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
Got on the computer and discovered someone else had been surfing the internet. Browser was opened to an entire forum devoted to the topic of bad capacitors. I had no idea. Also, our would-be-trashed computer monitor might yet have new life in it. The report from the soldering crew is that the new capacitor fixed the thing, but there’s still a blown fuse. They had to hot wire the machine in order to confirm the capacitor replacement had done what needed doing. Have... Read more
Up at New Evangelizers, I answer the question, “What exactly is this discipleship thing we keep hearing about?” It’s a tricky question because it’s both far simpler than we make it out to be, and far more demanding than a simple answer would suggest. Our Catholic reflexes are hopelessly bureaucratic anymore, so I begin by explaining a few things discipleship is not: It’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking that everything Christians do needs to happen under the auspices... Read more
Over at the Catholic Writers Guild, I tell the story of my little foray into fiction (here) last week, and argue that everyone ought to be so brave. Not because you’ll necessarily be any good at the stuff you don’t do, but because it will be good for you. Also, PSA: If you are a member of the CWG, we accept guest posts. Perfect place for that orphaned essay, poem or bit of flash-fiction you couldn’t possibly submit anywhere else.... Read more
The boy logged in to find out what time his first orientation class was this morning, only to see, “Class cancelled, earthquake.” We figured that’s what children pray for in places that don’t snow. *** FYI if you’re in an earthquake-relieving state of mind, you can skip the bucket of ice water and go straight to donating. Kolbe Academy reports they’d be grateful for some generous souls willing to fund the feeding of the volunteers coming to clean up their offices. Please... Read more
I wrote a bit of Ignatian-style Gospel fan-fic earlier this week, taking a stab at the encounter of Jesus with the Canaanite woman. This is a controversial passage, and my take on it resounded with some. Call it the Ironic Jesus perspective: I propose that our Lord was not being a jerk; rather, he was using the teachable moment to show his disciples that their mission was to the whole world. Others tend to take a more Stern Jesus or a... Read more
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