The Synod for the Family is coming up, and one of the vexing problems it hopes to address is the situation of Catholic bigamists and polygamists. Vocabulary review: Digamy is the act of marrying again after one’s spouse has died, and is a topic that comes up among the early Church Fathers with respect to clergy marriage. It’s a non-issue for the laity (us normal people who aren’t ordained), but it’s fun to say out loud, so everyone should know... Read more
It is with great joy that I pass onto you the news of Dr. Greg Popcak’s latest book release When Divorce Is Not an Option: How to Heal Your Marriage and Nurture Everlasting Love. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s on my wish list. There’s a huge void in the marriage literature between the cliffs of Marriage is Wonderful! and Better Luck Next Time! I’m glad to see Dr. Greg making a stab at filling that chasm. You can read more about it... Read more
Linking around on human rights & Catholic social teaching: Brandon @ Siris debunks a few myths about the Church “changing” it’s teaching on usury. Summary: The answer is still no and will always be no, but maybe that word doesn’t mean what you think it means. H/T to Darwin for the link. Nestle, Cargill & ADM get to go to court in California on charges of using slave labor. Thank Simcha Fisher for pointing me to that one. I just... Read more
Why are some secrets worth dying for? The Jesuit Post blog has an excellent piece up on the case from Louisiana headed for the Supreme Court. If you read nothing else, go read that. Regular readers will recall I commented on similar lines in my review of I Confess earlier this summer. They say hard cases make bad law. Hard cases also force us to think seriously about what makes good law. Let’s look at possible outcomes if the Supreme Court... Read more
One of the reigning errors of our insecure, perpetually-offended culture is the Approval One is the Rejection of All Others fallacy. So allow me to be perfectly clear: My love of homeschooling is in no way a rejection of our Catholic schools. Not for a moment. Those who pay attention in real life know that I put quite a lot of effort into steering families towards their local Catholic schools whenever I can.* Thus in the busyness of getting the new... Read more
FYI – the disappearance of the combox is not a technical glitch. I have the best readers around, and the comments on this blog have been overwhelmingly charitable, insightful, and helpful. (Particularly from those who disagree with me, but from the like-minded souls as well.) It’s been a pleasure over the past six months to host such civilized discourse; it is work, but work that I enjoy. However reluctantly, though, I have to do the grown-up thing and say no... Read more
Up at CatholicMom.com: The true story of how I fell in love with dry erase boards. 90% of you will read and shake your heads with pity. I am not here for you. Go alphabetize your sock drawer or something. You the 10%, you are my people. Distracted Mothers of the World, Unite! We can schedule an appointment just as soon as we figure out where the baby hid the calendar. Image copyright Jennifer Fitz 2014 . .... Read more
The question came up at Sherry Weddell’s Intentional Disciples discussion forum: How does one attract and keep “young adults” in the parish? I’ve been that young adult and I’ve spent a fair bit of time talking with the faithful Catholic young adults who don’t show up at the St. Moribund’s of this world, so I’ve got a pretty good grasp on the dynamic. I’m sorry to report the answer is exceedingly simple: 1. Be serious about following Jesus. 2. Get... Read more
Just finished listening to the rough mix of Sam Rocha’s freshly released album, Late to Love. In my effortless knack for sticking with the “late” theme, I finally got around to listening to my review-files oh, you know, long after they’d arrived and a few days after the album came out. Nothing against the feast of St. Augustine, I promise. What you should know: Do you listen to soul music? I’m not up on the genre. Lately, in the unlikely... Read more
I’ve been in the depths of back-to-school preparation on multiple fronts, and I’m continually astonished that people still bring up the old “socialization” thing with respect to homeschooling. So let’s be blunt: Homeschoolers do not socialize the way school kids do. It’s a spectrum, of course. There are many school families that don’t get sucked into the assembly-line socialization rut, and thus teach their kids to cultivate a mature social life long before graduation. There are likewise homeschooling parents who cling... Read more
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