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Living in the Age of Martyrs and Terrorists

Jun 13 11 • Fr. Michael Shields • 1 comment

Bin Laden is dead. Terror and terrorism continues. So does martyrdom. But what a difference between the two types of deaths. A terrorist takes his life and others. The martyr gives his life for others. One is an act of violence in which evil destroys goodness and humanity. The other is an act of love […]

San Francisco Considers Circumcision—and Parental Rights

Jun 13 11 • Dr. Steven Jones • 2 comments

This November the citizens of San Francisco will decide whether to ban circumcision, a practice that dates from antiquity and is embraced by at least three of the world’s major religions. Now, the fact that something stretches far back into human history is by no means a guarantee that it has social value. Slavery, human […]

Personally Experiencing Pentecost in Our Lives

Jun 13 11 • Maurice Blumberg • 0 comments

Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim (Acts 2:3-4). And the angel said to her in reply, “The Holy […]

Syria – Catholic Bishop Defends Response to Revolt

Jun 13 11 • ACN-USA News • 0 comments

The Syrian government must resist the uprising — and has the people’s backing in quelling forces seeking “destabilization and Islamization” — according to one of the country’s most respected Catholic bishops. In a strongly worded defense of President Bashar al-Assad’s response to the protests and instability, Bishop Antoine Audo accused the media, including the BBC and Al […]

Book Review: Come my Beloved

Jun 13 11 • Mary Lou Rosien • 0 comments

©Heidi Bratton Photography When you review a book that was written by someone you consider a friend, it is always a little difficult. You want your friend to look good, but you want to be completely honest in your assessment of his or her work. Come My Beloved: Inspiring Stories of Catholic Courtship was written […]

Poem: “By the Sea of Galilee”

Jun 13 11 • Michele Marie • 1 comment

By The Sea of Galilee Walking softly to where he is I kneel on the sand Then rest my head against the stone He sits upon In the breeze His cloak brushes against my cheek I look upon the sea He gazes on Feeling the breeze that he feels Smelling the sea as he smells […]

Bundling and Bumbling about HIV/AIDS at the UN

Jun 13 11 • Lauren Funk • 1 comment

The UN’s high-level conference on HIV/AIDS began [last] Wednesday with fanfare and a veritable parade of delegates, scientists, activists, and UN bureaucrats. In keeping with what is now standard procedure, there was a panel integrating a “gender-mainstreamed” perspective into the discussion: “Women, Girls, and HIV.” The panelists told the audience with authority and enthusiasm that the […]

Church Wins Legal Battle Against Tax-Hungry City Hall

Jun 13 11 • The Becket Fund • 0 comments

Today, a federal appeals court ruled in favor of the Elijah Group, an Christian church prohibited from worshiping in its building because that building was located in a retail district. The Becket Fund represented the church against the City of Leon Valley, Texas, which refused to allow churches into its retail zone, but welcomed businesses […]

Like Pigs in Mud

Jun 12 11 • Carlos Caso-Rosendi • 0 comments

Another week, another dozen or so images of Weenie the Tweeter in various states of disrobe. I can only imagine the suffering of the poor wife, the humiliation of the family and friends at the sight of this debacle. Yet there is something worse than that. The poor guy wants to keep his job as […]

Prayer, Pentecost, and the Time to Come

Jun 12 11 • Thomas Colyandro, MA, MDiv • 0 comments

In the same way that Eucharist is the conjoining of the past, present and future, personal prayer is a present participation in the time to come. It is a glimpse of the Eschaton and an entry into the kingdom which has been inaugurated but not yet consummated. Prayer unfolds in time, but essentially it transcends […]

Learning About the Revised Roman Missal

Jun 12 11 • Ebeth Weidner • 1 comment

Recently, I took an online course on the Revised Roman Missal, the use of which will be introduced on November 27th (the first Sunday of Advent and the new calendar year for the Church). During the five-week course of study, about a dozen of us students discussed our thoughts about the present state of the Mass […]

Two Helpful Words for Marriage Seekers: Openness and Focus

Jun 11 11 • Amy Bonaccorso • 0 comments

The power of words can be phenomenal. I’m sure you’ve seen jewelry with inspiring words. A necklace with the word “Love,” a bracelet with the word “Dream,” a trinket box with the word “Remember.” The meaning and energy a word carries can help lift our hearts throughout the day and fill our minds with inspiration. […]

