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Welfareship Wordle

Welfareship: France’s Status Quo, America’s Future?

Dec 10 12 • 0 comments

Welfare has become a characteristic of President Obama’s domestic policies. There has been a surge in American citizens on welfare over the last four years, including a 50-percent increase in people on food stamps (from 32 to 47 million). It is a form of “welfareship.” As a citizen of France, I know such a society […]

Who Do We Need to Make Room For in Our Inn?

Who Do We Need to Make Room For in Our Inn?

Our pastor shared this story at Mass on Sunday: As many parishes do at Christmas time, a parish in New York was having a pageant acting out the Nativity story. A little boy named Tom was taking part. He was mentally disabled, but was very excited to be in the pageant. He was playing an […]

Second Week of Advent: B.I.B.L.E. - Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

Second Week of Advent: B.I.B.L.E. – Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth

In 1979 I received my First Communion and, as a communion gift, my first Bible, The Illustrated Children’s Bible.  I cherished this present and the stories never left my memory, even after I lost the Bible, many years ago. The Word of God is eternal and omnipresent; it remains imprinted on our souls from our […]

The Duty of the Moment

The Duty of the Moment

Dec 10 12 • 1 comment

“Doing the duty of the moment means focusing our whole person – heart, soul, body, emotions, intellect, memory, imagination – on the job at hand!  The duty of the moment done for God is glamorous, exciting, wondrous…..” Catherine Doherty, Grace In Every Season, Madonna House Publications, Combermere, Ontario Many years ago, when I was a […]

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part II

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part II

Dec 10 12 • 0 comments

In my previous article, I explored why the Catholic Church’s teaching on abortion should not be blamed for Savita Happlanavar’s death. These observations suggest to me three analogies to which this might be likened. In order, they are self-defense; life-support removal at the end of a person’s life; and the removal of an ectopic pregnancy, or, […]

Poem: "Debt of Honor"

Poem: “Debt of Honor”

Dec 10 12 • 0 comments

Debt of Honor O Jeremiah, they threw you in a pit, The bull’s eye of derision, the target of their wit, Ridiculous foretellings, stupid fuss and feathers, Envy of prosperity and the power of his betters The era of good feeling will go on and on and on With credit from the bankers and the […]

The Five Best Christmas Movies: And the Gift of Grace and Renewal

The Five Best Christmas Movies: And the Gift of Grace and Renewal

Let’s have a happy debate: What are the five best Christmas movies of all time? Obviously, tastes differ and change over time. Here are my five favorites, the ones I am willing to watch every Christmas season, starting with number five and ending with my absolute favorite: Number five: The Bishop’s Wife — In this […]

Pray, Fast to Protect Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty: U.S. Bishops Launch New Campaign

Pray, Fast to Protect Life, Marriage, Religious Liberty: U.S. Bishops Launch New Campaign

Dec 9 12 • 1 comment

Citing “unprecedented challenges” to life, marriage and religious liberty, the bishops of the United States have called on all the faithful to fast, pray a daily Rosary, have regular Holy Hours and Masses, and attend rallies, “for the sake of renewing a culture of life, marriage, and religious liberty in our country.” In explaining the […]

Learning How to Be a Mother-in-Law

Learning How to Be a Mother-in-Law

Dec 8 12 • 2 comments

Frankly, I was completely in shock. Not that we didn’t expect it – we’ve been expecting it for some time. And, it wasn’t that we weren’t happy about it, either, because we were and still are. No, I was in shock because this would make me the…you know…the… mother-in-law. I’ve heard about those creatures, the […]

Senate Rejects Controversial Disability Treaty

Senate Rejects Controversial Disability Treaty

Dec 7 12 • 0 comments

The United States Senate voted this week against ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The 61-38 vote failed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary for ratification due to serious concerns that it would undermine sovereignty and parental rights, and be interpreted to advance abortion.“For decades, the United […]

Poem: "All Winter Long"

Poem: “All Winter Long”

Dec 7 12 • 0 comments

All Winter Long The trees are white instead of green, And warm soft grass I have not seen All winter long The snows fall white, the winds blow cold, And children skate as I am told All winter long In by the fire old men sit, And by the fire women knit, All winter long […]

10,000 Pro-lifers Rally in Dublin Amidst Heated Abortion Debate

10,000 Pro-lifers Rally in Dublin Amidst Heated Abortion Debate

Dec 7 12 • 1 comment

Over 10,000 gathered outside Ireland’s parliament this week to demand that Prime Minister Enda Kenny keep his campaign promise of 2011 not to bring legalized abortion into the Republic. The crowd included five Catholic bishops, and was organized by a united effort of all of Ireland’s pro-life organizations. The thousands, chanting “Keep your promise!”, packed […]

Homeschool Review and Resolutions

Homeschool Review and Resolutions

Dec 7 12 • 2 comments

It’s December already, and that means the dreaded J-word is just around the corner: January.  For those who are new to homeschooling, January is the Month of Homeschooling Doom.  A month or two of holiday craziness, followed by cold, dark, bleak weather, and a curriculum that had all the new and shiny worn off by […]

Would You Say That to My Face?

