When it was evening, his disciples went down to the sea, embarked in a boat, and went across the sea to Capernaum. It had already grown dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea was stirred up because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, […]
The highlight of every child’s Easter basket is the chocolate bunny. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into it. I don’t know about you, but I have always preferred the solid chocolate bunny over the hollow bunny. What an utter disappointment to bite into that ear and have it shatter chocolate crumbs all over. […]
Last year, on one of the morning shows, a couple was asked to carry a camcorder around while they debated and discussed their decision to have a vasectomy. After the births of three boys — the youngest only a few months old — they made the decision to go ahead and have a permanent solution […]
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 […]
The smell of pot roast escapes from the lid of the slow cooker and wafts down the hallway to my home office. My washer and dryer hum harmoniously in the distance while generating hours’ worth of laundry for me to fold tonight after dinner. Already today, I’ve paid some bills and balanced the checkbook, determined […]
As I pulled out of the high school parking lot yesterday after dropping off my daughter, I noticed a long line of cars waiting to turn in. Blinking turn signals flickered in the early morning light and I couldn’t help but notice how the traffic had exploded since the time I had arrived. My daughter […]
Understandably, many Catholic women are reluctant to hire a personal trainer. Such an investment is often viewed as a display of excessive vanity and selfishness. However, as a devout Catholic who has both hired a personal trainer and become certified myself, I can attest to the many benefits of this service. Exercise does not have […]
The late medical essayist Lewis Thomas once described Alzheimer’s as “the worst of all diseases, not just for what it does to the patient, but for its devastating effects on family and friends.” For anyone who has witnessed the ravages of Alzheimer’s firsthand, as I did during the dozen-plus years that my father battled it, […]
If you haven’t yet seen the film October Baby yet, find the time to do so. I can’t recommend it strongly enough. It’s one of the best films I’ve ever seen. I’m not going to critique the film or focus on the obvious pro-life aspect of the story (that’s for you to discover for yourself), […]
When I was a kid, I got in trouble almost daily. I often was sent home from school with notes from the teacher, informing my parents about my latest crimes. One day, I had to deliver a note to my parents from my fifth grade teacher that stated I was constantly disrupting her class and […]
The poor remodeler, he was so uncomfortable that I thought he might break into a sweat. In fact, he might already have been sweating, but I dared not look too closely, lest my scrutiny escalate his discomfort. He’d come to bid on our kitchen reconstruction and walked into more than he’d bargained for. However, the […]
In 1968, cigarette maker Philip Morris launched a brand of smokes just for women. Marketed with the provocative slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby,” Virginia Slims offered an elegant profile and an image that suggested freedom, empowerment and equality. Unfortunately for women, “Skinny Ginnys” were not a cultural or political statement, they were just […]
“People…people who need people…” Barbara Streisand sang in her sixties’ movie Funny Girl. “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world!” Streisand’s singing was over-the-top; music speaks to the soul, and there is so much truth in the song. We need to recognize that we need people. At the same time, though, […]
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 […]
Notre Dame is still struggling with its mission as Our Lady’s university. On August 15, 1990, Pope John Paul II promulgated the Apostolic Constitution Ex Corde Ecclesiae (English: From the Heart of the Church). The document marked the first step in the systematic effort to renew and reform Catholic higher education around the world. One […]
I try so hard to have faith, but I have never figured out the best way to take kids to Mass. I mean, on the one hand, there’s the Real Presence, and taking your children to see the Miracle that redeems mankind is unquestionably of utmost importance. But on the other hand, there’s the mental […]
As we approach Easter Sunday and the beginning of the Easter Season let us take time to reflect on the extraordinary and undeserved gift we have received through Jesus’ passion, death, and resurrection — our sins have been forgiven and we are now sharers of eternal life with Christ. The second reading from the Easter […]
“We become what we love and who we love shapes what we become. If we love things, we become a thing. If we love nothing, we become nothing. Imitation is not a literal mimicking of Christ, rather it means becoming the image of the beloved, an image disclosed through transformation. This means we are to […]
In today’s secular culture, there are some common misconceptions (pun intended) regarding the Church’s teachings on sex and marriage. I believe the following attitudes (in bold) illustrate that many modern Catholics, young and old alike, are poorly catechized, especially in this important area. The Church is preoccupied with sex. Actually, it is the world which […]
Earlier this month the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s (GLAAD) “Commentator Accountability Project” included me on their list of people who deserve special scrutiny before they can be engaged as commentators on the marriage debate. But it is organizations like GLAAD that need to be held accountable for the impact of their rhetoric on […]
Stop me if you’ve heard this one. Men and women can’t be just friends. It was the main point of a video that made the rounds a few months back in the wonderful world of social media, linked below for your convenience. http://youtu.be/T_lh5fR4DMA Makes a compelling case. But regardless of which side of the fence […]
The UN Commission on Population and Development is considering “sexual and reproductive health and rights” for children as young as ten. Even the Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon agrees. In a statement recently released he said, “Young people, as much as all people, share the human right to health, including sexual and reproductive health.” Currently international […]
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 […]
Let it not be said that St. Augustine was a misogynist. He thought very seriously about the place in creation of human reproduction–of the male and the female and their particular beauty. Contrary to some contemporaries–mostly Manichees–he saw the female form as a cause of rejoicing. Now, you may read the following excerpt to your […]