The Barbarism of Dr. Death

Jun 11 11 • Colleen Carroll Campbell • 0 comments

He was the wrong messenger for the right message. Judging by the obituaries published since his death from pulmonary thrombosis last week, that seems to be the mainstream media consensus on Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the 83-year-old pathologist who helped kill more than 130 people during his decades-long campaign for assisted suicide. Although “Dr. Death” might […]

The Difference that the Spirit Makes

Jun 11 11 • Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. • 0 comments

As a teen, I thought the clergy were supposed to do everything. We laity were just called to pray, pay, and obey. Oh yes, and keep the commandments, of course. The original 10 seemed overwhelming enough. Then I discovered the Sermon on the Mount and nearly passed out. Perhaps this is why many inactive Catholics […]

Poem: “Nothing Lies in Silence Long”

Jun 11 11 • Pavel Chichikov • 0 comments

Nothing Lies in Silence Long Hold up your hand or stamp your foot A movement makes the mountains tremble, Footfalls stop the rising sun If in the place and time most fragile I saw the truth of this today When something dead began to breathe, A memory I once retained Took up a thread, began to […]

Practicing the Presence of God

Jun 10 11 • Maurice Blumberg • 0 comments

You will show me the path to life, abounding joy in your presence, the delights at your right hand forever (Psalm 16:11). You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence (Acts 2:28). Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks, for this is […]

Can the Lefebvrian Split Be Healed? On What Terms?

Jun 10 11 • Dr. Robert Moynihan • 72 comments

There has only been one official schism in the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council. That occurred in 1988, when Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre consecrated four bishops against the express instructions of Pope John Paul II. That led to the excommunication of Lefebvre and those four bishops, and the schism of Lefebvre and his […]

A Glorious Inconvenience

Jun 10 11 • Bill Ferrell • 1 comment

Recently I heard a minister describe children this way. And I agree with him. What is convenient about children? Pregnancy is inconvenient. Not that I have ever personally experienced it, but I hear things. Nausea. Throwing up. Weight gain. Kicking against the bladder. Toxemia. Leaking. More weight gain. Overheating. Not able to get comfortable. Restless […]

Inner-city Education Fails Without Religious Component

Jun 9 11 • Anthony B. Bradley • 1 comment

As Congress moves toward reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the problem is not that the Department of Education is not doing enough but that it suffers from an acute case of what psychologists call “organizational narcissism.” If they really wish to address America’s inner-city public school crisis, federal education officials must look […]

To Fight AIDS: Comprehensive Sex Ed for Ten Year-Olds?

Jun 9 11 • Lauren Funk • 3 comments

Some in the UN believe that comprehensive sexuality education is the main intervention needed to prevent new HIV infections – even for adolescents as young as 10 years old. “It is time to seize the opportunities to promote sexuality education and comprehensive knowledge of HIV and other health matters among very young adolescents before they […]

Poem: “Following Job into Chapter Nine”

Jun 9 11 • Mary Harwell Sayler • 0 comments

Following Job into Chapter Nine Who can be justified before God? You ask a thousand times but do not expect an answer. Before you know it, mountains move. The earth shakes out of shape. Foundations shudder like dread-soaked pillows tossing on your bed. The sun does not come up. Stars fail to light far corners. […]

Building 36

Jun 9 11 • Marge Fenelon • 0 comments

When I was a little girl, my mom would sometimes pack a supper for my dad, who worked second shift as a foreman at a steel manufacturing plant. Then she’d pack me up, load the supper and me into the car and drive over to the plant. I’m not sure whether those were days on […]

Swindling America’s Youth

Jun 9 11 • Dr. Mark W. Hendrickson • 1 comment

We older Americans have saddled our youth with a mind-boggling public debt—over $20 trillion already spent ($14.3 trillion of “official” national debt plus various off-budget expenditures, according to the U.S. Treasury); trillions more of projected deficit-spending over the coming decade; and tens of trillions of dollars of unfunded liabilities. By the time today’s toddlers can […]

Muslim <em>Woman</em> Seeks to Revive Institution of Sex-Slavery

Muslim Woman Seeks to Revive Institution of Sex-Slavery

Jun 8 11 • Raymond Ibrahim • 2 comments

Last week witnessed popular Muslim preacher Abu Ishaq al-Huwaini boast about how Islam allows Muslims to buy and sell conquered infidel women, so that “When I want a sex-slave, I go to the market and pick whichever female I desire and buy her.” This week’s depraved anachronism comes from a Muslim woman—Salwa al-Mutairi, a political […]