Archive for July, 2014

Why Population Control is Bad Foreign Policy
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Why Population Control is Bad Foreign Policy

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Anne Roback Morse also contributed to this article. The language of the e-mails is hyperbolic and hate-filled. They come from population control groups that are indignant about the House of Representatives Billwhich would re-institute the Mexico City Policy. They call it a “Mean-spirited, anti-women agenda.” And they say it’s “Playing ping-pong politics with women’s lives,” “Out of […]

Kanye West, ISIS and Confronting Poverty
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Kanye West, ISIS and Confronting Poverty

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When I left my corporate job in California to enter the convent I had to tell my boss I was planning on leaving at the same time he was handing me an offer for a substantial raise. It was a difficult moment. I felt bad for my boss but I was also keenly aware that I looked […]

God is Not Welcome Here
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God is Not Welcome Here

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“A small error in the beginning leads to a multitude of errors in the end” – Aristotle, De Coelo The small error in this case is the assumption made long ago by the members of the United States Supreme Court that they had the power to play God. First, the court ignored the science on […]

To Be Led Out of Egypt
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To Be Led Out of Egypt

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This past year, I was privileged to celebrate a Passover seder with some close friends during Holy Week. It was both a reminder of the persistence of the faith of Judaism in its own right and of the roots for the new Passover that Jesus established, through his institution of the Eucharist, and through his […]

Ode to Feminine Genius: A Frugal Woman
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Ode to Feminine Genius: A Frugal Woman

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A Frugal woman. Sounds kinda boring, doesn’t it? Like that woman wearing an ill-fitting jeans jumper that looks like it’s from 30 years ago, buying only day-old bread, never getting anything nice or new, and spouting off about how everyone should grow and grind their own flour, like her. Um yeah, I really don’t want to […]

Reflections for Sunday, August 3, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, August 3, 2014

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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 55:1-3; Psalm 145:8-9,15-18; Romans 8:35,37-39; Matthew 14:13-21) Using the Gifts God has Given You Give them some food yourselves. (Matthew 14:16) Tony Melendez was born without any arms. But he was also born with a gift for music, so he developed a unique way to share […]

Movie Review: <em>Boyhood</em>
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Movie Review: Boyhood

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Boyhood, the new movie written and directed by Richard Linklater (Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, The Before… Trilogy with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy) is a one-of-a-kind, “big idea” film. The lives of screen Mom, Dad, son and daughter are followed for twelve years. Literally twelve years, having been filmed for about a week each […]

Are Protestant Communities "Churches"?
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Are Protestant Communities “Churches”?

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In our last article, we demonstrated how Dr. Alan Schreck, as many orthodox Catholics do, erroneously applies the hermeneutic of discontinuity to the use of the terms “heresy” and “heretic” before Vatican II and the non-use of those terms in the Council. We will now do likewise with the term “church” as it was used […]

Humanity of the Comatose Denied by Inhumanity of Euthanasia
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Humanity of the Comatose Denied by Inhumanity of Euthanasia

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On March 20, 2004, Pope John Paul II delivered an address to an international congress on “Life-sustaining treatments and vegetative state: Scientific advances and Ethical Dilemmas.” The pope dealt directly with the issue of doctors withholding medical treatments and nutrition and hydration (food and water) from comatose patients. I was happy to see the pontiff […]

Thinking Liturgically:  The Saints and God's Mercy
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Thinking Liturgically: The Saints and God’s Mercy

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When calling for the reform of the Sacred Liturgy, the Second Vatican Council said the following: The rites should be distinguished by a noble simplicity; they should be short, clear, and unencumbered by useless repetitions; they should be within the people’s powers of comprehension, and normally should not require much explanation. (Sacrosanctum Concillium 34) When […]

<i>Mr. Blue</i> - The Anti-Gatsby
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Mr. Blue – The Anti-Gatsby

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In the June 2014 issue of Columbia Magazine, published by the Knights of Columbus, Alton J. Pelowski offered a profile of Myles Connolly (1897 – 1964), a former editor of that publication. A graduate of Boston College, he would serve in the Navy during the end of World War I, work as a reporter for […]

Sts. Nazarius and Celsus, martyrs.
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Sts. Nazarius and Celsus, martyrs.

