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The Last Days and the Resurrection of the Dead, Part I

Easter, when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, will soon be upon us, so it is appropriate to reflect on that resurrection and on the one which will be given to us, as Paul said in his letter to the Corinthians. It is an article of faith for us as Catholics that we will […]

America’s Act of Contrition

The use and the abuse of apology as a political weapon, gambit, or statement has a long and varied history. It often includes a demand for a statement of sorrow and of responsibility, an “act of contrition.” Not a week goes by that some persons, group, institution, political party, or political leader requests (demands) an […]

Youmerica

Without virtues, politics are reduced to tribal emotion and personal greed.

Abortion is Never the Answer for Pregnant Women with Zika

Abortion advocates have attempted to lobby and shame pro-life Latin American countries into legalizing abortion for women who may contract the Zika virus. Although it has not been proven that Zika causes microcephaly and other congenital disabilities, pro-abortion groups have nonetheless assumed that it does. Apparently abortion activists think they know more about ZIKV than […]

An Eight-Member Court Can Work

Most of its decisions will not be close.

Poem: “Some Like Poetry”

Some Like Poetry Some – thus not all. Not even the majority of all but the minority. Not counting schools, where one has to, and the poets themselves, there might be two people per thousand. Like – but one also likes chicken soup with noodles, one likes compliments and the color blue, one likes an […]

Yemen: ‘They Passed Out Bread and Received Gunfire’

The Catholic Church on the Arabian Peninsula has expressed its dismay at the indifference world opinion has shown in response to the nuns murdered in Yemen. In Aden on March 4, 2016, four nuns of the order founded by the Blessed Mother Teresa, whose work involved the care of the elderly and disabled—as well as […]

Book Review: When You Suffer

In When You Suffer: Biblical Keys for Hope and Understanding (Servant Books, 2015), Jeff Cavins tackles the difficult question of why a good God allows us to suffer and what we can do to make that suffering have value in our lives. He defines suffering as anything that makes our life less than ideal, so […]

In Memoriam: Robert Struble, Jr.

Please join Catholic Lane in prayers of thanksgiving for the life of Robert (Bob) Struble, Jr., associate editor for Politics at Catholic Lane, who entered into eternal life on February 26, 2016. Today’s currency for friendship is often purely electronic. So it was with Bob and me. We knew each primarily via email and social […]

European Surrogacy Market Suffers Setback

Yesterday, the Council of Europe rejected a report on surrogacy that proposed regulation of the practice rather than a full ban. This is excellent news for those of us who have been campaigning for so long to Stop Surrogacy Now in all forms and in all places. This comes at a time where Europe is […]

Catholic Colleges Can Discuss Abortion Without Inviting Planned Parenthood

Georgetown University has defended next month’s lecture by Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards by claiming a commitment to “the free exchange of ideas.” Catholic colleges absolutely should expose students to the arguments against Catholic teaching — including those about abortion, contraception and sexuality — but an unfiltered lecture from someone who has no respect for […]

UN Human Rights Power Grab

The UN abortion debate took a turn last week when one of the top human rights committees abandoned a decades-long diplomatic tactic of using linguistic ambiguity to advance a right to abortion. The committee that monitors the 1966 Convention on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (CESCR) issued a “general comment” saying that abortion rights are […]

All Love Bears Fruit

Fruitfulness is one of the essential gifts of marriage. We’re all familiar with God’s words to Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis: “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth” (Gn 1:28). God’s directive to the mother and father of all humanity refers to physical fruitfulness. But Jesus in the Gospels speaks about […]

Lenten Check-Up: Don’t be Afraid to Start Again

I remember those Lents when I kept my resolution but still failed in what I set out to do. By giving up chocolate, diet soda, the internet and social media, I emerged from those 40 days slimmer, less addicted to caffeine, and Facebook-free, yet no stronger spiritually. The Lents that drew me closer to God […]

Poem: “Live Henceforth in My Love”

Live Henceforth in My Love Blessing full and overflowing Pour over me, Around me, And though and through. It is You, Who plans for me, Accomplishes this work, And I , For my part, Desire, And yield, My whole life, Loving You. ©2013 Joann Nelander

Be Present: A Suitable Place For The Lord

My Lenten meditation and prayer this year has yielded some spiritual fruit. I am trying to work toward a renewed focus on something in my life: Be Present. It’s a simple idea. I want to pursue a life that does less looking backward to where I have been and less looking forward to where I […]

Smartly Stupid

Genuine intelligence is threatening. Manufactured intelligence is soothing.

Patient Progress

My son called from graduate school, somewhat discouraged. As part of his degree program, he works with ninth graders, spending his days trying to convince jaded 13 and 14 year olds to care about literature. He’s new to the field and discovering that the major struggle in teaching is not making a lesson plan, but […]

God’s Love is Extravagant

There is nothing you can ever do to make God love you less. Nothing. This is very hard for us human creatures to wrap our heads around: a love so generous we can’t do anything to lessen it. Jesus came to make this point perfectly and tangibly clear through His life and death. In the […]

Proposal to “Rethink” Maternal Health Aims to Leave Mothers Behind

The position of maternal health as an international priority has changed a lot in the last twenty years. In 1985, leading medical journal The Lancet published an article titled “Maternal Mortality – A Neglected Tragedy: Where is the M in MCH [maternal and child health]?”   Since then, maternal health became a major topic of global […]

Who Wouldn’t Want This?

Has Lent got you feeling grumpy? Deprived? Hungry? Has politics got you acting like a real bear? Are you snapping at people? Is the long wait for the first buds of springtime transforming you into someone from whom people walk away? Your heart, soul, body, and mind all need something. But what? If only The […]

A Spoken Word Poem: “Yes to You”

Why God Sends Us Imperfect Popes

Pope Francis set tongues wagging again with his latest comments that contraception might be used to prevent birth defects caused by the Zika virus. The secular media seem delighted by the implication that the Catholic Church’s traditional opposition to artificial birth control might be eased. In response to reporters’ questions during his flight from Mexico […]

New Study Shows Depo-Provera Increases Risk of HIV Infection

A new peer-reviewed study,1 conducted in collaboration with the Population Research Institute (PRI), shows that women who use Depo-Provera are significantly more likely to acquire HIV. Due to funding from organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and agencies like the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Depo-Provera is the most widely used form of […]