The Olympic Games are in full swing, and that means an inescapable parade of some of the most beautifully athletic bodies in the world. If you struggle with your body image, the steady stream of fitness inspiration can also be a devastating torrent of I don’t measure up. What do you with that? #1 You’re not alone. Ironically, something that makes sports valuable is their ability to affirm the wonderful goodness of different body types. Which is another way of... Read more
Now that we’ve got Catholic candidates on both presidential tickets, partisans on both sides are playing a game of “who’s the worse Catholic?” There is quite a lot of dishonesty and dangerous hyperbole being thrown around, and that we can condemn as a violation of the eight commandment and set aside. Lying is evil, fomenting murderous violence is evil, and we can’t take seriously any argument that does either. I recommend you mute anyone in your media feeds who does... Read more
Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight! Marriage has been much on my mind, and I’m hoping to write more on interrelated topics soon, but meanwhile let me say that the past several months have been the most work* I’ve ever put into preparing for a single sacrament. Usually my advice to young couples is to keep the wedding small and hold onto as much of your savings as possible... Read more
My daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law are facing some major school and career decisions today, and here’s what I’ve been telling her this spring: Marriage is meant to change you. Who you each are, separately, as single, unmarried persons is supposed to be different than who the two of you become when you are intimately joined in a lifelong, life-giving union. The whole point is to become something different! If you wanted your life to be exactly how it was before,... Read more
It’s no surprise that I didn’t agree with everything in Rachel Gross’s article “Women in Menopause are Getting Short Shrift” at The Atlantic . As a woman of a certain age I was naturally curious how I might be getting shortchanged (I can give you a list of my own), and even after realizing the article was about how transgender hormone and surgical interventions provided insight into gynecology, I was open to the reality that one can gain wisdom in the... Read more
What does the Catholic Church have to say about the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling on embryos and wrongful death of minors lawsuits? Today I want to run through several aspects of the case that touch on the Catholic faith, from legal questions to very personal family planning decisions. Every aspect of this case is highly emotionally charged, and my goal here is to sort out truth from hyperbole. You may not be comfortable with the Church’s stance on a... Read more
Quick thought about this year’s St. Valentine’s Ash Wednesday: Why not consecrate this Lent to your marriage? If you’re already married, what’s the thing you need to be praying, sacrificing, and working on to make your marriage more conformed to God’s plan for your life together? Maybe this is the year that . . . You finally acknowledge you’re in an abusive relationship and take the necessary steps to get yourself to a place of genuine safety. You schedule a... Read more
It is with great joy that I observe Darwin Catholic and Wine-Dark Sea have brought back some classic blogging with the Immediate Book Meme. I am obliged to join in out of pure patriotism. Even though a personal blog would be the more apropos traditional location, since this is where I’m currently writing my day-to-day, all-topics blogging, we’ll do it here. 1. What book are you reading now? A Chinese Village: Taitou, Shantung Province, Martin C. Yang. Thrift store find... Read more
Question that’s been generating some unnecessary panic: Is it okay for a Catholic to celebrate Valentine’s day, birthdays, anniversaries, or other special events that happen to fall on Ash Wednesday or Good Friday? Short answer: In the United States, at present yes in fact you can, though with some restrictions. Here are the details. #1 It’s always better to fast as fully as possible. If your health and state in life allow it? Nothing but prayer, water, and works... Read more
Day three of Mag 90, and let me tell you about Costco. My gosh, that *place*. I mean yes, we knew it was the land of the impulse buys. But what a difference the experience is when you’ve decided to follow a plan of no unnecessary purchases. You just walk in and buy the one thing you dropped by for on your way home, and the two other things you remembered you’re getting low on and they are actual-need items (a... Read more
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