My friend John Hathaway recently hosted a conversation prompted by a classic comic from the New St. Joseph’s Baltimore Catechism on the serious spiritual peril you put yourself into if you go to confession but choose not to mention a mortal sin. There’s a difference, however, between forgetting and omitting. Here’s the scoop on how the sacrament works when you’ve got an unconfessed mortal sin: 1. If you are aware of having committed a mortal sin, make an act of contrition right... Read more
When we say something is a “type” of Christ, what we mean is that it in some way reflects the reality of Our Lord. For example, Isaac is a “type” of Christ when he willingly lets his father offer him as a sacrifice to God. (Early monotheists had to work through a few misunderstandings in how this whole “religion” thing was supposed to work. Hint: The real God doesn’t want you to ritually sacrifice your children, even if you’ve been... Read more
Happy Feast of the Assumption! It’s a Holy Day of Obligation, so get yourself to Mass someplace. Why does the Church do this to us every so often, insisting we turn up and worship not just on Sundays, but six other days of the year into the equation? It’s as if you’re expected to totally rearrange your life in order to attend Mass. It’s as if there were something so important about these feasts that we should make them the... Read more
PSA for those who don’t already know this tip: Pick someone and pray for them a little bit every day. Indefinitely. You can’t pray for everyone. You can pray for the whole world in a general way, of course. But you can’t pray specifically for every person in the whole world, because there aren’t that many seconds in the day. You probably don’t even have time to say a Glory Be for each person you personally know, unless maybe you are... Read more
Round about the moment of the consecration, there’s a massive case of identity confusion going on in the minds of many of the faithful. The Holy Spirit descends upon the altar, and something at the front of the church turns into the Body & Blood, Soul & Divinity of Jesus Christ. Hint: It isn’t the guy who was there the minute before. It’s the one who just showed up. (I mean okay, yes, God was hanging around the whole time.... Read more
A head’s up from Mrs. Curley: Hello Everyone, I have been asked by The Missionaries Of The Poor (MOP)http://www.missionariesofthepoor.org/index.php to spread the word about the concert they are sponsoring to benefit the poorest of the poor. 100% of the proceeds will go to Missionaries Of The Poor Homeless and Abandoned Children. I have tickets for the concert entitled “The MESSIAH!! THE GREATEST MUSICAL EVER” 2:00 pm Saturday, August 9, 2014 Halton Theater, CPCC 1206 Elisabeth Avenue, Charlotte North Carolina Suggested donation... Read more
It’s the time of year when mothers start to get excited about school. Before you actually start the work is the ideal to time to share school plans, because once you’re underway the enthusiasm can wear off a bit. So here are my plans for the coming school year, starting with Mr. Boy. I’ll cover the girls’ plans in two or three subsequent posts. High School. Oh My. The boy starts 9th grade, which means the college-prep clock is ticking... Read more
I live in a relatively small house. Not Third World Shack small, but the square footage per person makes most first-world “Small Houses!” fans gaze longingly at off-site storage options. I have friends who squeeze way more children into way less space, and friends who do it the other away around. We’re happy with where we fall on the real estate spectrum, grateful for what we have and making the best use of it we can. CNN, on the other... Read more
You were probably thinking, “I already think about sex enough, thank you very much.” But how well were you thinking about sex? If your sex-thinking needs improvement — perhaps it needs more rigor, thoroughness, or clarity . . . consider signing up for Family Honor’s online college course, The Truth and Meaning of Sexuality, Love & Family: Cultural Implications. The Fall 2014 session begins August 15th, and registration closes August 8th. My husband and I took this course together, and here are... Read more
I’m back from conference-land and that means it’s time to talk about Transgendered Nuns. When I got the head’s up on this story a few days ago, I had one reaction and I’m sticking to it: This isn’t complicated, kids. That is, unless you are sucked up into our hyper-ventilating, panic-addicted culture, and just desperately need something Shocking! to ooh and aah over. Otherwise, you can do the Catholic thing. We’ll do the Catholic thing: 1. Doesn’t matter what your... Read more
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