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T. NAZARIUS’s father was a heathen, and held a considerable post in the Roman army. His mother, Perpetua, was a zealous Christian, and was instructed by St. Peter, or his disciples, in the most perfect maxims of our holy faith. Nazarius embraced it with so much ardor that he copied in his life all the […]

Solomon’s Wisdom: On the Necessity of Reading the Old Testament
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Solomon’s Wisdom: On the Necessity of Reading the Old Testament

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Once I had dinner with another priest.  As we were eating we talked about the Bible.  “I preach the same homily every weekend,” he said. “Really?” I asked.  “And how are your collections?” While we were at it, he justified himself by declaring that it was no longer necessary to preach on the Old Testament. […]

Ferial Day
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Ferial Day

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Old vs. New in the Kingdom of God
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Old vs. New in the Kingdom of God

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“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 […]

Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary
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Sts. Joachim and Anne, parents of Mary

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Anne was to be the mother of the Virgin Mother of God, and hence nature did not dare to anticipate the flowering of grace. Thus nature remained sterile, until grace produced its fruit. For she who was to be born had to be a first born daughter, since she would be the mother of the […]

Eyes Off The Road
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Eyes Off The Road

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I came upon my old Bible the other day, the one I read through from cover to cover twice, a TEV Protestant Bible, now incomplete to me, but still generating a holiness from within even when I touch its cover. I looked at the many scotch tape fixes, the numerous margin notes, the multiple dog […]

European Court: Gay Marriage is not a Human Right
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European Court: Gay Marriage is not a Human Right

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The highest human rights court in Europe shattered hopes that it would judicially impose same-sex marriage when it told a male to female transsexual and his wife that a civil union should be good enough for them. European human rights law does not require countries to “grant access to marriage to same-sex couples,” according to […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: The Eucharist and Renewing Our Hearts

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I do believe, help my unbelief! (Mark 9:24) Trembling and filled with anticipation I repeated this to myself as I walked down the aisle to receive, for the first time, the Eucharist. Pope Francis speaks to those gathered to receive his catechesis about the Eucharist (February 5, 2014) that “From this Sacrament of love, in […]

NCR Blogger's Memoir Breaks Mold
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NCR Blogger’s Memoir Breaks Mold

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National Catholic Register blogger Jennifer Fulwiler just published her long awaited memoir, Something Other Than God. The book is enjoying exposure and praise typically reserved for secular tales. When I saw the book profiled on Forbes.com, a real feat for a Catholic conversion story, I braced myself for something compelling. The memoir is written with […]

African Women Turning to NFP; Turning Down Contraceptives
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African Women Turning to NFP; Turning Down Contraceptives

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Anne Morse also contributed to this article. It seemed like your typical family planning conference: it was sponsored by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the World Health Organization’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research. It had the typical title: “Is access enough? Understanding and addressing unmet need for Family Planning.” It even […]

Poem: "The Wisdom of the Clock"
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Poem: “The Wisdom of the Clock”

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The Wisdom of the Clock You can’t escape its silent roar Its race is cast from shore to shore Time dashes off and then is gone “A good deed done, just one more day In good deeds you cannot delay Duty first, then right again” No stress in time or things without The soldier’s stance […]

The Call to Humility
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The Call to Humility

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I like to play this little game now and then: I’ll pick a word – or as is the case more often, a certain word seems to choose me by rolling around unexpectedly in my mind for several days. At a certain point, feeling unable to ignore it any longer, I will sit down and answer […]

Wireless Birth Control is No Fantasy
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Wireless Birth Control is No Fantasy

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Recent reports announcing the era of remote-control contraception herald the very real but slightly horrifying prospects for the future for those who believe that man can literally transform himself into a machine. This phenomenon is known as the cult of transhumanism. One news report calls the remote dispensation of contraception “creepy.” Another explains how this […]