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Not According to Plan

Not According to Plan

Dec 29 14 • 1 comment

There are the plans we make, and then there are God’s plans. Sometimes, they line up. Take for instance last week. I thought I had it all figured out. Easy trip to the airport with one small caveat, the necessary requirement of bringing the old family dog into the friendly skies. Never having done this […]

Like Your Plan Keep Your Plan - Obama

Life in Post-Truth America

Dec 29 14 • 12 comments

In the absence of facts, there is only ideology.

The Christmas Tree, 1911, Albert Chevallier Tayler

Dickens’ Christmas Mystery

Dec 28 14 • 0 comments

Pointing to the mystery of the ages.

Poem: " Trouble, Disappointment and Grief"

Poem: ” Trouble, Disappointment and Grief”

Dec 28 14 • 0 comments

 Trouble, Disappointment and Grief At a time in our lives When all should be well. There is trouble, disappointment and grief. How can this be so? Where is God? An often asked question, With no satisfactory answer. Some would offer,“Sacrifice is a blessing.” Others would suggest “God is too kind for that” Were I brilliant […]

The Birth of Christ and Time-Travel

The Birth of Christ and Time-Travel

Dec 25 14 • 1 comment

On the Second Sunday of Advent I preached a sermon the subject of which was time, specifically on the minutiae that governs our temporal reality. Like sands in an hour glass, so are the days of our lives. Now I would like to revisit the subject of time from a different perspective—time travel. This is […]

From Angels We Have Heard

From Angels We Have Heard

Dec 25 14 • 0 comments

“The Word became flesh” (John 1.14) is a central tenet of Christian truth. It’s what Christmas is about ? not some little fat man in a red suit. Jesus is the Word that became flesh. The Incarnation: God made man.  It is a unique and singular historical event so significant that the universe rejoiced. Saint […]

Earthly Sucker or Eternal Fool

Earthly Sucker or Eternal Fool

Dec 24 14 • 0 comments

The Magnificent Seven is one of the definitive Westerns, with timeless themes, Oscar-nominated music, gun play (and knife play),  and characters whose goodness or evil is never in doubt. Harry Luck (Brad Dexter) is one of the six gunmen that Chris Adams (Yul Brynner) recruits to help a small Mexican village raided periodically by marauding […]

Wedding Rings and Christmas Tree Ornament

When Hollywood Celebrated Christmas and Marriage

Dec 23 14 • 0 comments

I don’t see a happy ending to this story.

From Grief to Gratitude

From Grief to Gratitude

Dec 23 14 • 0 comments

Christmas traditions help a family cope after mother passes away In 2005 I lost my wife Joanne after her short battle with cancer. Nothing could have prepared me and our nine children for the future that lay before us. Our first Christmas without her was heart-wrenching. I remember decorating the tree, with every ornament that […]

Fr. Don Calloway on the Power of Mary

Fr. Don Calloway on the Power of Mary

Twelve years ago, a brief article in the Marian Helper magazine caught my attention. “My mother never gave up on me,” I read. “Even though I dropped out of high school, she never gave up on me, and now I’m becoming a priest.” That simple little story spoke volumes. I was on the lookout for inspirational […]

Poem: "The Arrival"

Poem: “The Arrival”

Dec 22 14 • 0 comments

The Arrival Arrival of what, perhaps you ask? What is so important, am I up for the task? There are presents to buy, wrap and give, I have a life and I’ve got it to live. It’s Christmas after all, what’s else matters, lights and trees, and gifts that flatter. What does it matter if […]

Can Traditionalism Function in the Modern Church?

Can Traditionalism Function in the Modern Church?

Dec 22 14 • 5 comments

Mr. Bornhoft, I thank you for your response to my letter. I think, after reading it, you should revisit some of the claims you originally made. At most, they are colloquial expressions made by a few writers which don’t hold up to theological scrutiny, something which isn’t that shocking when you look at most of […]

You're Safe with Daddy

You’re Safe with Daddy

Dec 22 14 • 1 comment

There is a prevalence of inordinate fear and anxiety in Western culture today. Yet, we are called not to live a fear-driven life, but rather a life of deeply rooted faith and trust in our loving, all powerful, caring Father in heaven. Yes, He is your Father. We all innately desire safety and security. But, […]

Shudder -- It's Good for You

Shudder — It’s Good for You

Dec 21 14 • 2 comments

Be sober. Accept reality. This is serious.

