Here are some recent stories about young men who’ve saved people from being kidnapped: Teen Named a Hero after Saving Woman from Kidnapping Hero Teens Save 5-Year-Old by Chasing Kidnapper on their Bikes The way these young men acted was heroic. We don’t need to know what their grades are, or what kind of job they have, or whether they remember to put the trash out every week without being reminded. We can be certain that whatever else is going... Read more
It’s the time of year when desperate directors of religious education drag parishioners out of the pews and shove them into classrooms. Someone has to teach these kids, and those someones usually come in three categories: Experienced teachers who don’t know much about the faith; Knowledgeable Christians who don’t know much about teaching; Really nice people who are willing to give it their best. Turnover can be high, and the last few volunteers tend to arrive about three weeks into... Read more
A reader reminded me I wrote something half-decent that ran this past week at CatholicMom.com. Following some thoughts on the Bread of Life discourse: When I enter a Catholic church, am I aware that I’ve just stepped into the court of the King of the Universe? Do I treat my time in His presence with the solemnity, majesty, and awe that such a visit deserves? Maybe you, too, like to pray over the scriptures and reflect on them. If so,... Read more
What I’ve been doing instead of blogging lately is getting ready for school — organizing the house, buying books, writing up the calendar. No, this is not one of those posts where I explain that this is the very best method and your children will rot if they do something else. –> FYI If you’re also posting your non-hubris-laden plans and I don’t regularly read your blog (or I fail to read it this one time), you can tweet it... Read more
I do not understand why the courts tolerate “accidental life” lawsuits. What a waste of time and money. The parents wish their child were dead. If that doesn’t shout “Terminate my parental rights!” I don’t know what does. Place the child in the custody of parents who want a child, done. Anything else is nonsense. Meanwhile, if we need a scheme to employ lawyers, why don’t we make it a crime to profiteer off the desire to kill your relations?... Read more
I’ve written before about the importance of discipleship and the ease with which you can start a small discipleship group. (No, really! It’s easy! Do it!) Today Sherry Weddell writes: Life After Sunday is a beautifully written, very inexpensive, highly flexible adult small group process that fosters encounter and discipleship and is downloaded directly off Lumen’s website. Inspired by Communion and Liberation. I know the authors! Take a look. There are 26 different topic modules which can be gone through... Read more
My friend Laura Roberts is hosting a fundraiser for our mutual friend Natalie, who’s going through treatment for breast cancer just now. She writes: Natalie has just started months of chemotherapy. Wednesday, July 29th was her first day of the next step in this long journey. Please consider donating to help offset some of her family’s expenses. While I’d love to see even more, if we hit a thousand dollars, I plan to dye my hair pink and if we... Read more
The Catholic faith is difficult to believe. Oh sure, we can give assent to the parts that come naturally to us. We each have our natural gifts in that area — some of us glom onto theology, others to kindness and generosity, others to asceticism. Add to that a bit of struggle, a bit of overcoming, and we arrive at the riskiest moment: The moment when we think ourselves Catholic. Think of it like climbing a mountain. If you... Read more
If there’s one thing the latest Planned Parenthood sting videos have brought to light, it’s just how terrible people are at thinking about things. Lest there be any doubt, I am firmly opposed to the chopping up and selling of any person, regardless of age or residence. And for that reason, we need to talk about some of the nasty fallacies people have been flinging around the internet. 1. The Evil You Are Exposing Did Not Make My Short List... Read more
A friend posed a question in a private forum, and I’d like to share my response. The original question was: Innocent question from my 7-year-old after talking to the older kids about what’s going on with Planned Parenthood: “Why doesn’t the president stop them?” She can’t seem to wrap her mind around how this is legal. Some thoughts before we begin: Evil is going to find your children. It is neither necessary nor desirable to introduce evil to your children, enough... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In