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Randians Left and Right are Wrong

There was a piece on National Public Radio (NPR) a week or so ago charting the influence of novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand in today’s politics, specifically in economic policy touted by certain Republicans in Congress. Ayn Rand was a proponent of “objectivism,” that is quoting from the NPR piece: It is, she says, a system of […]

Gaudete Sunday and the Letter of Joy

Dec 10 11 • Rev. Tucker Cordani • 0 comments

Eleven-year-old Ralphie Parker knows what he wants for Christmas. He begs his parents to buy it for him but when they say they won’t he takes his plea straight to the top: Santa Claus. “What do you want?” Santa asks. Ralphie confidently answers: “I want an official Red Ryder carbine-action two-hundred shot range […]

John the Baptist and the Path to Joy

Dec 10 11 • Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. • 0 comments

On the third Sunday of Advent, penitential purple gives way to pink and we celebrate “Gaudete” or “Rejoice!” Sunday. “Rejoice heartily in the Lord, says Isaiah” (61:10). “My Spirit finds joy in God my Savior,” says the Virgin Mary (Luke 1: 47). “ Rejoice in the Lord always,” says St. Paul (I Thes 5:16). “Make […]

How 4-H Helps With College & Scholarship Applications

Dec 10 11 • Mary Biever • 0 comments

“My 4-H achievement record is a waste of time that no one will ever look at,” a teen grumbled at me this summer. I disagreed. Now that I’m the mother of a daughter on the quest for college acceptance letters and scholarship offers, I can back up my disagreement. Each college has its own questions […]

Poem: “A Splendor”

Dec 10 11 • Pavel Chichikov • 0 comments

A Splendor For RS Lou is 98 He sits beside a table with a top that shines and reflects As you were standing there, he says, I saw a figure Tall, and in a robe, and with a hood But it was you, he laughs, in your reflection on the table top Only you and […]

Former Employees Offer to Testify Against Planned Parenthood in Congressional Probe

Dec 9 11 • John Jalsevac • 0 comments

Seven former Planned Parenthood employees have expressed their support for Congress’ current investigation of the abortion giant, and offered to testify against the organization, in a letter released this week. News broke in September that the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce had launched an investigation into Planned Parenthood to determine whether the group mishandles criminal […]

<em>The Greatest Miracle</em>: Wonderful Idea; Flawed Execution

The Greatest Miracle: Wonderful Idea; Flawed Execution

Dec 9 11 • Mary Kochan • 2 comments

The Greatest Miracle, an animated look at the source and summit of our faith, Holy Mass, opens today in 63 cities. It is a film that has me feeling quite conflicted. On the one hand, the concept of using film to explore what is going on spiritually in Mass is a wonderful idea. There are […]

Don’t Call Them Vegetables

Dec 9 11 • Colleen Carroll Campbell • 0 comments

Four decades ago, American neurologist Fred Plum and Scottish neurosurgeon Bryan Jennett were searching for a jargon-free term to classify severely brain-damaged patients whom they considered awake but unaware. They combed through the Oxford English Dictionary and settled on “vegetative,” noting that the adjective describes “an organic body capable of growth and development but devoid […]

Sex-Selection Abortion Ban Gets Hearing in U.S. House

Dec 9 11 • Kathleen Gilbert • 1 comment

A House Judiciary Committee on Tuesday heard testimony regarding the Prenatal Nondiscrimination Act (PreNDA), which would make it illegal for abortionists to perform an abortion sought on the basis of the child’s race or gender. The bill lays sanctions against anyone coercing a woman to abort based on race or sex, abortionists who perform such […]

The Rosary: A Weapon of Mass Instruction – Part 5

Dec 9 11 • Louie Verrecchio • 0 comments

We conclude our reflection on the mysteries of the rosary with an examination of The Luminous Mysteries 1. The Baptism of the Lord Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come […]

Teaching Tolerance in the Catholic School

Dec 9 11 • Catholic Lane Editor • 0 comments

[This document was prepared on behalf of a group of Catholic parents to address issues locally that may also be going on elsewhere in the country. It is published here as a resource for parents who may find it useful.] Teaching Tolerance in the Catholic School: Parental Concerns and Suggested Remedies When Pope Benedict authorized […]

Poem: “Prepare Sunday–Second Sunday in Advent”

Dec 9 11 • Philip Kolin • 0 comments

Prepare Sunday–Second Sunday in Advent Prepare the geography of your soul For the caller of every ewe, The shepherd of verdant proclamations: Water the wastelands of unforgiveness With torrential tears See dust turn to dew. Level the mountains of peaked pride So they become grazing fields Feeding the least and hungriest of these, All those […]