Praying for a White Christmas

Praying for a White Christmas

Dec 20 14 • 0 comments

The snow started coming down hard a few hours after we’d arrived. It was Christmas Eve 1976. We were 20 miles from home, visiting my mother’s sister at her home in the country. Earlier that evening, my mother, father, grandmother and sisters had piled into the station wagon to begin our trek. I was 14 […]

Getting in Touch Again: Date Night

Getting in Touch Again: Date Night

Dec 19 14 • 0 comments

Making date night work without too much work One way of being a better parent and spouse is making and keeping “date night.” Contrary to popular belief, this need not be (a) extravagant, (b) expensive, (c) so regular that it becomes boring (you can only do “dinner and a movie” so often), nor (d) require […]

Poem: "Be Ready for the Infant King"

Poem: “Be Ready for the Infant King”

Dec 18 14 • 0 comments

Be Ready for the Infant King Who will come to the stable On Christmas Day? And what will they take away? Wise men, steadfast and earnest, came, Instead of palace music, They heard the donkey brae. A lowly sound and sight, Yet their wonder unallayed. Many come rejoicing, To behold the Newborn King, Bowing low, […]

Votive Candles: Lights of Faith and Hope

Votive Candles: Lights of Faith and Hope

Dec 18 14 • 2 comments

An elderly woman stands at the votive candle area and lights eight large candles. She says a prayer and then finds her place in the pew. On exiting the Church, a young girl, no more than ten years old, lights a small candle with her dad watching on. Her dad told her to say a […]

LGBT Activists Meet at UN, Promise to Keep Fighting

LGBT Activists Meet at UN, Promise to Keep Fighting

On Human Rights Day, homosexual activists converged on UN headquarters to make the case that “LGBT rights are human rights.” But only a few countries within the United Nations agree. Undersecretary General Jan Eliasson called the promotion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender rights (LGBT) an “unfinished human rights revolution.” He lamented the lack of international […]

Movie Review: <em>Exodus: Gods and Kings</em>

Movie Review: Exodus: Gods and Kings

Exodus–the story of Moses–proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that atheists make the best Bible movies (see my review of Noah). I don’t know that atheists necessarily make the best contemporary movies about faith or people of faith, but they certainly do the oldies well. Perhaps this is in part because they mine an […]

Christian Professor: "I Am Equally Pro-Choice and Pro-Life"

Christian Professor: “I Am Equally Pro-Choice and Pro-Life”

Dec 17 14 • 0 comments

During a November 4th 2014 university panel discussion in Indiana on the topic “Life versus Choice”, Wesleyan Professor Gregory Fiebig stated “This is our belief, that life begins at conception. It is not the world’s belief. And so if we start telling the world how to live their lives, and hold them to a morality […]

Central African Republic: Catholics Reach Out to Former Deadly Enemies

Central African Republic: Catholics Reach Out to Former Deadly Enemies

Dec 17 14 • 0 comments

The Catholic leader of the Central African Republic embodies his Church’s commitment to peace and national reconciliation. Archbishop Dieudonné Nzapailanga, the president of the bishops’ conference and archbishop of the capital city of Bangui, recently visited a camp where former members of the Seleka Muslim rebel militia are housed, along with their families. For several […]

Poem: "Birthday"

Poem: “Birthday”

Dec 17 14 • 0 comments

Birthday So much world all at once – how it hustles and bustles! Moraines and morays and morasses and mussels, The flame, the flamingo, the flounder, the feather – How to line them all up, how to put them together? All the tickets and crickets and creepers and creeks! The beeches and leeches alone could […]

Ode to Feminine Genius: A Family Woman

Ode to Feminine Genius: A Family Woman

Dec 16 14 • 0 comments

When I was a child I always said I wanted 9 children. In fact, I said I wanted 9 boys! I would tell people I wanted my own baseball team, not a softball team, a baseball team. Family was important to me and I hoped and prayed that one day I would find someone who […]