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Poem: "Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Maxima Culpa!"

Poem: “Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Maxima Culpa!”

Dec 7 11 • 1 comment

Mea Culpa! Mea Culpa! Mea Maxima Culpa!   If I say I’m sorry, will I disappear Like the setting sun behind the mountains When it’s gone, it’s done                                                            The fiery sphere consumes no more                                                             Mountains swallowed it                                                            The highest peaks of faith and hope                                                            Glow with love reflecting                                                            Reflecting the […]

Is Righteousness in Government Possible?

Is Righteousness in Government Possible?

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

Righteous: acting in accord with divine or moral law: free from guilt or sin – according to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, it is the exemplification of a justice The fundamental principle of justice—in law, in governing, in treating all peoples with equity—is the cornerstone of a humane society. It is important to understand […]

Be Not Afraid….

Be Not Afraid….

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

After doing my treadmill workout, I sat on the couch with my oldest son so we could go over some World Literature questions.  We read through the poems, discussed them and, as happens many times in my homeschooling experience, we ended up on an entirely different topic. The poems were of a religious nature, but […]

Pride and Prejudice?

Pride and Prejudice?

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

The inevitable has happened.  After weeks of steadily plummeting polls numbers and increasing political pressure, Herman Cain’s campaign has finally collapsed under the weight of multiple allegations of sexual infidelity.  The general assumption is that Newt Gingrich will be the primary benefactor of Cain’s demise.  Unlike the former Godfather’s Pizza CEO, Gingrich’s political star has […]

The Book Browser, Early December 2011: For Tweens and 24/7 Catholics

The Book Browser, Early December 2011: For Tweens and 24/7 Catholics

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

How to be a 24/7 Catholic! The Catholic Briefcase: Tools for Integrating Faith and Work, by Randy Hain, Liguori Publications, November 23, 2011 Reviewed by Mark Armstrong It is always interesting to see our Faith in action from those who arrive at Catholicism from a different Christian doorway.  Randy Hain integrates his life choices beautifully […]

Cyber Shop With Safety & Soul This Christmas

Cyber Shop With Safety & Soul This Christmas

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

Even in the midst of our Advent preparations, many families are contemplating the annual Christmas gifting season. This year, there are ample opportunities to take advantage of online shopping resources in ways that will uplift your loved ones and at the same time support Catholic causes and merchants. It’s important when shopping online to always […]

Moms, Teach Your Daughters Well

Moms, Teach Your Daughters Well

One morning last winter I was driving my teenager to school and she asked me the question  I had been dreading and avoiding . “Mom, did you wait?” I debated whether I should lie and preserve her image of me as a good example or tell the truth. I told her the truth. Not only […]

Grant Us Thy Peace

Grant Us Thy Peace

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

There are days and then there are days. Have you ever felt like there was so much to say and do, and not enough time, concentration, or energy to accomplish half of your expectations? Lately, during my daily chores, blog ideas, article notes, and lessons pop into my head and I rarely write them down. […]

Christmas for the Unborn

Christmas for the Unborn

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

Christmas is universal. “Behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people…A Savior has been born for you” (Luke 1:10-11). Christ the Savior becomes man precisely for all who share human nature. He excludes nobody. The good news of Christmas is for all people of all times […]

Poem: "Cowbirds"

Poem: “Cowbirds”

Dec 6 11 • 0 comments

Cowbirds Cowbirds chatter, black winged clouds, Thousands, fruit that sits in branches, Flocks that wheel above in crowds If this planet were a tree And there were far and near observers Would we seem the same as these? Cowbirds chitter, wheel and curse, Descend and roost where they find room, Cowbirds of the universe In […]

Ban Sex Selective Abortions in the U.S.

Ban Sex Selective Abortions in the U.S.

Dec 5 11 • 0 comments

Nearly nine out of ten Americans oppose abortion for reasons of sex selection, but such acts of gender violence are neither illegal nor uncommon in our country. Permissive abortion laws and high-resolution ultrasounds make it easier than ever for parents to target and eliminate unwanted daughters (or sons) before birth. Until the recent spate of […]

Advent Meditation: The Villainy of Man, the Nobility of God

Advent Meditation: The Villainy of Man, the Nobility of God

Dec 5 11 • 13 comments

“Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us, and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (I John 4:10). “O Lord God, You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness, and Your mighty hand: for what God is there in heaven or in earth, that can […]

The Santa Debate: Don't Believe the Hype!

The Santa Debate: Don’t Believe the Hype!

