In the end, Donna Summer worked hard for her Lord...
Back in my college days, a missionary kid-journalist friend of mine (who later spent some time as a presidential speechwriter) turned me on to that fabulous “Sittin’ In” album by Kenny Loggins and Jim Messina. The songs were OK, he said, but his advice was to check out the horn charts and keyboards. We both said: Who in the world is Michael Omartian?
CDF report on SSPX officially delivered to the Pope...
High-profile ouster in China points to battle between reformists, hard-liners...
LOL Books...
Gosh, I'm ready for some light reading. The books stacked up on the baby bed (why not? The baby doesn't sleep there. The baby doesn't sleep at all!) are all great, but they are not exactly a laugh riot. I finished Kristin Lavransdatter, and then Love in the Ruins...
Parents: are your kids being called to not-marriage?
Most of my generation grew up not knowing the word "vocation." And I mean vocation in the sense of something in life that you are divinely made for and called to. And specifically, I mean Marriage vs. (what I'll here call) not-Marriage. And by not-Marriage I don't mean all of the things the world tries to call Marriage but are actually not Marriage.
No matter how "amicable" a divorce may be, the children carry the baggage well into adulthood...
That Gray Lady Catholic same-sex unions scoop 2.0...
How to balloon map your own neighborhood, Google Maps style...
Lilo & Stitch & Christ...
One of the things they drilled into us in the catechetics program at Franciscan University was always to view movies with an eye toward catechetical content. Since then, I drive my wife nuts on a regular basis, leaning toward her in front of the silver screen to provide commentary on how I would use a scene in a religious education context. Yep. I’m that guy.
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Quaeritur: Can I take Communion home for my sick wife?
You are to be commended for wanting to help your wife benefit from the Eucharist. I hope she is better soon. The short answer is, No, you can’t take a Host home for your sick wife…. not on your own. Please get in touch with your parish’s office and arrange for Holy Communion to be brought, if not by the priest or a deacon...
Three tensions beneath the latest Vatican dispute...
Armchair Vaticanologists everywhere grasp that all departments of the Holy See may be created equal, but when it comes to real-world influence, some are obviously more equal than others. Near the bottom of the pile are the pontifical academies, which are scholarly bodies devoted to topics such as the sciences, Mariology, the fine arts and archeology.
What is the significance of a novena? Why nine days? Why not ten or forty or three?
Before Christ ascended into heaven, he commanded his Apostles to remain in the city of Jerusalem for the nine days until the feast of Pentecost, and there to await the descent of the Holy Spirit. With this, our Savior instituted the practice of the Christian Novena – nine days of prayer...
"New signs of vitality and hope": For the U.S. Church, the Pope's last word...
Six months since its start, eight years since the last go-round, the ad limina visit of the US bishops to Rome -- the first of B16's pontificate -- has reached its close. This morning, the final group to make the pilgrimage -- the country's Eastern hierarchs...
Here we go again: another supposedly ‘Catholic’ US university honours a prominent anti-Catholic. But why are we all so surprised?
I am pessimistic about this. Not about the renewal of the Church herself: that is already happening. But in the case of universities like Georgetown, has not the whole process of secularisation gone too far? Should not effectively secularised institutions be declared non-Catholic by the Church herself? The dangers of the present situation are obvious.
Cuban comeback: Change is on the horizon as Cubans return to the Catholic faith...
10 ways to get out of a funk...
Commencement speaker at Catholic university: “Christianity is the most dangerous of devotions”...
Get this entire Catholic website on CD-ROM...
The full contents of the New Advent website are available on CD-ROM. It includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — and it's only $19, with free shipping worldwide...
10 things you should know about rhinoceroses...
Answering the question of suffering, without using words...
Earlier this week someone asked me how to address the issue of suffering when chatting with atheists. I was a guest on Catholic Answers Live, and a caller explained that he had been trying to reach out to an atheist acquaintance who was particularly troubled by the issue of suffering. Whenever the subject of faith would come up...
Help! There’s a Mennonite in me...
You have to understand that I have a Mennonite in me. I can’t help it. He lurks there in his black hat and chin beard watching me and nodding knowingly. He’s one of my ancestors. They were all Mennonites and Amish and various sorts of Pennsylvania Protestants. Go to Pennsylvania Dutch country today and see how many Longeneckers there are in the phone book.
Thin Places and the New Evangelization...
Hearing the Call: Reflections on the Ascension of the Lord...
The truth of this feast shines forth from the Letter to the Hebrews, where we read of the great high priest’s passing through the heavens, the sinless intercessor’s sacrifice on our behalf (see Hebrews 4:14-15). Indeed, his intercession will lead to the Holy Spirit’s descent in fire upon the Church.
Pondering the Great Reversal that is coming...
One of the strong traditions of Scripture is of the great reversal that will one day come for many. I have often been sobered by it when I consider how blessed I have been in this life. I have also been consoled by it when I struggle to understand why some people in this world seem to suffer so much more that I do, or others do.
Use this foolproof strategy to beat your friends at Battleship...
NFP needs some new PR...
A week after I got married, I had to visit one of those urgent care clinics for antibiotics (if you think this is too much information, you should totally stop now, because this is a birth control post). Apparently, you can pick up all sorts of things in Vegas even if you don’t happen to cavort with ladies of the evening. But I digress.
Tolerance looks like rainbows but smells like burning churches...
Make haste, slowly! On the use of discipline in the Church...
