I once made a mother cry by telling her it was the vigil of the Feast of the Immaculate Conception. I thought I was doing her, and all the other 5th grade religious education parents, a favor. We had failed to account for the feast in making our class schedule. I knew that most of my students would not be able to slip out for a noon Mass on the day, and many had mandatory school activities in the evening.... Read more
You can count on me for news you can use. In this case, free shipping at Equal Exchange on orders containing chocolate. The fine print on the CHOCWEEK Coupon Code: *Offer expires 10/10/14. Free shipping valid on within the contiguous United States only. Valid once per customer, on orders of $25 or more. Orders must contain chocolate products. FYI on the way EE works: You can choose to be a retail or a wholesale customer, doesn’t matter whether you are... Read more
It’s the feast of St. Therese, and I have a serious post coming up some other time. Meanwhile, let us observe that hidden in the word Piety is pie. And when someone says pie, that means chocolate and coffee. We can thus remember that today is the Little Flower’s feast day because it is also the first day of Fall, if by “Fall” what you mean is “when the summer shipping charges at Equal Exchange no longer apply.” We’d been waiting... Read more
Over at Sherry Weddell’s intentional disciples forum, Fr. Guarav Shroff (whose blog you should read) posted a link to an article from the Homiletic & Pastorial Review on The Liturgy and the New Evangelization. It’s worth reading the whole thing, which looks dense and intimidating but isn’t actually that bad if you make yourself a cup of tea and relax while you read. But here’s the quote that is behind the story I’m about to tell you: Without an initial... Read more
At ladies’ Bible study this past week we were talking about our prayer lives, and one of the moms worried that with small children in tow, she just wasn’t “getting much out of Mass.” This is a common worry, but it’s unfounded. Yesterday as I watched the mom in front of me do her best with a pair pew-scramblers, I was reminded of the three genuine spiritual benefits that can only be had by bringing wiggly, noisy, naughty children to... Read more
Last month I had the chance to visit Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s parish, Our Lady of the Rosary in Greenville, SC. Google Maps was mostly-faithful, and I found the parish school without too much trouble. I was a little early for Mass, but figured I’d park where the other people were parking, then wander around until I found the church. What was I looking for? The school buildings were a classic collection done in the style of Low-Slung Mid-Century Frugal Southerner,... Read more
My latest at New Evangelizers is up: Catholicism is for People Who Don’t Fit In. Funny story: The other week at confirmation class, my kid won a gift card to Zaxby’s for being able to define and explain the word “Catholic.” Important concept for a group of 9th graders thinking they might want to commit to this Jesus thing after all. It’s not a club. It’s not a lunch table you get to sit at. It is understandable that we... Read more
Andrew Sullivan writes here about the plight of a pair of gentleman who’ve been asked to step out of the communion line at their Catholic parish on account of their recent same-sex civil union. Sullivan’s observations are about typical for those who are mystified over the Church’s reaction on this topic. I’d like therefore to review some of the myths concerning Catholic teaching on same-sex attraction and Church participation, because the reality is both more extreme and not nearly as... Read more
I don’t go in for clergy-policing, to the point that I have to remind myself it’s okay to give a guy a compliment when he does a good job. Likewise, as my husband pointed out one day when I was whining about some trivial shortcoming on the part of Fr. Excellent, most pastors are trying to do the job of five men, and if they manage to do the job of three men well, they’re ahead of the game. I... Read more
For those who know what such a thing is, the theme around my corner of the Catholic world over the past few weeks has been Spiritual Warfare 101. I don’t have any particular talent for that fight, so it ends up about as unlovely as any other battlefield. You may be finding yourself on similarly unlovely territory just now. Despairing. What is the point? How to continue in the face of this latest news, that latest turn of events? ***... Read more
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