Yes, the to-Santa vs. not-to-Santa debate within the realm of our Catholic Christian community is fresh, real and has turned heated. How did this develop? I believe that just as suddenly-well-meaning friends and acquaintances exhibit concern over homeschooled children ‘missing’ a grand social experience, as in some variation on the well worn and ever predictable: […]

Why Does the Catholic Church Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

Why Does the Catholic Church Oppose Embryonic Stem Cell Research?

Dec 5 11 • 0 comments

A reader recently asked the following fantastic question about the Catholic Church teaching on embryonic stem cell research: While my views in connection with research are opposed to those of the Pope and the Catholic church, I am very open to dialogue.  Simply for the sake of clarity (and not in any way seeking to […]

Poem: "We Wise-men Three"

Poem: “We Wise-men Three”

We Wise-men Three The rarity of that burning star, Object of my study for days, Beckoned my soul to a journey far, Beyond my imagining gaze. Embarking with convoy twenty strong, And the sole star ever in sight, I trespassed lonely deserts long, Still unsure of my flight. Not alone was I in my cosmic […]

Poem: "The Way"

Poem: “The Way”

Dec 4 11 • 0 comments

The Way Stand straight up and then look down, It is a long way to the ground, Big we are the upright, proud, Deep the impact, long and loud Better not to be so tall That devastating is the fall, The arch of heaven curving near That we must stoop to enter, clear The narrow […]

This Is a Great Opportunity

This Is a Great Opportunity

Dec 3 11 • 2 comments

Last Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, the new English translation of the prayers we pray in the Mass started being used in the United States. Interestingly, the prayers on which the translation is based are not new. They are essentially the same official prayers of the Latin Rite which we have had for decades. Go to the […]

Mary Biever Offers Living Proof a Difficult Childhood Can be Overcome

Mary Biever Offers Living Proof a Difficult Childhood Can be Overcome

Dec 3 11 • 4 comments

Did you have a difficult childhood or do you know someone who had a difficult childhood? What difference does it make, anyway, to one’s adulthood, what kind of childhood is in the background? I think we can use the analogy of constructing and furnishing a house, for constructing and furnishing a “self.” A reasonably happy […]

Theology Lessons from a Two-Year Old

Theology Lessons from a Two-Year Old

Dec 3 11 • 0 comments

Human beings have a desire to impose order on the universe.  But much like a parent’s desire to impose order on their kids’ toys, it often goes unsatisfied.  With the toys, at least we have a fighting chance (depending on the age of the kids and the volume of plastic flowing in from grandparents – […]

 Prepare Ye the Way

Prepare Ye the Way

Advent is a time of joyful anticipation.  For someone even bigger than Santa Claus is coming to town. The human race has been waiting a long time for his next and final visit.  Actually, it waited a long time for the first visit.  Things had gone awry quite early in the history of the human […]

Poem: "Alert Sunday- First Sunday in Advent"

Poem: “Alert Sunday- First Sunday in Advent”

Dec 3 11 • 0 comments

Alert Sunday–First Sunday in Advent Alert Sunday. The greeter has smiles on his palms as he Opens the church doors. Welcome to Advent! A shorter version of Lent in December, he quips. A chorus of coughs and women’s high Heels parading across the floor tiles Help me stay awake for 8:00 a.m. Mass. I never […]

World AIDS Day and Down Syndrome: Killing is Not a Cure

World AIDS Day and Down Syndrome: Killing is Not a Cure

Dec 2 11 • 2 comments

One of my pet peeves was brought to mind by World AIDS Day. Not that I oppose finding a cure for HIV. I was a social worker when AIDS emerged in the eighties. I helped a young man with HIV who was kicked out of the Greenwich Village loft that he had shared with his […]

'Tis the Season for Repentance

‘Tis the Season for Repentance

Dec 2 11 • 0 comments

Implementing the new translation of the Mass on the first Sunday of Advent is excellent timing.  After all, Advent is an opportunity to consider the spiritual life and make improvements where necessary.  The revisions of the Mass are useful starting points when pondering the state of our souls. Perhaps the change most relevant to spiritual […]

The "Wrong Side" of History

The “Wrong Side” of History

Dec 2 11 • 0 comments

Countless times I have been warned about how miserable I will be when I discover that civilization has passed me by, while I sit, frothing from the mouth, beating my cane against my rocker, clinging to archaic notions about sexuality and marriage. So, for those inclined to issue the same warning again, or for those […]