Would You Say That to My Face?

Dec 6 12 • 0 comments

In recent decades, America has made many wonderful advances in protecting the rights of people with disabilities and including them in society. Gone are the days of forced sterilization and institutionalization. Now we have laws making disability discrimination illegal and most public places handicap accessible. Children with special needs are able to get an education in most public school […]

Abp. Carlo Maria Viganò

The Apostolic Nuncio Explains It All

Religious freedom, persecution, and martyrdom in the age of Obama. Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò, the Vatican’s Apostolic Nuncio to the United States, is a well-traveled man, having served in Iraq, Kuwait, Great Britain, Strasbourg, Nigeria and, now, the United States. As a churchman and a diplomat, the Archbishop is in a unique position to analyze […]

The Three Sacrifices of Giving

The Three Sacrifices of Giving

Dec 6 12 • 0 comments

“I have always depended on the kindness of strangers,” drawls Stella in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” And it’s particularly true if you have a large family. Strangers as well as friends often provide our large family with their extras – a wonderful, win-win redistribution which helps level our budget shortfalls. But true giving […]

Giving a Voice to the 491 Canadian Children Who Survived Abortions and Were Left to Die

Giving a Voice to the 491 Canadian Children Who Survived Abortions and Were Left to Die

Dec 6 12 • 0 comments

Children surviving abortions.  Children surviving abortions and being left to die.  Very seldom do many in our world think about these circumstances, because, frankly, it seems impossible and at the same time horrifying.  And if these kinds of circumstances are considered, let’s be honest:  most people think that failed abortions and children left to die […]

Choosing Acreage Over Stocks

Choosing Acreage Over Stocks

Dec 5 12 • 7 comments

From an early age, my dad drilled into my head the lessons of compounding interest. It was quite simple: start investing in stocks early on in life, add just a little each month, wait a while, and watch as your savings grows by leaps and bounds! Numbers were touted about how the market had averaged […]

Killing Them Softly?

Killing Them Softly?

Dec 5 12 • 1 comment

During the months leading up to the passage of Obamacare, Sarah Palin was mocked and excoriated for her use of the term “death panels” to describe the comparative effectiveness approach embraced by architects of the legislation.  Granted, the phrase sounds a bit hyperbolic, and downright macabre.  Who could possibly be in favor of faceless bureaucrats […]

Loving the Forgotten Ones

Loving the Forgotten Ones

Dec 5 12 • 2 comments

This week, M expressed a very clear desire to commit suicide, including the method of ending life.  Racked with pain, deteriorating health, loneliness and a lack of familial, spiritual and friendly support, M has had enough of living. Statistics in Canada estimate that the number of depressed, suicidal elderly people is 14%.  (Canadian Mental Health […]

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part I

Abortion, Casuistry, and Dancing on the Head of a Pin, Part I

Dec 5 12 • 3 comments

I have elsewhere argued that Savita Happlanavar’s tragic death cannot be pinned on either Irish law nor on Catholic teaching. It may be that Irish law concerning abortion, miscarriage, and care for women who are undergoing miscarriage and who are in danger of Septicemia (or other life-threatening situations) needs to be clarified, though as it currently stands we have: The decision […]

UNICEF Should Rename Itself the United Nations Sex for Children Fund, or UNISEX

UNICEF Should Rename Itself the United Nations Sex for Children Fund, or UNISEX

Dec 4 12 • 0 comments

UN agency presses Peru to acknowledge the “sexual rights” of children and hands out free contraceptives to kids. The debate over a new Code on Childhood and Adolescence is raging in Peru. On the one side are UNICEF, UNFPA, Save the Children and a coalition of abortion-minded and radical feminist groups, many, if not most, […]

Judge Judy and Distributism

Judge Judy and Distributism

Dec 4 12 • 1 comment

Judge Judy fascinates me. It’s true, my tastes are a bit odd. I’ll admit to that. In fact, there are only three television shows I watch regularly—The Journey Home on EWTN, in which Marcus Grodi interviews converts to the Catholic Faith; Phineas and Ferb, a Disney Channel cartoon and the only TV show in history to feature a secret agent […]

Money Back Guarantee Babies: IVF Has Officially Reached the Bottom of the Barrel

Money Back Guarantee Babies: IVF Has Officially Reached the Bottom of the Barrel

Dec 4 12 • 1 comment

When I read this article, I couldn’t shake the chills that went up my spine. I’m sure there is plenty of evil out in the world that I’ll never know about, but it doesn’t cease to amaze or shock me at man’s capacity and almost downright ingenuity — for lack of a better word — and […]