When that first soft cloud of pale green appears on the trees in Spring, I always try hard to comprehend the unimaginably high number of leaves there are budding into the world’s most sophisticated little nano-scale energy machines. It is truly a miracle of nature, and one that is so common all around us, it’s easy […]
When Astrid Bennett Gutierrez, Janet Morana and Teresa Tomeo get together, something fantastic happens — it’s called The Catholic View for Women. It’s a new EWTN talk show. Several pilot shows ran on the network last year, garnering reviews so favorable that EWTN not only contracted for a full series, 13 episodes of which will […]
My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line. What was I comparing this universe with when I called it unjust? If the […]
Occasionally, a book perfectly marries expert insight with the tone and interests of its audience. Mary Eberstadt’s Adam and Eve After the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution (Ignatius Press) is just such a serendipity. In a rejoinder to decades of sexual liberation barbs and sexually libertine behavior, Eberstadt’s thin but illuminating volume introduces female […]
There’s a new kind of film coming to a cinema near you–film that is Christian, made by Christians, but (proudly) not part of the “Christian film genre.” The movie is rated PG-13 but was almost rated R because of its “realness” with regard to campus life. Lots of language and mature themes. Director Steve Taylor […]
The Hunger Games is set in a way beyond dystopia future in which the rulers living in the Third-Reich-like “Capitol” keep the peons in the “Districts” in fear and subjugation by holding gladiatorial games each year. The combatants are children and teenagers, picked at random to fight to the death, each representing their District. And […]
The movie version of The Hunger Games debuted on March 23, and it is breaking all records. What follows is a review of The Hunger Games Trilogy by author, Suzanne Collins. **Spoiler Alert—The plot is discussed here in detail for parental benefit. The level of detail is to help facilitate a discussion with your child […]
Baby seals, puppies and horses all seem to have a universal ability to tug at people’s heartstrings. It’s just something about how we’re made, and Steven Spielberg’s War Horse doesn’t disappoint in that department. This film takes you on an emotional ride from the opening scene, the birth of a horse in rural England, right […]
If you ask Jack Hannahan what he’s thankful for, be prepared to listen for a while. Hannahan, 32, has plenty to appreciate, starting with the realization of his dream of playing in the major leagues. In 2001, he was named Big Ten Player of the Year at the University of Minnesota and was drafted in […]
If you are searching for the authoritative Baedeker Guide to the End of the West, search no longer. The book by Patrick J. Buchanan, Suicide of a Superpower: Will America Survive to 2025? makes a devastating case for the end of what we know as the West. Pat Buchanan is the unacknowledged godfather of the […]
“Social issues.” It’s a squishy, equivocal term suited to a mentality ill at ease with the hard-edged implications of “moral issues” and “morality.” What implications? That there are definite moral truths that show some things to be always and everywhere wrong and deserving of condemnation. Not what the “social issues” mindset cares to hear. There’s […]
A city like no other, maybe even more so this time of year. What do you call a city with a jail named Regina Coeli (Queen of Heaven)? For the last 3,000 years, you call it Rome. Forty years had passed since I had last visited Rome, broke and hitchhiking through Europe the summer after […]
Benjamin Mee (Matt Damon) and his two children, Dylan (Colin Ford) and Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones), lost their wife and mother, Katherine, just six months ago. The family is grieving and Benjamin is floundering in his job as a journalist. Dylan (fourteen) is moody, angry and in regular trouble at school. Rosie (seven) misses her […]
Looking at the cover of Sons of Cain, by Val Bianco, will send a shiver through your spine. It’s a true Catholic thriller and a fascinating story of grand proportions. “Sons of Cain” grabs your very mind, heart, and soul, and refuses to let go. The prologue provides a stunning beginning to the story because […]
All the Devils Are Here, by Bethany McLean and Joe Nocera, is a fascinating look at the principle players who brought about the financial crisis of 2008. It reveals the motives and mistakes made over the course of a decade by those who were entrusted with running the largest financial corporations of the world as […]
Everyone has made at least one impulsive purchase in his or her life. Pet shops and women’s clothing stores thrive on such buys. But not many of us would be tempted to buy an entire zoo on impulse. Ah, but in the movies there are no limits as to what can happen. In the film, […]
You know, when a book has endorsements from Cardinal Donald Wuerl, Scott Hahn, Kevin Vost, Marcus Grodi, and Mike Aquilina (to name a few!!), a thumbs-up from Shane Kapler is obviously superfluous. But in the spirit of “when has that ever stopped me before?” I have to share my deep appreciation of this book. The […]
I grew up reading Catholic Digest. I was one of those children who would pick up and read anything that was lying around the house, and it was a magazine that my parents subscribed to. Honestly, I don’t remember all that much about the articles. I’m guessing that, as a child, many of them probably […]
The Hunger Games trilogy penned by Suzanne Collins has proven to be hugely successful, and deservedly so. The tale of post-apocalyptic love, poverty, war, and oppression poignantly captures the fundamental injustice of tyranny. As the film premiere of the first book dominated the box office this past weekend, it’s worth reflecting on what can be […]
It’s been obvious for a long time, but now it is official: the National Catholic Reporter rejects the teachings of the Catholic Church on sexuality. In an editorial titled, “NCR Endorses Call for a New Sexual Ethic,” it supports retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson’s plea for the Church to change its teachings on sexuality. Bishop […]
Archbishop Charles Chaput has written one of the most insightful pieces of our time on modern journalism and the role, or should I say, “non-role” of religion in today’s public square. His searing piece, A Heart on Fire: Catholic Witness and the Next America, is a must read for all those who seek to live […]
Run to your local theater and see OCTOBER BABY as soon as you are able! Bring as many of your family and friends with you as possible! This film completes the incomplete public discussion of abortion and the dignity of all human life. The frank beauty and power of its message will anger some but […]
I don’t recommend many movies, but today one that you really should see is coming into theaters nationwide. It’s called October Baby, and it deals in a masterful way with a difficult topic — abortion. Abortion is not and should not be an abstract debate. When I’m asked how the pro-life battle has evolved over […]
Reading about two free speech cases now before the Supreme Court, I found myself thinking of Cardinal Newman. I’ll get to Cardinal Newman in a minute, but first let me say a word about those cases pending in the court. The basic issue in FCC v. Fox Television Stations and FCC v. ABC is the […]
