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First, Believe

A few years ago, when the news was filled with the reports of priests who had abused youths and the bishops who had been so derelict in their handling of the predator priests and in protecting the faithful, I remember thinking, “The problem is that they don’t believe. They don’t really believe.” I found myself […]

Lessons from New York

In the political battle that ended last week with New York’s legalization of gay marriage, Catholic defenders of man-woman marriage found themselves pitted against an unlikely batch of adversaries: fellow Catholics. Gov. Andrew Cuomo — who, like his father, has spent his career touting his Catholic credentials while ignoring church teachings that clash with his […]

Middle East Studies in Upheaval

The troubled academic study of the Middle East and Islam by Americans is changing in fundamental ways. I offer some thoughts based on 42 years of personal observation: From Western offence to Islamic offence: Muslim relations with Christians divide into four long periods: from Muhammad’s hijra to the First Crusade, 622-1099, during which time Muslims […]

Comic: Nature?

Northern Iraqi Christians Are a Bridge to Islam

Christians are serving as a bridge to Islam in northern Iraq, according to a cofounder of the “Initiative Christian Orient.” Speaking in an interview with international Catholic pastoral charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), Professor Hans Hollerweger told ACN, “In northern Iraq Christians are a bridge to Islam. Hence the West must do […]

Hope Springs Eternal on the Diamond

? Ryan Lefebvre is hopeful that [this] Major League Baseball season[…] will be a winning one — but his hopes extend far beyond the diamond. Lefebvre, the television announcer for the Kansas City Royals, began a broadcasting career during his freshman year at the University of Minnesota in 1992 when he called football games on […]

Obama’s Legacy

For some time, the outlines of an Obama Doctrine have been apparent.  It can be summarized in nine damning words:  Embolden our enemies.  Undermine our friends.  Diminish our country.  These days, it is hard to avoid proof that these outcomes are not inadvertent, or attributable to sheer and sustained incompetence.  Rather, they are a product […]

Poem: “Stranger of the Night”

Stranger of the Night Barred owl, what are you doing here At bay in a tall pine tree Where the small birds curse and jeer? This is mid-morning, not evening shade – Glide quickly to the hillside den Where shadows of the moon are made , Turn your rounded head and stare Swivel at the […]

The Tea Cup Caper

Any man who will spend a Saturday afternoon on his hands and knees, digging around the shelves of a musty, chock-full thrift shop is a hero. At least he’s my hero. In fact, I think it might make him a canonizable saint. A few weeks ago, I begged my husband to accompany me to “The […]

Tinkering with the Lives of Children

There are many Americans who define themselves as human rights advocates yet who are, at the same time, wary of those of us who take great care when defining the meaning of human personhood. We are suspected of being over-zealous because we point out the killing of preborn embryonic children in IVF labs or the […]

You Are Not Called to Be a “Gender-neutral, Generic Person”

[Dr. Morse’s Commencement Speech to Providence Academy High School, Delivered June 3, 2011 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.] Faculty and Students of Providence Academy; Class of 2011; parents, friends and benefactors: this is a wonderful and memorable day. For many of you, graduating from high school was always a foregone conclusion. So maybe you feel this day […]

Czech Case Affirms the Duty of Conscientious Objection

The European Court of Human Rights just emphasised unanimously that “no one should show total, blind obedience to orders which so flagrantly infringed not only the principles of national legislation but also internationally recognised human rights, in particular the right to life.” (from the Court press release) This is the fundamental basement of the right, […]

Poem: “Why Do You Say…?”

Why Do You Say…? Why do you say that Man is the king of creation? The robe is too wide for his meager, rickety frame, The crown of a king is royal for his skull’s dimensions, When a summons arrives he can’t even remember his name Not upright nor wise despite Linnaeus’s flattery, Swooning over […]

Controversy Over “Heaven” Street Sign

The Red Hook section of Brooklyn recently renamed a street “Seven in Heaven Way” to honor seven firefighters who died trying to rescue victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks at the World Trade Center. The street was given this new name because the men who died—Joseph Gullickson, Brian Cannizzaro, Salvatore Calabro, Thomas Kennedy, Patrick […]

Book Review: A Catholic Woman’s Book of Prayers

Some of the perks of being a Catholic blogger all these years have been the friends I’ve acquired and the lessons learned from them. Stamina, fortitude, and grace, are the gifts of these friends during my short career as a writer of which I am forever changed. One of these new friends is Donna-Marie Cooper […]

Minimum Wage Law Backfires in American Samoa

A 1961 Reader’s Digest piece called it “America’s shame on the South Seas.”  American Samoa remains relatively impoverished compared to the rest of the United States to which it is attached. Recent efforts to invigorate its economy offer a lesson in government planning and unintended consequences that those who seek to help the poor would […]

A Hero and an Era Passes Even as Hope is Renewed

The news has an element of sadness, but also of hope. The element of sadness is that Otto von Hapsburg, a good and courageous man whom I had the privilege to meet more than once, died Monday at the age of 98. Otto’s father, the Blessed Karl (also sometimes called Charles), the last emperor of Austro-Hungary (he died 1922, […]

Finding God in the Housework

I do not enjoy housework. Not even a little bit. Just yesterday I was telling the young lady who lives next door to me that I wished I had a magic wand that I could simply wave and have a clean house! Alas, that is not the case and I do have to put things […]

Storm Clouds Ahead for More Than One Child

In May, a Toronto couple made international news when they revealed what they’re not revealing: the gender of their baby, Storm. Parents Kathy Witterick and David Stocker claim they want their baby to grow up free of the constraints gender identification implies. That way, despite the fact that the child is anatomically well-defined, Storm can […]

Distributism and the Current Crisis, Part 1: The Scale of Government

Discussions of what to do about the current crisis commonly take the form of an argument between “socialism” and “capitalism.” However, such a discussion is flawed in both of its terms. Real socialism collapsed in 1989, and few would want to return to that horrific system. What is less well understood is that pure capitalism […]

Poem: “The Sculptor’s Chisel”

The Sculptor’s Chisel His living bread His body The Sculptor’s chisel In clay kneaded like a potter’s mound He moulds an image of Himself His wine His blood Love’s river Love’s river carves the canyon’s face And steers the searching yearning heart Michele Marie

Welcoming the Stranger

“Do not neglect hospitality, for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels (Hebrews 13:2).” Perhaps one of the greatest examples of this is Abraham rushing out to welcome three men standing near his tent (Genesis 18:1-15). He begged them to come, wash their feet, rest, and eat before continuing on their journey. In return, the […]

Obama’s Inalienables

Each time President Obama addresses America’s inalienable rights, I get emails. “Did you see Obama left out ‘Creator’ again?” began the latest. The most recent occasion was a June 17 presidential statement responding to a U.N. resolution on sexual orientation. Obama stated that “LGBT persons are endowed with the same inalienable rights—and entitled to the […]

The Pope’s Angelus Message Today: Announcement of the Kingdom

 Sometimes words comfort, and heal. Not a drug to control anxiety, not any type of mind-numbing alcohol, but words. Words which speak “heart to heart” (to use the motto of Blessed John Henry Newman) — one might almost say “logos to logos.” Speaking words “heart to heart” transmits life. Words bear meaning, are meaning. They […]