Category: Featured

<em>Treason</em>: Then and Now
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Treason: Then and Now

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I’ve noticed a curious tic in my circle of friends. We’ve known each other for years, we share the faith, a worldview, and a trail of conversations on almost every subject, and yet, there are moments where we stop mid-sentence to adjust our words, the delivery, or the approach to a topic that is currently […]

Reflections for Easter Sunday
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Reflections for Easter Sunday

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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Acts 10:34,37-43; Psalm 118:1-216-17,22-23; Colossians 3:1-4 or 1 Corinthians 5:6-8; John 20:1-9) He is Risen!! On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. (John 20:1)  It’s Easter Sunday. Today, we celebrate the fact that more than two thousand years ago, Jesus’ […]

The Conscious Uncoupling of Love from Sacrifice
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The Conscious Uncoupling of Love from Sacrifice

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Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin, whom I do not know personally and don’t have any authority or desire to judge, having their own back-stories, needs, and wounds (just like me!), are “consciously uncoupling” from their marriage. This phrase I feel I can objectively judge. ‘Cause it’s goofy. Their advisors, Dr. Habib Sadeghi and Dr. Sherry Sami, are […]

The Divergent Dignities of Terri Schiavo and Roxy the Dog
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The Divergent Dignities of Terri Schiavo and Roxy the Dog

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Every now and then the biomedical community and the legal system are presented with the opportunity to rediscover our collective humanity through the lens of animal rights and animal cruelty. More often than not that lens has insufficient power to correct their distorted perception of human dignity. Having just passed the ninth anniversary of Terri […]

Having a Bad Lent?
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Having a Bad Lent?

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Today’s readings center around the betrayal of Jesus  by Judas Iscariot. I have been thinking as I go through the trials of having an ill spouse: how easy it is to betray Jesus by losing hope?  How often do I want to escape from my daily duties?  It can be difficult to accept prolonged suffering, especially […]

Thinking Liturgically:  The Asperges
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Thinking Liturgically: The Asperges

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One of the reasons I love the Extraordinary Form is that within the rite, there are a lot of lovely little ceremonies that either didn’t survive the liturgical reform, or they survived in name only.  The Asperges Me is one such ceremony.  While it is technically still available, it is one option among many, and […]

Five Reasons to See and Talk About <em>Noah</em>
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Five Reasons to See and Talk About Noah

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I confess. I did not go into the movie Noah with a tabula rasa. I first read the scathing review of popular blogger, Matt Walsh. Then, curiosity peaked, I watched Sr. Rose Pacatte’s review. She loved it. Confused, but also intrigued, I decided I would just have to see for myself. There have been a wide range of views in […]

Mercy and the Truth Are Not Incompatible
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Mercy and the Truth Are Not Incompatible

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Some weeks ago a group of young people, in their late 20s and early 30s, began showing up on the sidewalk in front of a local abortion facility where I and dozens of other pro life witnesses from Catholics United for Life have done sidewalk counseling for many years. They are an energetic bunch, full […]

Peter's Denial and Ours
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Peter’s Denial and Ours

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How many of us can relate to Simon Peter’s desire to stand beside Jesus, steadfast and true? Those very same people can, I am sure, also relate to Peter’s denial of Jesus. As St. Paul would say, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. As we grow in our own discipleship of Jesus Christ, […]

Daily Consecration - Christ's and Ours
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Daily Consecration – Christ’s and Ours

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The Epistle to the Hebrews tells us something truly astounding: Christ’s prayer at his incarnation. The inspired author heard his prayer captured in the words of Psalm 40, “When Christ came into the world, he said, ‘Sacrifices and [sin] offerings you have not desired, but a body you have prepared for me … I have […]

Support Local Arts: Bring Beauty to Your World
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Support Local Arts: Bring Beauty to Your World

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In the small Canadian prairie town where I grew up there is an arts centre named after my mother. The Eleanor Pickup Arts Centre is dedicated to the performing arts.  At center-stage sits a grand piano like a tribute to her. My mother taught piano for 60 years. Even at the age of 93 years, […]

The Persecution of Sister Jane Dominic Laurel
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The Persecution of Sister Jane Dominic Laurel

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Sister Jane Dominic Laurel, a Dominican nun who has recently come under fire for a presentation she made to a group of Catholic students in North Carolina, has been doing the same type of presentation for years. Her subject matter is Catholic teaching on the truth about human sexuality—popularized by Pope John Paul II as […]

