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Poem: "In His Place VIII"

Poem: “In His Place VIII”

In His Place VIII Women in your wayward weeping Shed the tears that I am keeping. Let them fall like droplets seeping For my sake and my safekeeping. Women with your balming tears Heal the rift of sin-filled years. Calm the restless, extinguish fears, Mend your lesser fortunate peers. Women let you droplets flow For […]

3-Minute Retreat: Marked with Salvation

3-Minute Retreat: Marked with Salvation

Mar 12 12 • 0 comments

The brief reflection below is based on a 3-Minute Lenten retreat brought to you by Loyola Press. At the bottom of this reflection is a link for you to access the retreat. About 10 years ago Sarah, my Downs syndrome daughter, was asked to the senior prom by Chris, a disabled boy she had known […]

Morally Tainted: Products Made Possible By the Destruction of Innocent Human Life

Morally Tainted: Products Made Possible By the Destruction of Innocent Human Life

Mar 12 12 • 0 comments

Oklahoma State Senator Ralph Shortey has introduced a bill to Oklahoma’s state legislature that has caused quite a stir.  SB 1418 says it would ban any product for human “consumption” that contains aborted human fetal tissue or where the research or development of any of the ingredients required the use of aborted fetal tissue. Now, […]

Love Is the Thing, Even if I Want to Judge

Love Is the Thing, Even if I Want to Judge

Mar 12 12 • 15 comments

If you, LORD, kept a record of sins, Lord, who could stand? But with you there is forgiveness, so that we can, with reverence, serve you. ~ Psalm 130:3-4 I’m working on not being so judgmental. I wonder why I judge people, what the need is to reckon another person’s rectitude with God. It’s a […]

Reflections for Sunday, March 18, 2012

Reflections for Sunday, March 18, 2012

Mar 12 12 • 0 comments

Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (2 Chronicles 36:14-16,19-23; Psalm 137:1-6; Ephesians 2:4-10; John 3:14-21) Thanking and Praising God for his Great Love and Mercy “God, who is rich in mercy.” (Ephesians 2:4) Heavenly Father, how great is your love! I am amazed at the depth of your mercy toward me. Your love […]

Poem: "A Few Words on the Soul"

Poem: “A Few Words on the Soul”

Mar 12 12 • 0 comments

A Few Words on the Soul (Translated by Stanislaw Baranczak and Clare Cavanagh) We have a soul at times. No one’s got it non-stop, for keeps. Day after day, year after year may pass without it. Sometimes it will settle for awhile only in childhood’s fears and raptures. Sometimes only in astonishment that we are […]

A Refined Vision

A Refined Vision

Mar 11 12 • 0 comments

In one of his homilies, Fr. Mitch Pacwa of EWTN told the story of a group of seminarians who visited a silversmith to see how silver is refined so that they could understand better the references in Scripture about the necessity that we be refined like silver refined by a silversmith. The seminarians watched as […]

Limbaugh and the, um, Lady

Limbaugh and the, um, Lady

Mar 10 12 • 5 comments

Saul Alinsky is alive and well in the political maneuverings of the secular left. The problem is, we all have the play book now. As most know, Rush Limbaugh has been under fire of late for comments he made about 30 year-old “reproductive justice” radical Sandra Fluke. Ms. Fluke recently gained national attention while testifying […]

Now is Not the Time For Silence or Compromise

Now is Not the Time For Silence or Compromise

Mar 10 12 • 6 comments

Ever since the Obama administration chose to ramrod a policy that is anathema to Catholic doctrine, we have seen all sorts of machinations emanating from the media, twisting and mollifying the argument in order to remove clarity from exactly what it is Obama is attempting to do. We have heard that since so many Catholics […]

Poem: "Forgive Me"

Poem: “Forgive Me”

Mar 10 12 • 0 comments

Forgive Me The old tangled bramble Stretched thorny arms one spring, Reflected on his gnarled life… Do I regret anything? I’ve sheltered fragile birds Within my thorny arms, Kept them from danger Kept them all from harm. A man came to the bramble With evil in his cold eyes. Roughly he chopped away. If he […]

The Secret Lives of Women (Who Don't Use Contraception)

The Secret Lives of Women (Who Don’t Use Contraception)

Mar 9 12 • 0 comments

If you’ve been on the internet in the past month, you’ve heard the accusation: Only men are opposed to contraception. No woman in her right mind would reject this blessing of modern technology, therefore, the only people against it must be men with nefarious motives. AlterNet editor Sara Robinson did an excellent job of articulating […]

Is Mormonism a Christian Denomination?

Is Mormonism a Christian Denomination?

