New York’s newly-enforced law recognizing same-sex “marriage” is being challenged by lawyers who say the state’s constitutional and legal procedures were “flagrantly” violated when lawmakers pushed the bill through last month. Liberty Counsel has filed a lawsuit in the New York Supreme Court for declaratory and injunctive relief against the law that was signed on […]
There is beauty in the world. There is peace in the world. There is joy. In fact, there’s lots of it. Only, there’s lots of other stuff too. Sometimes trying to recognize the good things is like trying to find the right web-site. Your search returns 6 million hits. So where’s the one you want? […]
Almost lost in official Washington’s preoccupation with the partisan slug-fest over raising the debt ceiling and reducing the deficit was the despicable, murderous attack in Norway on Friday. Unfortunately, such inattention increases the likelihood that the wrong lessons will be learned from the mayhem – and a proper response to the mayhem inflicted upon that […]
Hypermiling is the way to drive now. I drive the “family car” which is an SUV and more than once I have been told that there is nothing you can do to get more gas mileage out of those things, alas! But believe me when I say this: I got another 93 miles out of my gas […]
Late The Holy Father is expected But has not by this time arrived To celebrate a Mass outdoors – A stadium is set aside But not too large, a pocket field That holds a smallish crowd of faithful, Even so, the seats not filled Empty ones for late arrivals Scattered in the sloping grandstand And […]
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on new survey data profiling Catholicism: All we ever hear from the wild-eyed critics of the Catholic Church, including the dissidents within, is that the Church had better “get with it” and change its teachings on abortion, homosexuality and women’s ordination. Yet it is precisely those religious institutions that […]
The field of bioethics, which is a fairly recent phenomenon in the history of mankind, has always been a slippery slope, as there is a huge difference between the natural law and the bioethical framework of committees or individuals making up the rules as they move along. In analyzing “Which Medical Ethics for the 21st […]
Debt and deficits seem to be on everyone’s minds these days. Whether it be worries about the American government’s fiscal woes, Europe’s fragile banking system, or the debt-as-a-way-of-life culture that disfigures so many lives, many people are seeking guidance about how to release ourselves from this mess with our souls intact. In this regard, Catholics […]
The chattering classes have focused fresh attention on what they perceive as that last definable sin: hypocrisy. They claim to have found it anew in Sarah Palin’s family, because her son — recently married — seems to have conceived his first child before exchanging vows. This has naturally led to heated discussions over the abstinence-based programs […]
You can learn a lot from watching American Idol year after year. That’s because American Idol offers real lessons about what makes a star. When the top 24 are selected, there are so many wonderful singers that I always wonder, “How will one person ever rise to the top?” But, inevitably, someone does. We, the […]
The Funeral begins with the birth-date of skin, color, gender, bruising caused by delivery into your particular place or family. No one knows what you now feel. No relative totally relates. No medical force utterly understands the length of your life, your foot, your hand, or other wonderments with […]
Columba in the Church Alone Columba in the church alone So long ago on Iouan island Light streamed through the shuttered windows Through the seams of doors it flowed Did he not converse with angels? Fantasy and myth and legend Say the ones whose shutters close Whose doors of love are firmly fastened Whose house […]
“Liberal” and “conservative.” The definitions of these terms are seldom stated. Usually they are just presumed. Often people call “conservative” those who like old-fashioned things and “liberal” those who favor the latest ideas, trends, and values. But for the Christian, the ultimate question is not personal preferences of style, or whether something is old or […]
Valley Park Middle School is in the news again. Some weeks ago, this Toronto, Canada, school was highlighted for allowing Muslim students to hold a 30-minute prayer service in the school cafeteria during class time each Friday afternoon. That brought an initial wave of uproar from both sides of the debate regarding the permitting of […]
The current deficit and debt ceiling negotiations happening in Washington represent politics at their worst – politics on steroids. Amidst the posturing and prevaricating, however, one conservative has emerged with a legitimate plan to liberate America from its bondage of debt. This week, Senator Tom Coburn released a 600-page plan that would reduce the deficit […]
Down From the Night A humid night, a balmy dusk, Fireflies on summer leaves Bear flashing likeness to the stars, but how Do rising stars resemble these? Think now, think, how can it be That suns can glow like fireflies, Attracting what above themselves, Flashing, burning as they rise? Both are temporal and pass – […]
Should a 13-year-old be able to purchase a school-shooting simulator without parents’ knowledge or consent? The Supreme Court says that freedom of speech requires that 13-year-olds have that opportunity. In a 7-2 decision, the court struck down a California law barring the sale of graphically violent video games to people under 18. I have not […]
Saint Paul wrote that he was “all things to all people.” Paul was a Jew, a Roman citizen, a Pharisee, an apostle, a preacher, a teacher, a tentmaker, and an evangelizer. And Paul was a writer. Thirteen of the twenty-seven books of the New Testament are attributed to him, making him a prolific composer. He […]
Move over, Sarah Palin. Michele Bachmann is the new bogeyman — er, woman — of the left. She opposes pornography and abortion. She’s stingy with the taxpayer money entrusted to her. There are even rumors that she gets headaches — really, really bad headaches. As for her family values, well, yes, Bachmann and her husband […]
After the Institute of Medicine (IOM) this week publicly backed government-mandated birth control coverage, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is standing in the breach against what would prove a massive victory for abortion giant Planned Parenthood. The birth control question has sparked a rare spectacle as the two most influential lobbies on sexual […]
Who Sends These Winds? How can you say you are alone, my love, Feel the rays of the fuse set up high Warming, giving life, giving light To frigid lonely flesh In heat served up fresh each morning? How can you say I’m not here? Here come the galloping winds Here come the playful winds […]
“I fed you with milk, not solid food; for you were not ready for it; and even yet you are not ready, for you are still of the flesh” (1 Cor. 3:2-3). To wit, I would submit that the changes that have taken place in the sacred liturgy since the Council closed find their impetus […]
Not too long ago my daughter came up the basement stairs in tears. It seems her two big brothers and one younger brother were destroying her eight year old world and she had had it! “Mom, you have no idea what it is like to have to deal with 3 brothers!” She wailed. A perfect […]
You and I Alone In this desert nothing lives but prophecy, Lightning in the sterile sky but never rain, Search the future in the desert secrecy, Torah of the line of the horizon Turn around the circle that you turn, There is the far meniscus of the shape Of earth that has been molten till […]
