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Poem: “In His Place VII”

Mar 2 12 • Thomas A. Flynn, LC • 0 comments

In His Place VII The weight, the whips, the jagged rocks, I cannot bear it all. The cross, the shouts, the shooting pain; I stagger, stumble, and fall. Look at me, a man like you In all things but sin. Left alone and mocked by all, Forgotten and Forsaken. The sin, the hate, the treachery, […]

What Women Want

Mar 1 12 • Colleen Carroll Campbell • 0 comments

In honor of Women’s History Month, I’d like to make a request of America’s political and media elites on behalf of America’s women: Stop lumping us together. To be more specific: Stop telling us “what women want” in the next president, which political stands are sure-fire winners (or losers) of “the women’s vote” and what […]

U.S. Senate Defeats Amendment to Protect Religious Liberty

Mar 1 12 • Ben Johnson • 2 comments

The U.S. Senate this morning voted down an amendment that would allow employers to opt out of paying for health care coverage of procedures that violate their religious beliefs. The amendment, offered by Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, rolled back Barack Obama’s invasive Health and Human Services mandate that employers insure contraceptives, sterilization, and abortion-inducing drugs […]

Lenten Meditation: He Hath Made Him to be Sin for Us

Mar 1 12 • Philip Primeau • 1 comment

Over the centuries, Christian artists have produced innumerable portrayals of the Lord’s crucifixion, but none so terrible as Matthias Grunewald’s Isenheim Altarpiece, a work at once transfixing and repulsive. The middle panel of the Isenheim triptych features Christ, pallid and emaciated and thorn-pierced, pinned to the tree. It is truly a garish scene, torn from […]

Lent: A Time to Save Your Life by Losing It

Mar 1 12 • Maurice Blumberg • 0 comments

“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the gospel will save it. What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit […]

Author Interview: <em>Strengthening Your Family</em>

Author Interview: Strengthening Your Family

Mar 1 12 • Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle • 0 comments

Donna-Marie Cooper O’Boyle recently interviewed Catholic Lane columnist, Marge Fenelon about her new book, Strengthening Your Family. DONNA-MARIE: Marge, your new book Strengthening Your Family is lovely! It seems a lot different than the others of yours I am familiar with. Can you please tell us why you decided to write this book? MARGE: Yes, Donna, Strengthening Your […]

The Ethics of Genetic Testing: Part 1

Mar 1 12 • Rebecca Taylor • 0 comments

I have found that many Catholics are confused about genetic testing and the ethical issues that surround it. So I have decided to write a two part series on the ethics of genetic testing. Part 1: Genetic testing is not all bad. Many Catholics are wary of the Human Genome Project (HGP) and genetic testing, […]

Hope vs. Despair: The Discussion is Coming

Feb 29 12 • Lee Wishing • 0 comments

My colleague, Paul Kengor, wrote a brilliant article this week saying that Team Obama will try to cast the presidential election either in terms of class warfare—if Romney is the Republican nominee—or a battle over social issues, if Santorum gets the nod. If it’s Romney, the president’s team will have home field advantage. If it’s […]

Rome in Lent: Like a Mist

Feb 29 12 • Dr. Robert Moynihan • 1 comment

A quiet time in Rome, the end of February. A time of silence. This evening in a completely empty and silent Vatican, I had the rare experience of running into a little child inside the city. He was walking with his father near the back of the basilica. The child’s mother, a member of the […]

House Judiciary Hearing Raises Concerns of Government Intrusion Into Family Life

Feb 29 12 • Lisa Correnti • 0 comments

The full committee of the House Judiciary convened yesterday to discuss the ongoing religious liberty violation resulting from the HHS contraception mandate for all healthcare policies except for a very narrow exemption that, according to Congressman Trent Frank , “Jesus Christ himself and Mother Teresa would not qualify for.” Chairman Lamar Smith’s (R-TX) opening statement […]

Perseverance: Lenten Wisdom from St. Teresa

Feb 29 12 • Msgr. Richard Soseman • 0 comments

Overwhelmed? Sometimes Christians get into situations which seem overwhelming, leading us to feel bad both for the situation and for not seeming to measure up to our Christian calling. St. Teresa of Jesus, also called St. Teresa of Avila, underwent a similar experience. St. Teresa is known for being in the highest union with God in […]

‘Why?’ of Ohio Tragedy Deeper than ‘Bullying’

Feb 29 12 • Marybeth Hicks • 0 comments

If you get a text from your teenager in the middle of the school day, something’s wrong. It might be something minor, like a paper forgotten on the printer at home or gym clothes left sitting in the back hall, with a request to deliver them to the office if possible. It might be more […]