Mar 9 12 • 66 comments

Mormons like Glenn Beck and Senator Orrin Hatch have long given a high profile to this American-grown faith. And with Mitt Romney in the running for the Republican nomination, the question of exactly how to categorize Mormonism has become news. An Evangelical pastor who supports Rick Perry told reporters he thought Mormonism is “a cult”, prompting a […]

Lent: A Time to Say Yes to Following Jesus

Lent: A Time to Say Yes to Following Jesus

Mar 9 12 • 1 comment

Jesus went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the customs post. He said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything behind, he got up and followed him. (Luke 5:27-28) As he was walking by the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon who is called Peter, and his brother Andrew, […]

UN Agencies Fuel Sex Selective Abortions and the Devaluation of Women

UN Agencies Fuel Sex Selective Abortions and the Devaluation of Women

Mar 8 12 • 1 comment

The United Nations top agencies are actively promoting two root causes of Asia’s massive gender imbalance, charged an expert on population policies this week during a UN women’s conference. Speaking on a panel during the UN’s annual Commission on the Status of Women, Dr. Susan Yoshihara identified three reasons for the “missing girls” phenomenon in […]

Making Good Decisions, Part 1

Making Good Decisions, Part 1

Mar 8 12 • 0 comments

Every day we make several decisions. They range from making the decision to get out of bed in the morning instead of hitting the “snooze” button, to making some major decision.  Whether we are talking about our finances or any other decision, how do we discern the will of God? In the Compass Catholic classes […]

From Catholic School to Prison to God

From Catholic School to Prison to God

Recently, I began corresponding with a young man who once walked down a dark, destructive path.  Eric is sentenced to twenty years in a Jamestown, North Dokota prison for his third drug offense. He tracked me down through Ascension Press, the publisher of my co-authored Amazing Grace books.  After reading Amazing Grace for Survivors and […]

The Mandate Controversy and the Bishops' Response

The Mandate Controversy and the Bishops’ Response

Mar 8 12 • 0 comments

In determining to fight President Obama’s famous—or should I say infamous?—contraception mandate, the American bishops, I suspect, were devoutly hoping two things would not happen. The first undesired outcome was that the issue would become politicized. The second was that it would be seen as an argument over contraception itself. Predictably perhaps, both have occurred, […]

I Teach to Save Souls

I Teach to Save Souls

Imagine someone coming up to you and without hesitation telling you: “I desire to save your soul.” This is exactly what St. John Bosco would do in his attempt to rescue the kids of Turin, Italy from the depths of despair.  He would make his point very clear to the youths he would encounter in the […]

Pray for the Conversion of Abortion Facility Workers

Pray for the Conversion of Abortion Facility Workers

Mar 8 12 • 0 comments

There are 61 employees who have had conversions and left their jobs in the abortion industry during 40 Days for Life campaigns. These journeys are never smooth. Many of these workers are uncomfortable about the peaceful prayer vigils outside their doors. They voice that discomfort regularly. In fact, staff members threaten to call the police […]

Living Together . . . Why It is Not a Good Thing

Living Together . . . Why It is Not a Good Thing

Mar 8 12 • 0 comments

Even if you aren’t a Christian, even if you are an atheist, living together is NOT a good idea.  Yeah, everybody is doing it now. It’s the norm.  Who needs to get married when you have people ready and willing to move in with you?  But, here’s why it’s not a good situation. First of […]

Poem: "Full Circle"

Poem: “Full Circle”

Full Circle The waves seem to beckon to me                   as I lie in the glistening sand                   and ponder the Immortal Hand                   that created all I see. I am drawn, deeply, to the easy                   rhythm of the waves striking land                   and pulling back from where I stand                   looking longingly out […]

Ethics of Genetic Testing, Part II

Ethics of Genetic Testing, Part II

Mar 7 12 • 0 comments

Previously, I wrote about the morally acceptable aspects of genetic testing. There are many.  Now I want to talk about the unethical uses of genetic testing. Most of genetic testing is like money.  That is, it is neither moral nor immoral.  Money can be used for good or evil, but it in and of itself it […]

George Weigel’s Mission Impossible

George Weigel’s Mission Impossible

Mar 7 12 • 7 comments

Even if you don’t agree with him, you have to admire George Weigel’s moxie. It can’t be easy serving as the spokesperson for a “conservative” Catholic movement that labors so mightily against the preponderance of evidence to reconcile every last scintilla of conciliar innovation with the Faith handed down from the Apostles. Yet, he does […]

Corn Subsidies at Root of U.S.-Mexico Immigration Problems

Corn Subsidies at Root of U.S.-Mexico Immigration Problems

America’s immigration debate will never be adequately addressed until we think clearly about the economic incentives that encourage Mexican citizens to risk their lives to cross the border. In fact, if we care about human dignity we must think comprehensively about the conditions for human flourishing so that the effective policies promote the common good. […]