My sister delivered a healthy baby boy the day before yesterday. When I called to congratulate her, I asked to be spared from the details. When my wife gave birth to our second son, I was the one about pass out during the epidural. This past November, when I saw the headlines about Savita, I tried to ignore it because I have no stomach for delivery room gore. When I did read the stories a day later, my response was angry and indignant. I was pissed. Pissed, but hopeful. I thought we could … [Read more...]
Off Topic, Sometimes
April 10, 2013 By 2 Comments
It's been a while since I wrote about not writing. I've been trying to break some tics and habits, but this one might be worth holding on to. Periodically I hit something of a wall. For those of you haven't been reading me for very long, you should know that I don't believe in writer's block. I believe in writing when it doesn't feel good, when inspiration is a deadline or a weird sort of fear that, if you don't write, the magic, what little there is, will leave you with nothing. I've been … [Read more...]
Immigration Seen Through Catholic, Pastoral Eyes
April 5, 2013 By 14 Comments
No one, I think, wants to read a blog by a Texican all about present-day, US immigration debates. Too predictable, right? Not quite. Although I was born in a bordertown (Brownsville, Texas), I do not come from immigrant ancestors, in the recent immediate sense of the issue. My maternal and paternal Hispanic families pre-date the United States' aquisition of the southwest. To borrow Gloria Anzaldúa's expression: the border crossed us, literally. Nonetheless, the issue of immigration … [Read more...]
“Google Nose” Smells Funny and Familiar: A Sun Blemish
March 31, 2013 By 14 Comments
People got offended by Google's choice to feature a sketch of Cesar Chavez today, Easter Sunday. I have very little to say that First Things editor, Matthew Schmitz, didn't cover in his excellent and timely blog post, "Why It's Fitting to Remember Cesar Chavez on Easter Sunday." Those who remain unconvinced, should read "The Passion of Cesar Chavez," published in Crisis Magazine almost a year ago. The lesson is this: if there is an opportunity to proclaim the Gospel, then doing otherwise … [Read more...]
¡Resucitó! ¡Si se puede! ¡Aleluya!
March 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment
¡Feliz Pascua! Hoy, en los Estados Unidos, también se celebra el día de César Chávez, especialmente en Tejas, Colorado y California. Para algunos, hay un conflicto entre las dos fiestas. Pascua es una fiesta religiosa y el día de Chávez es un festejo secular. Pero este conflicto no tiene razón: Chávez fue un hombre de fe Católica y su vida dio testimonio a la posibilidad y el poder de la gracia divina que puede transformar a la vida cotidiana. La Pascua no solamente nos … [Read more...]
Polish Easter
March 31, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Polish Easter Easter Ether Eastern East Feast Feast Feast, Feast Feast Feast Polish Sausage, Aleluja! … [Read more...]
An Open Letter to Salon and Molly McCluskey — UPDATED
March 28, 2013 By 14 Comments
Dear Salon Editors and Molly (if I may), I read your article, "My Steubenville," with great personal interest. Before I get to that, let me clarify one key term for you. The word 'Steubenville,' in this case, is like the word 'bat.' To bat your eyes at someone is different from swinging a bat or throwing a dead bat at someone. See? The same word actually refers to very different things. I suppose you could bat your eyes while swinging a bat at a bat that someone threw at you, but even then … [Read more...]
Patheos Prompt: Why I’m Catholic?
March 28, 2013 By 7 Comments
Patheos wants to know why I'm Catholic, in 200 words. The most honest answer is this: I don't know---who really knows why they are who they think they are? I don't have evidence or arguments, just a hodgepodge of experiences and feelings and thoughts and circumstances and guesses and doubts and fears and beautiful things and love and my family and pain and suffering and stories and fortune and hope. The better, shorter, and even less satisfying one-word answer: Grace. (You should read … [Read more...]
Pope Francis’ First Audience and Missing the Point
March 27, 2013 By 1 Comment
Two things. First, Pope Francis' remarks at today's audience are simply remarkable and in perfect step with the early weeks of his pontificate. Here is an excerpt: Jesus lived the daily realities of most ordinary people: He was moved by the crowd that seemed like a flock without a shepherd, and He cried in front of the suffering of Martha and Mary on the death of their brother Lazarus; He called a tax collector to be His disciple and also suffered the betrayal of a friend. In Christ, God has … [Read more...]
A Hot Mess: Marriage, Derrida, Nabokov, and Whatnot
March 26, 2013 By 9 Comments
I don't really understand what the same sex marriage hullabaloo is about. I can understand it at a personal, anecdotal level. I know a great many people who are upset and concerned and animated about this issue. But I do not have a clear grasp of what is really going on. As a Roman Catholic, I understand marriage as a sacrament. I'm not even sure what it means to be "married" outside of the sacrament of marriage. I guess filing taxes is the only place where it makes some concrete sense to … [Read more...]
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