Before reading Anne Costa’s book Embracing Edith Stein: Wisdom for Women from St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross, I knew who Edith Stein was but did not really know a lot about her. She had figured into other things I have read and I had connected with some of the passages quoted from her writings. […]
Twenty years after the Clintons failed to get countries to declare a right to abortion, Mrs. Clinton told a posh UN crowd that humanity cannot advance without reproductive rights. “You cannot make progress on gender equality or broader human development without safeguarding women’s reproductive health or rights,” she declared. Clinton is adamant that reproductive health […]
Wacoal, a Thai lingerie company, is redefining beauty with its “Beauty Inside” campaign. The short 7-minute videos tell stories, based on actual events, of women whose quiet sacrifices — including for an unborn child — win the admiration of men who tell the stories. And, tears from viewers. The message? Virtue is gorgeous. “Beauty Inside” […]
Are you in need of some daily inspiration? Do you love to learn about the saints? If you answered “yes” to either of those questions, then Sisterhood of Saints by Melanie Rigney (Franciscan Media, 2013) is a book you will want to keep close by. Rigney writes that researching all these women changed her life. […]
The Guardian U.K. recently published an article entitled Should we care that smart women aren’t having kids? The piece was based on the work of Satoshi Kanazawa, a London School of Economics psychologist who conducted research on the link between intelligence and maternal urges and wrote the book The Intelligence Paradox based on his findings. […]
If you do an internet search for “church veil” or “mantilla”, you’ll come across many websites dedicated to wearing a piece of lace covering on your head during Holy Mass. You’ll also find many blog posts and articles that ask the question: should I or shouldn’t I wear a mantilla? The reasons for veiling are […]
Do you see yourself as worthy of God’s love? Many women don’t. Due to sin, disappointments in life, and voices in the outside world, Satan is often able to convince women that they have lost God’s love and these women in turn give up hope. “Satan wants nothing more for us than for us to […]
We still buy the lie. Women are told that if they want to be successful in the world, they have to be more like men, or like a how-to-succeed-in-business stereotype: aggressive; detached from commitments; and self serving. No softness, no vulnerability, and certainly no thinking of others. We have to put ourselves first or we […]
We’ve all heard the new modern meme: You’re just a mom? or You are just a mom! or Are you just a mom? or Oh, you are just a mom. I put a question mark at the end of that first iteration for a reason. Today, more than ever, women — mothers in particular — […]
Pope Francis’ General Audience for Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Dear Brothers and Sisters, Today we turn to the Catechism of the Year of Faith. In the Creed we repeat this phrase: “He rose again on the third day, in accordance with the Scriptures”. This is the very event that we are celebrating: the Resurrection of […]
The following are actual questions from real women who have concerns about their boyfriends and other women. My boyfriend works in an office with some really beautiful women. I can’t imagine why he hasn’t fallen for one of them. I don’t know how much longer I can stand it. He knows I’m uncomfortable with it […]
Our present culture does not value and esteem womanhood very much. Catholic writer, speaker, and podcaster Pat Gohn is working to change that. With Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood (Ave Maria Press, 2013) , Gohn “seeks to celebrate womanhood by exploring a woman’s dignity, gifts, and mission.” As one might […]
The word that comes to mind to describe my childhood and my abortions is obliterated. There are troubling similarities between the way I was treated as a child and the way I treated my unborn children. I believe that women who were maltreated are predisposed to have abortions. As I was looking for studies to corroborate […]
I know my purpose here on earth is to love and serve God so that I can spend eternity with Him in Heaven… But at my age, even having some of the answers to life’s bigger questions doesn’t mean there still aren’t a few things I wonder about… For instance, I was recently watching a […]
Ah, beauty. We’re tempted to pluck a couple more eyebrow hairs, worry about the color of our shirts, look in the mirror one more time. Or, under the guise of being modest and counter-cultural, we don shapeless denim jumpers, long skirts and tennis shoes, thwarting any glance that might come our way. Either way, every […]
Have you ever looked yourself in the mirror and wondered why you have four “frown lines” for every laugh line? When was the last time you gut-laughed? Do you slip into your daughter’s room late at night, and wish you’d spent as much time enjoying her as you did lecturing her? Do you ever wonder […]
With the recent declaration by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it would seem that there is an indisputable decision to allow women to serve in combat units in the future. To argue to the contrary might be an exercise in futility—much like closing the barn door after the horses have bolted—but this is not so. […]
What comes to mind when you think of “temperance”? Designated drivers downing pints of O’Douls or virgin daiquiris? The thrill of moral victory from leaving that last bite of chocolate cake on the plate? Lent? The other day I came across an article by MaryEllen Tribby (Founder and CEO of WorkingMoms.com) entitled “The Success Indicator,” […]
“Is this all there is?” Colleen Carroll Campbell found herself asking that universal question midway through college. Every generation needs to discover the role of faith in their lives and to seek answers to the hard questions such as the meaning of life and the role of suffering. While human nature may remain fairly consistent, […]
How many books begin with an invitation to a slumber party? This one does! Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle’s richly personal, but powerfully catechetical new book, Rooted in Love: Our Calling as Catholic Women, is as delightful, intimate, and honest as a 3 a.m. chat with your best friend over a cup of hot chocolate, and I can’t […]
Late last year when a presidential primary candidate was asked how he was going to reach women voters, he responded that he was polling well with women. Oh, oh. He seemed clueless about what most women really want. Once again, women were being taken for granted and once again we could lose – big time. […]
It’s busy season for debates over the role of women in Christianity. First, there was the so-called “war on nuns,” the high-profile skirmish between the Vatican and the Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Then followed Harvard divinity professor Karen King’s revelation of a now widely discredited papyrus suggesting that Jesus had a wife. Now comes […]
The title of Teresa Tomeo and Cheryl Dickow’s new book, Wrapped Up: God’s Ten Gifts for Women refers to our being “wrapped up” in God’s love. That can be a hard concept for us women to accept. After all, the world spends a lot of time telling us all the reasons why we are not […]
Some days in life are just so stinkin’ hard. The most difficult part of hard days is the part I play in them. The failures that are mine, all mine. If I have twenty balls up in the air and manage to keep ten of them up, hoorah for me! But still I drop the […]
