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Poem: “A King, A Victim, A Priest”

A King, A Victim, A Priest A king, A victim, A priest, A king accused, A victim scourged, A priest condemned, A king crowned and robed, A victim beaten and humiliated, A priest on the altar of the Cross, O Anointed One, O Crucified One, O Holy One, Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done. […]

Book Review: <em>Gifts of the Visitation</em>

Book Review: Gifts of the Visitation

Mar 30 15 • Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur • 0 comments

The Visitation refers to the time when Mary, receiving the news from the angel Gabriel that she was going to become the mother of Jesus as well as that her cousin Elizabeth was going to have a baby, rushed to her elder cousin’s side. Gifts of the Visitation by Denise Bossert (Ave Maria Press, 2015) […]

Palm/Passion Sunday

Mar 28 15 • Marcellino D'Ambrosio, Ph.D. • 2 comments

We now come to the Sunday with a split personality. It starts with an upbeat gospel recounting Jesus’ triumphal entry into Jerusalem. It is a festive affair, complete with a parade route strewn with palm branches instead of ticker tape. But we quickly progress to the stark reading of Jesus’ passion, bearable only because we […]

General Assembly Votes in Favor of Gay Marriage?

Mar 27 15 • Stefano Gennarini, J.D. • 1 comment

In an animated and unusually packed budget meeting this week, UN member states gave the go ahead to special benefits for any UN staff in same-sex legal arrangements. A proposal of Russia in the General Assembly fell well short reversing the Secretary General’s unilateral decision last June extending benefits of marriage to any UN staff […]

Lamenting Loss of Family-Owned Grocery

Mar 26 15 • Tom Purcell • 0 comments

The old grocery store in my neighborhood is closing next month. Boy, does that make me sad. The family-owned store has been a staple in our community for more than 50 years. Its simple, spartan interior is a snapshot into the past, the way grocery stores were in the ’60s and ’70s — like the […]

Empty Houses

Mar 26 15 • Zachary Gappa • 3 comments

Home is where… no one is. That seems to be the modern trend. City dwellers lead hectic lives, our suburbs are “bedroom communities”, and the talent of the next generation is quickly fleeing small rural towns. Our homes are empty for far too many hours of the day, and this trend has been steadily reshaping […]

Poem: “Quietly sitting in Adoration”

Mar 25 15 • Scott Warren • 1 comment

Quietly Sitting in Adoration “Go to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and simply let Him Love you” St. JohnPaul II Kneeling or Quietly sitting in Adoration Yielding and passive and prayerful- there is that. Yet, so much is astir For with the faintest, softest “Yes” He comes to you! His heart bursting with love Radiating […]

Poem: “Sitting in Adoration”

Mar 25 15 • Scott Warren • 0 comments

Sitting in Adoration “Go to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and simply let Him Love you” St. JohnPaul II Kneeling or Quietly sitting in Adoration Yielding and passive and prayerful- there is that. Yet, so much is astir For with the faintest, softest “Yes” He comes to you! His heart bursting with love Radiating His […]

The Profound Dignity of Motherhood

Mar 25 15 • James Littleton • 0 comments

Mothers are by far the most beautiful creatures in the world. There is nothing more beautiful than a mother. There has never been a beauty pageant winner more beautiful than a pregnant woman. A pregnant woman glows with the grace of God. She is one with God. Her love has borne fruit with the life […]

Devoted to Hearing His Voice

Mar 24 15 • Mike Eisenbath • 0 comments

Not long ago, I did an exercise in which four words were listed horizontally and I had to rank them as they applied to me by giving a “4” to the one most descriptive of myself down to “1” for the least descriptive of me. For example, the first list of words was: independent, compassionate, […]

Sterilization Camps in India

Mar 24 15 • Anne Morse • 1 comment

Anne Roback Morse gave an address on March 13, 2015 at the United Nations surrounding the Commission on the Status of Women at a panel titled, “Coerced Sterilizations, Abortions, and Reproductive Rights.” The following remarks are based on excerpts from that address. Last November, 83 women were sterilized in a matter of hours at a […]

Van Gogh: Accomplishment and Mental Illness

Mar 24 15 • Mark Davis Pickup • 0 comments

Vincent Van Gogh’s career as a painter began when he was 27 years old and lasted a brief ten years, ending with his suicide. His works are, perhaps, better known than those of any other painter and yet during his lifetime he was virtually unknown. He suffered from mental illness.[1] His mental illness drove his […]

