The plan, if all my paperworking comes to fruition, is for 4/4ths of my children to undertake radically different modes of education next year. Said plan involves one parochial school, one public school, and one homeschool (mine).This is by no means the first time my husband and I have changed tack in our children's formation. One would hope that my 15-year-old is not receiving the same sort of formal education we started with when he was five (though there are fascinating similarities). … [Read more...]
So You Want to Be a (Better) Catholic Writer? Sign Up ASAP.
February 16, 2016 by
Karina Fabian reminds you that now is the time to sign up for the Catholic Writers Conference Online: CWCO2016 is almost here! It’s set for March 4-6, and all the terrific details are at http://catholicwritersconference.com. It’s $40 for nonmembers, $25 for CWG members. Drop by the website and register soon. Registration ends Feb 27 or when we get 200 attendees. It’s been a long haul for Laura Lowder and I. We’ve been recruiting speakers for months, working on the new webinar software and putti … [Read more...]
Suspected Abuse? Call the Police. You and Your Bishop Both.
February 11, 2016 by
There are a couple stories circulating to the effect that new Catholic bishops are being told they don't necessarily need to contact the authorities when they are presented with evidence of child abuse. The Guardian reports it here, and John Allen from Crux discusses it here. Reporting on religion is notoriously unreliable, and I'm in no position to confirm or clarify these reports. But whenever such nonsense gets promulgated, I'm here to remind you: Tell the police.It is not your job to b … [Read more...]
What Place for Bare Minimum Catholicism?
February 10, 2016 by
What is it a Catholic really must do?You don't have to go to Mass on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday. You do have to fast, unless for some reason you don't. You don't have to go to confession for your venial sins, though you ought to, but you do need to confess your mortal sins. You need to go to Mass on Sundays, unless for some serious reason you can't. You need to generally rest on Sundays, and allow other people to rest, but exactly how much restaurants and house chores are implicated in … [Read more...]
Is Catholic Lent Too Easy? + Lent-o-Rama – UPDATED
February 9, 2016 by
UPDATED: Ted Seeber saves Lent by reminding me that no Lent-o-Rama is complete without This Time of Forty Days. I love you, so I post it here:Now resuming our previously written post . . .A friend posted this useful infographic on Lenten basics, but observed that the current norms seem like an awfully light penance. They are. At this time, the Church has, in her wisdom, chosen to throw out a little test: Are you in or aren't you?Are you so very intractable, so very rebellious, … [Read more...]
Does Eating Doritos Make You More Human?
February 9, 2016 by
We watched most of the Superbowl (go cats!), the Downton hour excepted, and we thought the Doritos commercial was sorta funny. NARAL was mortified at the way the commercial "humanized" the baby on the ultrasound, and the counter-reaction seems to be missing something important in that protest: the Doritos.Let's take NARAL at their word, for a moment, and examine what it was about this ultrasound that was different from every other:The baby expressed clear personal preferences and acted … [Read more...]
Lent in the School for Evangelization
February 8, 2016 by
We Catholics like our programs. Love our programs. So here's this program we have starting this month, and the whole Church is enrolled. It's called "Lent" and it features prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. That's the theory, anyhow.During Lent your parish is likely to take on some kind of other program as a sort of evangelization-thingie. Small groups (I approve), or a parish mission (ditto), or some other worthy pursuit. These things are good. But what if your parish isn't doing one of … [Read more...]
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