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The Seductive Siren Song of Genetic Enhancement

Two recent magazine covers together give us a glimpse of the possible future of humanity. They seem completely unrelated. Next to each other on a coffee table, most people would never make the connection. Yet they are inextricably linked, jointly warning us to take action before it’s too late. The first, which appeared on the […]

Your 2016 Handy-Dandy List of Lenten Resources

Lent comes early this year. February 10th is Ash Wednesday! That’s just three weeks away, folks. So instead of waiting until the last minute and grasping at your old standbys (giving up chocolate or God forbid, coffee), why not plan ahead using our convenient list of resources below? Make this your most spiritually fruitful Lent ever! Reprinted with […]

Broken (Liturgical) Windows

In a large urban parish which I attended some years ago I have noticed that the liturgical life seems to be shrinking in both action and attitude. The priests no longer hear confessions before Sunday Mass. On minor federal holidays the two regular daily Masses are reduced to only one mid-morning when most working people […]

The Great Value of the March for Life

Is the March for Life a waste of time? It seems like every year some people ask the question, even as around half a million folks take over the National Mall of Washington, D.C., and dozens of other marches challenge the complacency of state capitals around the country. The answer, by the way, is “no.” […]

Mercy Means Never Having to Say You’re Sorry?

“Why do they only have 45 minutes for confession?” asked my Protestant dad when I was home over the holidays. “Well,” I tried to explain, “Most church-goers don’t go to confession that often. They don’t really think they’re doing anything wrong.” A senior deacon from one of the first classes of people trained in the […]

Racial Discrimination Escalating

Cultural silence on the subject of Racial Eugenic Targeted Abortion is deafening and yet RETA is not only a fact, but also a very good example of racism. Let’s revisit the year 1982 and the gruesome discovery of the bodies of nearly 17,000 aborted babies in Woodland Hills, California. As Erma Clardy Craven—a pro-life black […]

Little Lies, Big Lies, and Narratives

Recently I read a collection of essays by various Catholic historians published in a book entitled Catholicism and Historical Narrative, edited by Kevin Schmiesing. As Schmiesing says in his introduction to the book, the fundamental job of historians is to “uncover the truth about the past.” “Yet,” he reminds us, “most historical debate occurs not […]

Seize Eternal Life in the Here and Now

Jesus’ prayer in the 17th Chapter of John is often referred to as the High Priestly Prayer. In verse three we read “Now this is eternal life, that they should know you, the only true God, and the one whom you sent, Jesus Christ.” In the past, I have plowed through this verse without giving […]

Family Ties that Lift Us Up

Jesus’ invitation to discipleship comes with a warning: “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me” (Mk 8:34). He made this statement shortly after Peter confessed him to be the Messiah, and he told his disciples what that role entails. The suffering involved in denying oneself and […]

The New Way to be Pro-Choice

There is a new theme emerging in the media: an explicit attempt to normalize abortion to a degree we haven’t seen before. Pro-choice advocates were once content to refer to abortion as an unfortunate necessity, but in the face of pro-life gains in legal and cultural fronts, pro-choicers are going for broke on a new […]

In Syria, Food is ‘The Most Deadly Weapon of War’

By John Pontifex NEW YORK—Food has become “the most deadly weapon of war” in Syria, according to a leading Catholic charity’s Middle East expert, who charged that both government and rebel forces are blocking humanitarian aid to force entire communities—already on the brink of starvation—to submit to their rule. He added that rebels have confiscated […]

Five Biggest Pro-Life and Pro-Family Losses of 2015

Despite many positive events, there is always bad news coming out of the UN. 2015 was no exception. These are the worst moments of 2015. UN Bureaucrats Create New Avenues for Abortion and LGBT Rights The new UN Sustainable Development Goals were an overall loss for abortion groups that spent billions of dollars trying to […]

Poem: “Going Home”

Going Home He came home. Said nothing. It was clear, though, that something had gone wrong. He lay down fully dressed. Pulled the blanket over his head. Tucked up his knees. He’s nearly forty, but not at the moment. He exists just as he did inside his mother’s womb, clad in seven walls of skin, […]

Good Shelter Work

I acted the devil’s advocate. “So here we are, driving to the animal shelter to volunteer when people are hungry. Shouldn’t we be helping at the Food Bank?” I grinned so she knew I was playing a bit. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. She pursed her sassy, fourteen-year-old lips and dodged. “Well, you can go […]

Movie Review: Full of Grace

Full of Grace is an art-house, indie film about the last days of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Bahia Haifi) on earth. The story is interwoven with the plight of Peter (Noam Jenkins) who–although the Church is growing–is faced with heresy upon heresy, distortions of the Faith in thought and practice (“they are picking apart the […]

Five Big Pro-Life and Pro-Family Wins in 2015

The year just ended will prove to be a significant one for the United Nations. Two much anticipated agreements were finalized, one on development and another on climate. For life and family advocates they were both overall wins, although not complete. Here is our list of the best moments of 2015. New UN Development Goals […]

The Epiphany Star

My five year old daughter told me: “Dad, I know what you call stars that draw a picture: consternations.” I chuckled, but thought: No dear, a consternation is when you refuse to eat your dinner for no good reason. I also overheard her explaining to her four year old sister: “The word asteroid has two […]

A Spoken Word Poem: “Ocean”

Christmas in a Stricken Community: Where was God?

Living in a community stricken by scores of deaths each year from pills and cheap heroin of unprecedented potency, the question of where God was is raised in thousands of hearts in unfathomable grief. Our young people are getting addicted and dying in epidemic proportions. These are good kids, from good homes, good schools, good […]

Poem: “Sensitiveness”

Sensitiveness Time was, I shrank from what was right, From fear of what was wrong; I would not brave the sacred fight, Because the foe was strong. But now I cast that finer sense And sorer shame aside; Such dread of sin was indolence, Such aim at heaven was pride. So, when my Saviour calls, […]

A Figure Of Deep, Genuine Mercy

The figure of the Pieta resides on the top shelf along the southwest wall of my living room, just a little higher and to the left of our 40-inch TV screen. Next to it stands a clear glass angel. Another foot-and-a-half to the left is a tall grey cross, the base of which proclaims “All […]

Modest but Meaningful Protection from Human Embryo Genetic Manipulation

Genetically-manufactured babies, gene-manipulated human embryos, human-animal chimeras, human clones—all science fiction, right? No, these various types of laboratory-manufactured human embryos are already reality. Last spring, Chinese scientists announced they had experimented with genetic manipulation of human embryos, and scientists in the U.S. want to join in the experiments, also recently approved in law in the […]

Seven Spiritual New Year’s Resolutions

I think most Catholics in the world would love to grow in their relationship with Jesus. People have a genuine desire to grow in holiness, even if they are not able to articulate their desires for it. On New Year ’s Day many people re-evaluate their lives. They examine how their lives were in 2015 […]

In Bethlehem Then and Now, ‘Jesus is the Door to Peace’

By Oliver Maksan JOSEPH AND MARY quietly rocked the child. Shepherds gathered around them. Children in costumes were enacting the Nativity of Jesus the subterranean chapels tucked away into nooks and crannies under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. A silver star marks the birthplace in a grotto right nearby. The young actors that […]