

Feb 27 14 • • 0 comments

At his Weekly General Audience on Wednesday, February 26, 2014, Pope Francis got to talk about one of his favorite topics: care of the sick and the infirmed, by reference to the Anointment of the Sick.  The Pope tackled the ‘taboo’ quality of the misunderstood Sacrament, acknowledging that “there is a bit of this idea […]

Poem: "The Right to Perish..."

Poem: “The Right to Perish…”

Feb 27 14 • • 0 comments

The Right to Perish Might be Thought (Part Five: The Single Hound V) The right to perish might be thought An undisputed right, Attempt it, and the Universe upon the opposite Will concentrate its officers— You cannot even die, But Nature and Mankind must pause To pay you scrutiny.  Emily Dickinson

FDA Considers Allowing Genetically Modified Children

FDA Considers Allowing Genetically Modified Children

Feb 26 14 • • 7 comments

This week the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) met to discuss allowing the creation of human beings with three genetic parents to proceed to clinical trials. That is, whether to allow human “three-parent embryos” to be implanted and possibly grow to term. There are currently two different techniques for manufacturing three-parent embryos, the purpose of […]

A Tea Party in Need of Context

A Tea Party in Need of Context

Feb 26 14 • • 9 comments

Since early 2009, the Tea Party as a movement has carved out a substantial place in electoral politics and the general political conversation. Yet for a movement that has garnered so much attention and notoriety, its actual effects have been a bit underwhelming. Tea Party Republicans in the House and Senate worked furiously first to […]

Politics and the Pulpit: Part Two: The IRS is Not the Law

Politics and the Pulpit: Part Two: The IRS is Not the Law

Feb 26 14 • • 0 comments

The American people are more fed up with the IRS than ever before, and want to see an investigation into the abuses that have been — and continue to be — perpetrated there. This frequent theme of news reports these days intersects perfectly with our ongoing series regarding the position of Churches regarding politics and […]

Like, Ever

Like, Ever

Feb 26 14 • • 0 comments

Dear Anthony, I recently asked a girl out who I met on Ave Maria Singles.  She seemed so nice, but not very Catholic.  I think she would be so awesome if she would just get more serious about her faith.  I met with her so I could evangelize her and she stormed out of the […]

Church Interior

The Belief Gap: Secularism and Young Adults

Feb 26 14 • • 0 comments

The Pew Research Center recently released a report, Celebrating Christmas and the Holidays, Then and Now, that offers a revealing look at the growing secularism of America’s young adults. According to Pew, although nine out of ten Americans celebrate Christmas, barely half (51%) view Christmas as primarily a religious holiday. Nearly a third (32%) celebrate […]

Christ on the Big Screen

Christ on the Big Screen

Feb 25 14 • • 0 comments

It’s not often an epic film on the life of Christ hits the Big Screen. In fact, exploring the canon of great American cinema brings two features to mind: Martin Scorcese’s The Last Temptation of Christ and Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ. Now, of course the latter was more biblically sound and visually […]

Parents, Protect Your Children – Before it’s Too Late

Parents, Protect Your Children – Before it’s Too Late

Feb 25 14 • • 3 comments

The case of the Pennsylvania woman who claims to have murdered at least 22 people makes me sad. Perhaps it should make me angry, but primarily it makes me sad. And worried for other such children who become prisoners of the occult. Miranda Barbour, 19, has been charged with the November 11, 2013 fatal stabbing of 42-year-old […]

Contraception is the Root Cause of Abortion

Contraception is the Root Cause of Abortion

Feb 25 14 • • 1 comment

On the heels of news that former daytime talk show host Ricki Lake is producing a forthcoming documentary on the dangers of contraception, we find a unique concern. “Lake will act as executive producer alongside director Abby Epstein in a full-length film based on Holly Grigg-Spall’s book Sweetening The Pill: Or How We Became Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control.” […]

Escaping the Catholic Church Through False Justification

Escaping the Catholic Church Through False Justification

Feb 25 14 • • 11 comments

Eve knew very well what God had commanded her and Adam, but the text tells us that she had found the tree of knowledge of good and evil good to be pleasing to the eyes and desirable for gaining wisdom (Cf. Gen 3:6). It doesn’t take a whole lot for us to find justification to […]

UNFPA Struggles to Be Relevant 20 Years after Cairo

UNFPA Struggles to Be Relevant 20 Years after Cairo

As countries negotiate new UN development goals, the Secretary General is lending his clout to a controversial UN agency as it struggles to stay relevant in a fast paced world. Development policies should “give priority to reproductive health and reproductive rights,” Ban Ki-moon said at a press briefing last week. Reproductive rights are the main […]

Poem: "Haunted Heart"

Poem: “Haunted Heart”

Feb 24 14 • • 0 comments

Haunted Heart I happened upon it so I’ll tell the odd tale Of a heart that lives where the cold winds wail On a dark lonely street where shadows are cast In a town I once found in my heartless old past Searching for answers, warmed by sunlight That town nearby was dark like a […]

Is Traditionalism a Fad?

Is Traditionalism a Fad?

Feb 24 14 • • 6 comments

In comments that became controversial the instant they were reported, the traditionalist weblog Rorate Caeli gave us the following translation from Vatican Radio: [Abp. Jan Graubner speaks:] When we were discussing those who are fond of the ancient liturgy and wish to return to it, it was evident that the Pope speaks with great affection, attention, and […]

Getting Better All the Time

Getting Better All the Time

Feb 24 14 • • 1 comment

If a Catholic man needs several years of theological training to become a priest, does it make sense for a Catholic couple to get married with only a day of formal preparation? Both Holy Orders and Holy Matrimony are vocations and lifelong commitments. Both are sacraments. Both the priest and the spouses are called to […]

3D Printing Lets Blind Parents Hold Model of Their Unborn Child

3D Printing Lets Blind Parents Hold Model of Their Unborn Child

Feb 24 14 • • 1 comment

A Brazilian company is using 3D prenatal imaging technology and 3D printing to produce physical replicas of a baby growing in the womb, allowing moms- and dads-to-be to hold a model of their unborn child in their hands. Neva Fairchild of the American Foundation for the Blind told Tech Page One that the models would […]