Are Gabe Lyons’ <em>The Next Christians</em> Really What’s Next? Part 4

Are Gabe Lyons’ The Next Christians Really What’s Next? Part 4

Feb 29 12 • Mark Gonnella • 1 comment

We have thus far seen (part 1, part 2, part 3) how Mr. Lyons’ vision for Christianity is not a centering vision but a centrifugal one. By removing Christ’s visible Church and replacing it with an amorphous one, Mr. Lyons’ ‘next Christians’ are not going toward the Promised Land but away from it. He has […]

The Suppositions Behind Obama’s Contraception Coverage

Feb 29 12 • Susannah Black • 1 comment

Recently, the Obama administration declared that all employers, including Catholic institutions, will be required to offer free insurance coverage for birth control to their employees. In the weeks since the declaration, the controversy that it stirred up caused the administration to revise its decision, putting in place “accommodations” by which it hopes to quell the […]

Tell Your Senator: Stop HHS Mandate!

Feb 29 12 • Steven W. Mosher • 0 comments

The Obama administration’s attack on religious liberty is intensifying. It now claims the right, under the new HHS Mandate, to force hundreds of thousands of Catholics, working in thousands of Catholic organizations, to violate their conscience and the teachings of their faith on the Life issues. The new Mandate is particularly alarming to us at […]

40 Ways to Get the Most out of Lent

Feb 29 12 • Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. • 1 comment

This, of course, is not an exhaustive list of Lenten ideas. But it’s a start! Many of the resources mention here are available on our website at www.crossroadsinitiative.com or can be found by visiting our links page. 1 Take 30 minutes to pray, ask the Holy Spirit’s guidance, look over this list, and make a […]

Poem: “Heartsong”

Feb 29 12 • María Morera Johnson • 0 comments

Heartsong Two tender souls reside apart, Two hearts aflame for Love That come together seeking, each, The counsels of the heart. Two hearts aflame, two souls afire, Find shelter deep within And share the strength to gently lift the other heavenward. In Love, in Truth, in daily grind The end remains in sight There’s no […]

I Hope You Appreciate This, Lady.

Feb 28 12 • Parenting is Funny • 0 comments

I sent my six-year-old daughter to deliver some lemons and oranges from our yard to the widow next door. Worried that she might rudely deliver the fruit and leave without a word, I called to her, “Don’t forget to say, ‘You’re welcome.’” When my daughter returned, she gave me the full report: “I rang the […]

Cardinal George: All Catholic Hospitals Will Close in Two Years Under HHS Mandate

Feb 28 12 • Ben Johnson • 0 comments

Chicago’s Francis Cardinal George is warning the HHS contraception/abortifacient mandate will close Catholic hospitals and universities or force them to secularize, a process he calls “a form of theft.” If the regulation is not rescinded, the Catholic Church will be “despoiled of her institutions,” he said in a column printed on CatholicNewWorld, likening the proposed policies to the […]

The Silent Treatment

Feb 28 12 • Anthony Buono • 3 comments

Have you ever given or received the silent treatment? Chances are good that most of you have. I think this AT & T commercial about the silent treatment is very clever, and will give you a good laugh. Like most jokes, there is an element of truth to it. In particular, the angst that accompanies […]

The Ship of the Soul

Feb 28 12 • Msgr. Richard Soseman • 0 comments

Gustavus Adolphus is known as one of the greatest kings Sweden has ever had. He was very proud of Swedish power, and during his reign he triumphed over armies of what today are known as the nations of Germany, Poland, Denmark, Finland, modern Sweden and other areas. He ruled very powerful armies, but was a […]

Why the HHS Mandate is About Religious Freedom AND Contraceptives

Feb 27 12 • Steve Pokorny • 0 comments

By now, most Catholics are aware of the impending HHS mandate the Obama Administration will be imposing upon faith-based organizations, requiring them to pay — through insurance companies — for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs. If they choose to not pay, a fine will be imposed per employee, which could cost institutions like the Catholic Church millions […]

The Importance of <em>Christian</em> Perinatal Hospice

The Importance of Christian Perinatal Hospice

Feb 27 12 • Mark Davis Pickup • 11 comments

I do not know what it’s like to lose a child and I hope and pray I never do. All my children, and now grandchildren, are healthy and strong. My family is truly blessed and I try not to forget that fact. There are expectant parents who face the terrible reality that their baby will be […]

On Santorum, Democrats, and ‘God’s Will’

Feb 27 12 • Dr. Paul Kengor • 1 comment

In case you didn’t notice…. With George W. Bush out of office and a Democrat in the White House, the secular media stopped its handwringing over the president mentioning God. With Rick Santorum’s surge, the hysteria has started again. Every religious utterance by Santorum will be a cause for apoplexy by the liberal press. It […]