Seven Things that are (Way) Better as a Catholic

Mar 24 15 • Misty • 1 comment

Having spent most of my life as an atheist (I converted just 13 years ago), I have a good basis of comparison for the difference between Catholic and non-Catholic life. And without a doubt, these seven things are WAY better now that I’m Catholic! Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. 1. WEEKENDS My husband and I spent three […]

Free to Love: Marriage Vows

Mar 21 15 • Maria Grizzetti • 0 comments

Our marriage vows reflect the fidelity of God’s love for us. The obligations of the marriage covenant – fidelity, love open to new life, and lifelong sexual exclusivity – ask a lot of another as it assumes a lot about ourselves. Too often we make promises we don’t keep, overextend our commitments, or intend fidelity […]

Egg Trafficking and Rented Wombs: UN Learns How Not to Make Babies

Mar 20 15 • Wendy Wright • 0 comments

Every seat in the UN auditorium was filled, with a waiting line outside, to hear about making babies. “Online baby making, buying and selling eggs, renting wombs,” said Jennifer Lahl. “We no longer beget our children, we make our children, we build our families.” Lahl is a pediatric nurse turned film director. Her documentaries explore […]

Fear and Natural Family Planning

Mar 20 15 • Tara Brelinsky • 7 comments

As far back as I can remember, heights have posed an unwelcomed challenge. I was the kid who scaled the jungle-gym only to become paralyzed at the summit and tearfully beg for rescue. Ferris wheels are totally off-limits and even today escalators require a mental strategy. I never dreamed of spending my days balancing atop […]

Ite ad Joseph

Mar 19 15 • Dr. Gerard Nadal • 0 comments

Ite ad Joseph! (Go to Joseph!) It’s the great Latin admonition of the Church, to seek the intercession of the Patron Saint of the Church, and a powerful intercessor at that. Against the backdrop of the new aggressive eugenics that has taken solid root in American medicine, and against the war on the Catholic Church […]

Two Josephs, Both Alike in Chastity

Mar 19 15 • Mary Kochan • 6 comments

With our attention upon St. Joseph today, it might be good to look back at the Old Testament figure for whom Mary’s chaste spouse was most likely named. That would be Joseph, son of Jacob, grandson of Isaac, and great-grandson of Abraham. Joseph is a popular name for Jewish boys precisely as a memorial of this […]

Lover of Poverty

Mar 19 15 • Jared Tomanek • 0 comments

Today is the Feast of St. Joseph. He is special to us because he was special to Jesus. I would like to reflect on a title from the Litany of St. Joseph: Lover of Poverty. As Catholics, Jesus teaches that we are to be poor in spirit. St. Joseph is a wonderful example of this […]

<em>LUCY</em> and the Longing of the Heart for More

LUCY and the Longing of the Heart for More

Mar 19 15 • Bill Donaghy • 1 comment

I was a young boy in the 1970’s and 80’s, coming of age in the early days of the movie magic of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas. of galaxies far, far away, of Close Encounters, and hidden mysteries, of Lost Arks and great adventures. I can honestly say my formation and invitation into wonder and transcendence was assisted, however […]

Challenging Children to Chastity

Mar 18 15 • Judie Brown • 0 comments

The title of this article is also the name of an extremely valuable online booklet by the late Father Henry V. Sattler, CSsR (1917-1999), yet it is also an assignment for today’s parents. Our children and grandchildren are bombarded daily with messages that contradict common sense and put their very lives in jeopardy. It is […]

Another Step in a Spiritual Journey

Mar 17 15 • Mike Eisenbath • 0 comments

God guided me into the next step of my spiritual journey recently. I was accepted into formation with the St. Louis, Mo., group of the Secular Carmelites. I’m excited. I have my heart and soul open for what might be ahead. I recently completed my year of “aspirancy” with the Secular Carmelites. That stage involved […]

D.C. Snow’s Silver Lining

Mar 17 15 • Tom Purcell • 1 comment

I admit it: I love the snow and the cold. I love to be outside, gazing up at the stars on cold, crisp evenings. I love how the snow blankets my hillsides. And most of all, I love how snow disrupts daily life — particularly in Washington, D.C. I lived in Washington for nearly eight […]

What I Told My Bishop About the Synod

Mar 17 15 • Karee Santos • 0 comments

Last week was the final deadline to submit comments to our local bishop about the agenda for the upcoming Synod on the Family, to be reconvened this October at the Vatican. The Synod’s working document, or lineamenta, asked 46 questions about the pastoral care of the family, which the laypeople of our diocese were encouraged […]