Liberal-minded Columbia freshman attends pro-family conference, warned by pals that it’ll be an “anti-gay thing” …

February 20, 2013 By Dawn Eden

… and instead finds “thoughtful and incisive” speakers. Via the Columbia Spectator: Earlier in the week, I had received an invitation to take part in a pro-LGBT rights rally on campus and had considered going, unaware that the event being protested was the conference that I was planning on attending. As I approached Lerner, I was slightly confused about the intent of the picketers—I hadn’t been under the impression that this was an anti-gay conference. The lectures were thoughtful and... Read more

GUEST POST: “Why I Don’t Buy It,” by Kevin Tierney

February 17, 2013 By Dawn Eden

The following piece by Kevin Tierney is reprinted with permission from his blog Common Sense Catholicism: With far less fanfare than before, Matt McGuiness concludes his “Second Look at Porn” series over at Catholic News Agency. I can only say that if he had simply jettisoned the first two columns and instead just published this, he would have less to work with, but it would have been far more effective. I still think the pop culture references are a bit dated and... Read more

Almer mattered: Washington Post profiles the late “Along Comes Mary” songwriter

February 16, 2013 By Dawn Eden

Kudos to the Washington Post‘s Matt Schudel for writing a thoughtful obituary of the enigmatic “Along Comes Mary” songwriter Tandyn Almer, whom I profiled last month on this blog. Read more

A free podcast of the talk I gave today at Notre Dame on healing sexual wounds with the help of the saints …

February 9, 2013 By Dawn Eden

… awaits you on my personal blog, The Dawn Patrol. Read more

Memo to Matt McGuiness and Catholic News Agency: Confession is not a waste of time

February 7, 2013 By Dawn Eden

Catholic News Agency columnist Matt McGuiness yesterday published part two in his series “A Second Look at Porn, which I read with interest, having heavily criticized the first installment. The new column has many improvements over the first. Although I could do without the lighthearted characterization of pornographic images as “naughty nudes,” which betrays a lack of sensitivity to sin, I am glad to see that this time McGuiness at least does not make a joke about a teenage girl... Read more

“Except for these chains”: A story of grace behind prison walls

February 5, 2013 By Dawn Eden

I write about spiritual healing for adults who have suffered childhood sexual abuse, so it may seem strange that lately I have found myself praying for Father Gordon J. MacRae (left), a Catholic priest who has been imprisoned since 1994 on abuse charges. Father MacRae came to my attention through his friend Father George David Byers of Holy Souls Hermitage, who often writes about MacRae on his blog. What first interested me about the imprisoned priest was that Father Byers,... Read more

In his own image: Christopher West reshapes Ratzinger’s critique of iconoclasm

February 3, 2013 By Dawn Eden

The following is an article I wrote that was published in the April 2012 issue of Inside the Vatican. Since its publication, Christopher West has published a new book, which I have not yet read (you can read Simcha Fisher’s review of it here). Christopher West in At the Heart of the Gospel maintains that, in the wake of the sexual revolution, Pope John Paul II’s message to the Church and world was that “we must learn how to venerate... Read more

Beauty ever ancient and ever new

January 23, 2013 By Dawn Eden

Sarah de Nordwall, whom I had the great pleasure of meeting earlier this month, sends this gorgeous versification of St. Augustine’s commentary on Psalm 44:3, which she in turn received from an Augustinian monk. Augustine interprets the Psalm as describing Christ: He is beautiful in heaven; beautiful on earth; beautiful in the womb; beautiful in his parent’s arms; beautiful in his miracles; beautiful under the scourge; beautiful when inviting to life … beautiful when laying down his life; beautiful in... Read more

Welcome, “Morning Air” listeners!

January 17, 2013 By Dawn Eden

Many thanks to Sean Herriott for having me back on his Relevant Radio show “Morning Air” today! If you are discovering this blog in search of more information on my book My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints and its message, I invite you to watch my appearance on EWTN’s “The Journey Home,” listen to my interview on “Catholic Answers Live,” or read Jennifer Fulwiler’s interview with me. I pray every day for everyone... Read more

Message to Matt McGuiness and Catholic News Agency: Sexual victimization is no laughing matter

January 17, 2013 By Dawn Eden

I was viscerally distressed reading “A Second Look at Porn” by Matt McGuiness, a new columnist for Catholic News Agency. The column begins with a laugh line from a Hollywood movie that makes light of a teenage girl’s being sodomized. We are supposed to find it funny that a boy “used her body.” Mr. McGuiness likes this ironic brand of humor because it serves his purpose, which is to shock the reader into thinking about how the desire for pornography... Read more