THE ROSES AND RAPTURES OF VIRTUE: And finally, I think it’s 100% right to ask anyone who takes my position, So okay–I’m same-sex attracted, what do you think I should do? Are you just gonna do the whole “embrace the Cross, pray harder, read the Bible” routine? Well, obviously, none of those are bad things to do, and all of them are necessary. (Although I think the better image would be “be more open in prayer” rather than “pray harder”;... Read more

KIDS, DIVORCE, AND FAITH. Here I am in USA Today, with a piece heavily influenced by Elizabeth Marquardt’s excellent book Between Two Worlds: The Inner Lives of Children of Divorce. (my review of book) (book’s website) Read more

Meanwhile spring had come, beautiful, harmonious, without spring’s anticipations and deceptions, one of those rare springs that bring joy to plants, animals and people alike. … Spring was a long time unfolding. During the last weeks of Lent the weather was clear and frosty. In the daytime it thawed in the sun, but at night it went down to seven below; there was such a crust that carts could go over it where there was no road. There was still... Read more

’60s X-MEN COMICS WITHOUT PITY. Read more

TWO LINKS: The Agitator: Your post on the FDA and restaurants is pretty timely. My girlfriend just started a nutrition course for nursing school and the curriculum is super politicized. Here is a class that should be on topics like, the molecular structure of protein and how is it used by the body, but in her first week she has had assignments that include questions like, “Should sugarier foods be taxed?” and “If you had supreme power, what would you... Read more

YOUTH MINISTRY: THE EARLY YEARS: The Church Fathers had a distinctive approach to youth ministry. Now, don’t jump to conclusions. I haven’t uncovered any evidence that St. Ambrose led teens on ski trips in the nearby Alps. Nor is there anything to suggest that St. Basil sponsored junior-high dances in Pontus. (There’s not even a hint of a pizza party.) In fact, if you check all the documentary evidence from all the ancient patriarchates of the East and the West,... Read more

KILLED DURING BOTCHED DRUG RAIDS: An update from The Agitator. Read more

CALENDAR AGAINST TORTURE–various human-rights groups have designated June as Torture Awareness Month. This link gives you listings of many events, as well as information and email addresses of relevant people, and plans for an anti-torture Congressional lobbying day (June 26)–mostly relevant if you are American and do not live in D.C., but still, I expect that covers most of my readers. I will try to go to at least some of these events and report back. If you go to... Read more

LAYERS OF SYMBOLISM IN THE BIBLE. At Claw of the Conciliator. (With bonus American-lit discussion in comments!) Won’t be new to people who, like, know more about the Bible than I do; but I liked it! (Sure, I grok some of this stuff–Catholic art and church architecture and liturgy are set up to show it to you–but other parallels were new to me.) Hey, Elliot: Why not try Scott Hahn’s Lamb’s Supper? It maps the Mass onto the Book of... Read more

“Oh! how good to be your age,” Anna went on. “I remember and know that blue mist, the same as in the mountains in Switzerland. The mist that envelops everything during the blissful time when childhood is just coming to an end, and the path away from that vast, cheerful and happy circle grows narrower and narrower, and you feel cheerful and eerie entering that suite of rooms, though it seems bright and beautiful…. Who hasn’t gone through that?”–Leo Tolstoy,... Read more