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Tongues of Fire: Pentecost and Its Golden Sequence

May 18, 2013 By 1 Comment

Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire, which parted and came to rest on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different tongues, as the Spirit enabled them to proclaim. We sometimes take it for granted, this Feast of Pentecost.  We know about the upper room, the tongues of fire, the preaching, the conversions of many….  But what an incredible story! Pentecost (that’s Greek for “fiftieth”) has its roots in the Jewish … [Read More...]

This is a favorite, because it's so personal. I bought this carefully sculpted large Rosary as a gift for my husband in Savannah; but it actually came from Rome, where shavings of alabaster from stained glass windows--like the Holy Spirit window in St. Peter's Basilica--are formed into a resin, then molded into chunky beads.

Saturday Special: A Garden of Roses for Our Mother

May 18, 2013 By Leave a Comment

In this Marian month, I continue my weekly focus on Mary, the Mother of God.  This week:  the Rosary. "The holy Rosary is a powerful weapon. Use it with confidence and you'll be amazed at the results." - Saint Josemaria Escriva I confess:  I've sometimes had a difficult time praying the Rosary. I could try to persuade you that I prefer a more intense, less repetitive form of prayer.  But you’d see through that in a second:  Devout Catholics pray the familiar Hail … [Read More...]

A Life Story, a Love Story in 85 Seconds

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Getty Images, the world’s leading stock photo agency, offers more than 80 million still images and photos and more than 50,000 hours of stock film footage for business and consumer use.  The Seattle-based company targets three markets:  advertising and graphic design professionals, the media, … [Read More...]

Vatican Announcement Re. Embroiled Cardinal O’Brien

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I had heard this unofficially.  Yesterday, though, the Holy See Press Office issued a press release, confirming that Cardinal Keith O’Brien, Britain’s most prominent cardinal, is leaving Scotland.  According to the Vatican Information Service: “His Eminence Cardinal Keith Patrick … [Read More...]

Other Shoe Dropping: Another Gosnell Emerges in Texas

May 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Whew!  Our nation is relieved that the horrible newborn killer, Kermit Gosnell, is finally safely behind bars and will remain there, out of sight and out of mind, for the rest of his natural life. So now we can rest easy, knowing that no late-term babies will be born alive, only to have their … [Read More...]

Don’t Worry, Be Happy, Sing the Ave Maria

May 14, 2013 By 5 Comments

He is a gentle, happy man.  A ten-time Grammy Award winner, a virtuoso vocalist and conductor, Bobby McFerrin is best known for his 1988 hit “Don’t Worry, Be Happy.” Bobby McFerrin’s peaceful, joy-filled improvisations well up in a heart that is attuned to God.  His family was deeply … [Read More...]

New European Initiative Insists: The Human Embryo Is “ONE OF US”

May 13, 2013 By Leave a Comment

A million signatures. That’s the ambitious goal of the non-denominational European campaign “One of Us”.  Organizers of the grassroots initiative hope to persuade the European Union to debate and then vote on whether to protect the human embryo from unregulated scientific … [Read More...]

Gosnell Is Guilty! Should He Be Executed?

May 13, 2013 By 1 Comment

On May 13, after seven days of deliberations, a federal jury has found abortionist Kermit Gosnell guilty of three counts of first-degree murder (in the deaths of Babies A, C and E, who were acquitted alive and then killed by having their spinal cords “snipped” with scissors) and one count of … [Read More...]

Father Corapi–Back in View?

May 12, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Is Father John Corapi still trying to restore his reputation and return to active ministry? In 2011, Father Corapi was removed from public ministry as a priest, following allegations of misconduct.  Since that time, he has consistently maintained his innocence. And now, in a March 18, 2013 … [Read More...]

Saturday Special: Mary, Untier of Knots

May 11, 2013 By 2 Comments

Last week I told you that on Saturdays during the month of May, I would write something about Mary, the Mother of God.  On this, the second Saturday of May, let’s talk about one of Pope Francis’ favorite devotions:  Mary, Untier of Knots. As a Jesuit priest in the mid-1980s, Jorge Mario … [Read More...]

WHY DO YOU STAND THERE, LOOKING AT THE SKY?

May 9, 2013 By Leave a Comment

… [Read More...]

THIS IS WATER: How to Think About Life

May 8, 2013 By 1 Comment

David Foster Wallace was an award-winning American novelist, short story writer and essayist.  Time magazine called his 1996 novel Infinite Jest  “one of the best English-language novels from 1923 to 2005.” Wallace was a professor at Pomona College in Claremont, California, and was … [Read More...]

7-Year-Old Steals Car to Avoid Going to Church

May 7, 2013 By 1 Comment

I’d love to tell you that my children, when they were young, always loved going to church…. But no.  They were pretty virtuous youngsters, and I was immensely proud of them; but sometimes they were in the middle of a game with friends or they were watching TV, and they just didn’t want to … [Read More...]

Breathtaking Disrespect: Pope-Emeritus Benedict Portrayed in Condoms

May 7, 2013 By 9 Comments

I’m speechless.  In a convergence of chutzpah and bad taste, Shorewood (WI) artist Niki Johnson has used 17,000 multi-colored condoms to create a larger-than-life portrait of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.  She has titled the creation “Eggs Benedict”. Just like the fawning ministers in … [Read More...]

TOOL TIME REDUX: Lake Orion Priests Laugh It Up on the Big Screen

May 5, 2013 By Leave a Comment

You’ve got to admire the creativity of Fr. Mike Verschaeve and Fr. Steve Pullis.  The two Catholic priests from St. Joseph the Worker parish in Lake Orion, Michigan, kicked off the parish’s annual fundraising drive with a remake of Tim Allen’s popular Tool Time comedy. The parish hopes to … [Read More...]

At Carnegie Mellon, “Naked Pope” Tosses Condoms Into Crowd (UPDATED)

May 4, 2013 By 49 Comments

Costumed in papal vestments, naked from the waist down with a cross shaved into her pubic hair, a Carnegie Mellon University student tossed condoms into the crowd.  “It’s all in good fun,” said one of her fellow students who was present and who saw the woman in the school’s annual art … [Read More...]