It’s the Feast of the Presentation, the very last day of Christmas no matter how you count. From today’s readings: Because he himself was tested through what he suffered, he is able to help those who are being tested. Lent is around the corner. Here’s a tip for you, as demonstrated by today’s readings and by all the best carols: You’ll always do better if you put a bit of Lent in your Christmas, and a bit of Christmas in... Read more
This Sunday’s Gospel has Jesus out for a walk on the beach, and he sees these fishermen and tells them to drop everything and come become apostles. To hear it preached sometimes, you’d think they’d all never met before. But take a look at last Sunday’s Gospel: John was standing with two of his disciples, and as he watched Jesus walk by, he said, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” The two disciples heard what he said and followed Jesus. Jesus turned... Read more
I periodically give the friends and relatives a health update, which I don’t usually publish here. But thermostat settings, everyone wants to talk about that, right? So everything is holding steady, which is good. Miracle drug still doing its miracle thing. I got hold of a fitness tracker this winter and have started watching the daily exertion count, which makes it much easier to manage my activity level, but also maybe a little more depressing (she said buoyantly). Basically the... Read more
Reminder that today is a day of prayer and penance. Why, you ask? Because any society that makes Rome seem like the good guys is doing it wrong. Artwork: by Pietro Perugino, Marcus Porcius Cato [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons Read more
Bad news for human souls: The US Supreme Court has declined to hear the appeal of the case in which the Louisiana Supreme Court called for a priest to break the seal of the confessional. UPDATE: Simcha Fisher explains why there are other, better ways to protect victims of abuse. To bring you up to speed on the implications, here is why this is such a travesty, and what we can expect as a result of this ruling. If you... Read more
I wasn’t going to comment on the Pope’s rabbit talk until I saw Dr. Greg Popcak’s summary of what the Church actually teaches about responsible parenthood. The picture reminded me of how much I love rabbits, which is directly related to the other side of the same coin, the Church’s teaching about openness to life: 1652 “By its very nature the institution of marriage and married love is ordered to the procreation and education of the offspring and it is... Read more
In 1988 I moved to a small town in South Carolina, not far from where my paternal grandfather had grown up. In enrolling me at the local high school, among other paperwork my parents had to indicate whether they did or did not permit the principal to administer corporal punishment. Also, in those days they kept records of the racial balance in every classroom. On the day of the census in 1990, my homeroom teacher faced an awkward situation: The... Read more
In thinking about the massacres in Nigeria, my train of thought ran like this: How can anyone bear to be associated with this? I was thinking about the whole Muslim world. You want to be part of this? No. Of course not. One of the rare pleasures of being me is that thus far every faithful Muslim I’ve gotten to know has been a gentle, God-loving person. The kind of person who would have nothing to do, ever, with the... Read more
This story is for Melanie Bettinelli, who is far more thoughtful than I am, and her house is in better order. So just before Thanksgiving this year, me and another mom got an invitation. We had a new friend who we’d met because our daughters played sports together and liked each other. And she said, “I’d like to have you over to do a Thanksgiving craft with us.” We said yes, even though we were not really looking for Thanksgiving... Read more
Rebecca is a throwing a baby shower for Simcha Fisher — I think you get one every ten babies — and it’s happening at a website near you. So you should go. There are drinks, and games, and drinks, and the gift-giving format is organized so that you are guaranteed to never, ever, have your gift featured in one of Simcha’s Top Ten Most Horrifying Baby Gifts columns. UPDATED: I forgot to bring my contribution to the potluck: Grown-Up Chocolate... Read more
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