Be Authentic by Returning to God
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Be Authentic by Returning to God

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At the very beginning of our conversion, we try to emulate Christ at a superficial level. We are play-acting. This is not a bad thing, not really, because the job of living the life of Jesus in His humility is difficult. We will probably mature in faith past this normal stage of development. However, at […]

The Victory of Humility
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The Victory of Humility

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When a conquering hero of the ancient world rode into town in triumph, it was in a regal chariot or on the back of a stately stallion.  Legions of soldiers accompanied him in the victory procession.  Triumphal arches, festooned with relief sculptures, were often erected to immortalize his valiant victory. After driving out demons, healing […]

St. Paul in Arabia:  The Apostles Preaches in Damascus
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St. Paul in Arabia: The Apostles Preaches in Damascus

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In ancient times the city of Damascus employed a system of subterranean canals that irrigated the plains and supplied Damascenes with drinking water.  Some of these aqueducts were more than a mile in length.  It was through these canals that Saint Paul escaped the city to enter Arabia (Gal 1:17), and through them he returned […]

One Table, One Family
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One Table, One Family

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“Thus says the Lord GOD: I will take the children of Israel from among the nations to which they have come, and gather them from all sides to bring them back to their land.  I will make them one nation upon the land, in the mountains of Israel, and there shall be one prince for […]

EU Pressure on Homosexuality Complicates EU-Africa Summit
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EU Pressure on Homosexuality Complicates EU-Africa Summit

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European pressure on African nations to change laws on homosexuality has created a backlash that may threaten this week’s meeting between leaders of the two continents European officials have been scrambling to appease African leaders ahead of this week’s summit of EU and African leaders in Brussels. The summit is meant to address a host […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: What is Wisdom?

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Continuing with his back to basics approach to catechesis, the Holy Father used this week’s general audience to begin a new series of reflections, this time on the gifts of the Spirit. When you ask people what the gifts of the Spirit are, you frequently hear such things as speaking in tongues, prophesy, healing, etc. […]

Saving Sex: Why My Target Audience Isn't Teens
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Saving Sex: Why My Target Audience Isn’t Teens

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The other day on Facebook, a reader learned that for my forthcoming book, called Chastity is for Lovers: Single, Happy, and (Still) a Virgin, the target audience is adults, and primarily young ones.* She suggested that in the future, I target teens instead. Another reader, who had asked if the book is fit for teens, suggested […]

Be a Witness In the Face of Persecution
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Be a Witness In the Face of Persecution

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I hear the whisperings of many: “Terror on every side!  denounce! let us denounce him!”  All those who were my friends are on the watch for any misstep of mine. Do you ever feel like everyone is against you? Do you sometimes feel like you can do no right in the eyes of some people? […]

Fatal Errors with Sola Scriptura's "God Breathed" Argument
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Fatal Errors with Sola Scriptura’s “God Breathed” Argument

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Ezekiel and I agreed on just about everything, except for theology and football. He was a dogmatic Calvinist and a Pittsburgh Steelers fanatic (which is different than just being a ‘fan’). He was also an awesome debater and very logical – a bit loud and hyperbolic – but his gift was never being able to […]

John Paul II, Patron of the Catholic Literary Revival
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John Paul II, Patron of the Catholic Literary Revival

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With the canonization of Blessed John Paul II taking place on Divine Mercy Sunday, the world’s attention turns to the legacy of the beloved former pontiff. Many will posit his theology of the body, travels across the globe or the record number of new saints as underpinnings of his papacy. However, there’s one imprint that […]

I’ll Be Your Mule if You’ll Be My Donkey
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I’ll Be Your Mule if You’ll Be My Donkey

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Can you imagine each person on earth serving the needs of others? Neither can I. Yet, by nature, there are some things that are harder for each of us and require a helping hand. You may argue that in times of crisis people help people and you would be correct. A fire truck is dispatched […]

Kevorkian’s “Pro-Euthanasia Paintings” May Fetch $45k Each
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Kevorkian’s “Pro-Euthanasia Paintings” May Fetch $45k Each

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News that eleven of the late Jack Kevorkian’s paintings are up for sale in Los Angeles—at “upward of $45,000 per canvas”—are a reminder that long before there was Kermit Gosnell, there was Jack Kevorkian. Whereas abortionist Gosnell was angered when the Philadelphia Attorney General called his abortion clinic a “House of Horrors,” Kevorkian (a publicity […]