Goodbye, America: More Recollections of Deer Seasons Past

Dec 8 11 • Dr. Paul Kengor • 0 comments

Last week I wrote an article on Deer Season a half century ago, focusing on my grandmother’s town in the mountains of Emporium, Pennsylvania. Each year, my grandmother and other households opened their doors and kitchens and beds to perfect strangers who came to town to shoot a deer—and there were no problems. The piece […]

Is It Time for an Urban Version of the Homestead Act? Part 1

Dec 8 11 • Grace Potts • 2 comments

I was born in Norwich, CT at William Backus Hospital; and lived in Norwich until I was three years old. My family then moved to Hartford, my father worked downtown as a State employee and I was raised in Hartford until reputable families fled the city for the suburbs. East Windsor was home until college, […]

Iraq Scorecard, December 2011

Dec 8 11 • Russell Shaw • 0 comments

As active U.S. military involvement in Iraq draws to a close, what does the moral scorecard on this adventure look like from an American point of view? Granted that a comprehensive weighing of results will only be possible some years from now, at the moment the picture is something like this. In a perverse way, […]

Forgotten Truths to Set Faith Afire! Words to Challenge, Inspire and Instruct

Dec 8 11 • Michael Seagriff • 0 comments

In 1954, Father M. Raymond, O.S.C.O., a Cistercian priest, observed that the world was as pagan then as when Christ was born, that Catholics were suffering from amnesia, that they had forgotten the purpose of their lives and much of what it meant to be Catholic. More than fifty-seven years later, some argue that many […]

Book Review: <em>Strengthening Your Family</em>

Book Review: Strengthening Your Family

Dec 8 11 • Elena Maria Vidal • 0 comments

Book Review: Strengthening Your Family: A Catholic Approach to Holiness at Home, by Elena Maria Vidal Through our baptism, we’re called to be royal, priestly parents to our children, exercising our God-given authority with kindness and benevolence. When we truly understand the essence of our authority, we can be leaders and nurturers of our children […]

A Shocking Dose of Sanity from the HHS

Dec 8 11 • Chelsea Zimmerman • 0 comments

Plan B (also known as the morning-after pill) was approved by the FDA at the end of the Clinton administration in 1999. Since 2009, it has been available behind the pharmacy counter without prescription for women 17 years of age and older. This week, the FDA considered a request from Plan B manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals […]

Poem: “Wakes the Dead”

Dec 8 11 • Pavel Chichikov • 0 comments

Wakes the Dead War will come again No one has abolished war And you are fit for service At home or in the field In the city street Or in the office The sweet wine of the past Gives heavy sleep and vivid dreams But the bitter cup forthcoming Wakes the very dead Pavel November […]

Advent: A Time to Give to Others What We Have Received

Dec 7 11 • Maurice Blumberg • 0 comments

Jesus went around to all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness. At the sight of the crowds, his heart was moved with pity for them because they were troubled and abandoned, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his […]

Abortion and Euthanasia Acceptance are Historical Aberrations

Dec 7 11 • Mark Davis Pickup • 0 comments

Canada and the United States treat abortion on demand as a right. This is a recent development and an aberration from the course of human history. The Hippocratic Oath for doctors dating back thousands of years forbade abortion and euthanasia. Since the 1st century, the Catholic Church has unwaveringly maintained the moral evil of procured […]

I, Julie Filby, Being of Sound Mind and Body

Dec 7 11 • Julie Filby • 0 comments

Five years ago from my bed at Swedish Hospital, I wrote the journal entry below. It sounds a bit like goodbye-instructions, my last will and testament, a ‘please-raise-the-kids-right-when-I’m-gone’ plea. However there was no imminent danger of my death. On the contrary, we were awaiting the gift of new life. Though she wasn’t due for about […]

How Our Family Keeps Christ in Christmas

Dec 7 11 • Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. • 1 comment

“Actions speak louder than words.” “A picture is worth a thousand words.” “Talk is cheap.” There are many sayings in the English language that generally express the same thing: words alone do not do the necessary job of communicating our thoughts and feelings, especially in the case of a personal message. “I love you,” for […]

In Siberia, Church Grows from Martyr’s Blood

Dec 7 11 • ACN-USA News • 0 comments

Thanks to support from Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), a new diocesan center has opened in Novosibirsk, Siberia. The center is also a memorial to martyr Bishop Alexander Chira (pictured left). The Apostolic Nuncio to Russia, Archbishop Ivan Jurkovitch, Bishop Joseph Werth of Novosibirsk as well as the Catholic Bishops of […]