The American bishops have, with alacrity, rejected President Obama’s proposed “accommodation” on the contraception mandate in no uncertain terms. Their response came before the sun had set on the very day of his announcement. Noting that the “proposal continues to involve needless government intrusion in the internal governance of religious institutions, and to threaten government coercion of […]
The beginning of the New Year saw only an increase in the oppression of Christians under Islam, from Nigeria, where an all-out jihad has been declared in an effort to eradicate the Muslim north of all Christians, to Europe, where Muslim converts to Christianity are still hounded and attacked as apostates. According to the Chairman […]
This Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d do something different. People who follow my writing know that I rarely give guy’s dating advice. I feel that it can be hard for a woman to effectively mentor a man on dating, because let’s face it: we have not walked in their shoes. Nevertheless, a sincere Catholic man […]
I am just a simple man. But even simple men must stand up for and defend Truth as best they can. It is disheartening to see how many still think there is some way for our political and religious leaders to compromise their way out of the recently promulgated unconstitutional infringement on the right to […]
I have a love/hate relationship….with Facebook. While I am inclined to keep up to speed by anyone’s standard, it seems that they change the format often enough to confuse me just when I think I’m getting the hang of it. Admittedly, I have always been a sort of ‘geek’. I like technical things and am curious […]
This article is by Regina Rico Ferreira as told in Amazing Grace for Mothers. “Mommy, where’s my daddy?” My four-year-old son Jacob asked me. The question was a jolt to our leisurly Sunday afternoon walk together. I always knew the question would one day come, but I was not expecting it so soon. “Dear God,” […]
The cure of the leper in this morning’s Gospel was more than a miracle of physical healing; it was a moral resurrection of a man who suffered from la disease that made him an outcast from society, doomed to crying out, as the first reading indicates, “Unclean, unclean,” in order to warn people in the […]
Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Isaiah 43:18-19, 21-22, 24-25; Psalm 41:2-5, 13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:18-22; Mark 2:1-12) Journeying together as Brothers and Sisters in Christ When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Child, your sins are forgiven.” (Mark 2:5) Did you catch that? Jesus forgave this man and healed […]
In his book As I Lay Dying, Fr. Richard John Neuhaus writes about being sick and near death in the hospital: “The very sick can look simply awful. Although they politely tried to hide it, I saw the recoil on the faces of visitors. A young parishioner arrived unannounced and, before I knew what she was […]
The newspeak and apologetics of HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius came straight out of George Orwell’s 1984. After pretending that President Obama allegedly reversed his mandate (his mandate that persons of good will should be forced to pay for abortifacients, sterilizations, and contraceptives), newspeak Kathy explained: “The President reached-out to religious groups.” It seems this Barack […]
What Obama just said on Friday afternoon was extremely confusing. But once you get to the truth of it, it’s also extremely frightening. The president was facing down a conundrum: trying to assuage religious groups appalled at being forced to cover birth control under an impending federal mandate, while making it clear to his base that he […]
Everyone knows of a handful of days that change who you think you are. Death removes someone you love from your life and changes the family dynamic. Marriages add new members, rearranging the family dynamic. And, there are tragedies that can drop you to your knees in an instant, showing you that it can happen […]
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have issued the following statement: The Catholic bishops have long supported access to life-affirming healthcare for all, and the conscience rights of everyone involved in the complex process of providing that healthcare. That is why we raised two serious objections to the “preventive services” regulation issued by the U.S. […]
The image has spread rapidly around social media networks: It’s a photo of Pope Paul VI, and in the likeness of those popular inspirational posters, includes the saying, “Humanae Vitae No. 17: I told you so.” It’s a humorous but stark nod to a reality that Catholic Americans are facing today: a slow, but sure […]
I’ve gotten some very interesting emails regarding President Obama’s mandate commanding Roman Catholics (and many evangelical Protestants) to violate their consciences by providing mandatory contraception, sterilization, and abortion-inducing pharmaceuticals. The emailers noted that Obama’s action will force Catholics to challenge the president in court, particularly given that bishops are saying they will not comply with […]
I was born to be a New York Giants fan. Being a fan is, quite literally, my birthright. My father is a lifelong fan, and in 1971, the year I was born, star running back Tucker Frederickson completed his final season with the team. Spellbound with nostalgia, my father ensured that Frederickson would remain a […]
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has acted to reverse the democratic decision of the people of California to confine marriage to its traditional parameters of a man and a woman. In making this decision, the court decided that it could overturn the will of the people of California on the basis of what is […]
We happened to be invited to several Super Bowl parties recently and enjoyed stopping by to visit with friends that we don’t get a chance to see very often anymore. One could argue that a Super Bowl party is not the best environment for catch-up conversations. “Hey, wow, so how long has it been?” (Loud […]
It seems there’s something to be learned from every dopey mistake I ever make. In fact, some of my dopey mistakes turn out to be not so dopey after all. The other day, I made one of the not-so-dopiest of all. I picked up my voicemail messages. Actually, that’s not the dopey mistake; it’s the […]
The family’s limited participation in the manufacturing of medium to large-scale goods appears to present us with a challenge. Large-scale industry is needed to accommodate the production of heavy machinery, automobiles, and other technologies we use everyday. To the skeptic, Distributism seems unresponsive to these needs and incapable of fitting into our modern framework. In […]
The Obama administration, to justify its widely criticized mandate for contraception and sterilization coverage in private health plans, has posted a set of false and misleading claims on the White House blog (“Health Reform, Preventive Services, and Religious Institutions,” February 1). In what follows, each White House claim is quoted with a response. Claim: “Churches […]
A quiet, closed-door meeting in Washington next month will be of crucial importance in shaping the Church’s response to the nation’s biggest church-state crisis in decades. When some 40 bishops of the administrative committee of the national bishops’ conference gather March 14-15 at conference headquarters, they’ll be looking at the Obama administration’s January mandate to […]
In ample time for men to assess the romantic terrain before Valentines Day, the Style section of the Washington Post offered an article by Donna Britt, which begins: Like our love, women’s anger — the simmering rage toward our families, our mates and assorted males that can turn even the calmest woman’s expression into The […]
“With the January 22 anniversary of the Roe v Wade Supreme Court ruling, the United States began its 40th year of legal abortion,” said Shawn Carney, campaign director of 40 Days for Life. “This is a critical year in terms of the sanctity of human life — a year in which people from across America and […]
