Archive for October, 2013

Eleven Countries Promise to Keep Homosexuality on UN Agenda
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Eleven Countries Promise to Keep Homosexuality on UN Agenda

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Eleven countries announced they will continue to hoist the rainbow flag at the United Nations despite setbacks in recent years. U. S. Secretary of State John Kerry and officials from ten countries promised to promote homosexuality at the United Nations in a declaration issued last week. The “Core LGBT Group,” as the eleven countries are […]

Teens and Dating
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Teens and Dating

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It may come as a surprise to many, but dating is a relatively recent phenomenon. So says Jason E. King, author of Dating: A Practical Catholic Guide, published by the Knights of Columbus Catholic Information Service. Prior to our modern conception of dating, which arose in the 20th century, says King, a family was much […]

Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I)
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Pope Francis: Ongoing Fallout (Part I)

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The blows continue raining down on Francis over his interview with an atheist, and with an intense scorn that is simply breathtaking. This may take a few posts to cover in its entirety, but here goes… In my last article I defended Francis: He. Is. Peter. This pope has barely begun to cast his net and […]

Proselytism, Conversion, and Other "Solemn Nonsense"
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Proselytism, Conversion, and Other “Solemn Nonsense”

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In my previous column, we examined how the words of Pope Francis found echo in Pope Leo XIII.  A lot of Catholics were also “scandalized” by another statement from Pope Francis.  When an atheist asked if the point of their meeting was to convert him, the Holy Father Stated: Proselytism is solemn nonsense, it makes […]

Debunking the Myth of Overpopulation
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Debunking the Myth of Overpopulation

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Anne Roback Morse also contributed to this article. We are contacted all the time by people asking for how they can refute the arguments of those who believe that the world is overpopulated. So we have decided to create a short primer called “How to Debunk the Myth of Overpopulation in Three Easy Steps.” Before […]

Poem: "An Autumn Twilight"
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Poem: “An Autumn Twilight”

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An Autumn Twilight The autumn evening’s filled with peace The night birds softly call, The hint of frost, the waking stars The smoky air of fall. The deer pass down the wooded trail The year’s last crickets sing, While summer flowers bow and weep On fields that wait for spring. And I walk on in […]

Don't Plan a Perfect Wedding
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Don’t Plan a Perfect Wedding

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Planning a wedding is a lot of pressure. Everyone you know is invited, it’s (hopefully) a once-in-a-lifetime event and it’s the most formal occasion of your life. That in itself can make any bride or groom a little antsy. Yet more than that,  in the modern world, it is a life goal that is right up […]

<i>Grace Unplugged</i>, St. Augustine, and Miley Cyrus
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Grace Unplugged, St. Augustine, and Miley Cyrus

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Good versus good hardly seems like a movie plot, but in Grace Unplugged in theaters October 4th, Divine good and worldly goods are pitted against one another. At the heart of the conflict is the pull of a father’s love and concern for his 18-year-old daughter and her push to get out from under his […]

Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change
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Pope Francis: Rupture vs. Change

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“That’s not what he really meant to say…” These are increasingly common words spoken on behalf of Pope Francis. Increasingly, Catholic bloggers are having to compile montages of quotes to show the strain of orthodox continuity in the Pope’s interviews. For many traditionalists, it is the frightful spectre of a Jesuit pope ascending the throne […]

The Failure of the International Reproductive Rights Norm - Part Three: No Norm, No Right
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The Failure of the International Reproductive Rights Norm – Part Three: No Norm, No Right

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Part 1: A Norm is Born Part 2: Reproductive Health Doesn’t Include Abortion . . . But it Does In 2006, the term “reproductive health” made it into a binding international law treaty for the first time, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. While this was a victory for the reproductive rights […]

The Kingdom of God is at Hand
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The Kingdom of God is at Hand

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There is a well-known, extremely important, and sacredly joyous phrase from the tenth chapter of The Holy Gospel According to St. Luke, which is to be read at liturgy today. After this the Lord appointed seventy others, and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself […]

Do Not Be Afraid to Strive for Holiness
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Do Not Be Afraid to Strive for Holiness

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Dear Brothers and Sisters, In the Creed, we confess our faith that the Church is “holy”. But how can we say that the Church is holy when she is all too evidently made up of sinners? Saint Paul helps us to see things aright when he tells us that “Christ loved the Church and gave […]

Reflections for Sunday, October 6, 2013
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Reflections for Sunday, October 6, 2013

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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Habakkuk 1:2-3; 2:2-4; Psalm 95:1-2,6-9; 2 Timothy 1:6-8,13-14; Luke 17:5-10) Living in the Power of God and Not the Power of Fear Stir into flame the gift of God. (2 Timothy 1:6) Did you know that fear is a gift from God? It helps us protect ourselves […]

Now is the Time to Stop Three-Parent IVF
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Now is the Time to Stop Three-Parent IVF

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The UK rubber stamp Embryo Authority has approved the manufacture of three-parent human embryos. The process is done by removing the nucleus from the egg of one woman, putting it into the enucleated egg of another, and then fertilizing with sperm. Voila, three biological parents. The approach is supposed to enable women with mitochondrial disease—who […]

You Will Get Pregnant and Die: Four Better Reasons to Wait
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You Will Get Pregnant and Die: Four Better Reasons to Wait

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It’s not hard to make an argument for chastity. After all, STDs are terrifying and unplanned pregnancies aren’t ideal. And there are the statistics that show increased depression in sexually active teens and increased rates of divorce among those who had multiple sexual partners. But if you’ve ever been in love, you know that scare […]

John B. Tabb - Priest-Poet
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Tabb’s Poetry XXXVII

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Five poems by John B. Tabb.

7 Secrets of Confession
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7 Secrets of Confession

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Fear not. The title, 7 Secrets of Confession, is designed to grab attention not break the seal. In fact, Vinny Flynn has penned his own “books of numbers” as author of 7 Secrets of the Eucharist and 21 Ways to Worship. This latest book serves as a helpful guide to Confession for those who have […]

Who Do We Trust In?
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Who Do We Trust In?

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Like Mount Zion are they who trust in the LORD, unshakable, forever. — Psalm 125 Do you ever think about how much we trust every single day? For instance, every time you turn on your car and pull out of the driveway, you are trusting the people who assembled that car and the mechanic who […]

Book Review: <i>My Sister, St. Therese</i>
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Book Review: My Sister, St. Therese

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My mother always considered St. Therese to be one of my patron saints and so I have always had a great devotion to her. From my earliest years, I knew the story of her life and at age nine I first read her Story of a Soul. I’m a bit embarrassed to admit, I wanted […]

Levin’s "Liberty Amendments:" Struble’s Critique, Part Two
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Levin’s “Liberty Amendments:” Struble’s Critique, Part Two

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Links to part 1, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 After seven weeks on the market, Mark Levin’s blockbuster book, Liberty Amendments: Restoring the American Republic (Threshold Editions, Simon & Schuster, 2013) remains in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list.  For the first three weeks after debut (August 13th) it stood […]