A Nativity scene has been removed from Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina, much to the delight of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. Conversely, in our nation’s capitol, the U.S. Air Force Band played a selection of Christmas hymns celebrating the birth of the Savior in the National Aeronautics and Space Museum—which is (oh dear!) a public building. I’M CONFUSED. Does the Constitution of the United States protect the free speech rights and the freedom to worship of ALL... Read more
Protestors in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, toppled the city’s statue of former Soviet leader Vladimir Lenin on Sunday and then pounded it into chips with a sledgehammer. According to reports, some 500,000 protestors gathered in Independence Square to protest President Viktor Yanukovych’s refusal to sign trade and political agreements with the European Union. What really caught my attention, though, is this: Before the cathartic destruction of the statue, the sledgehammer used in the protest had been blessed by a... Read more
Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s first black president and anti-apartheid icon, has died. In many ways, he was truly a hero. He was imprisoned in South Africa for 27 years; yet he felt no malice and spent his remaining years endeavoring to bring about positive societal change. He was a major force in ending apartheid in South Africa. And yet, there is another side: Nelson Mandela supported and implemented his nation’s most liberal abortion policy, making abortion for any reason legal up... Read more
Chances are that if you’re a sincere Christian, you are occasionally discouraged by the apparent downward spiral of American culture. From abortion to embryonic stem cell research, from random promiscuity to casual hook-ups to same-sex marriage, from twerking to offensive TV network programming….there is evidence that our society has reduced its standards and widened the range of behaviors it is willing to tolerate. And religion (or the lack thereof) plays an important role in fostering self-control and virtue. If society is in... Read more
In Rome’s Piazza Mignanelli, just southwest of the Piazza di Spagna, stands the Column of the Immaculate Conception. On Sunday, December 8, continuing a tradition of Popes since 1857, Pope Francis visited the Column to pray and to lay a wreath of roses before the bronze statue of the Virgin Mary. Vatican Radio reports: The celebration began with a reading from the book of Revelation in which Mary is described as a “woman, clothed with the sun, with the moon... Read more
Any day now, Pope Francis is expected to issue a papal bull decreeing that Peter Faber, companion of St. Ignatius and co-founder of the Society of Jesus, is a saint. No date for the canonization has been announced; but it is predicted that it will occur before Christmas. The process for the canonization, according to the Italian Catholic newspaper Avvenire, will be what is called “equivalent canonization”—that is, a canonization when the Pope omits the customary judicial process and ceremonies involved,... Read more
Y’know, this is really getting tiresome. The American Atheists are once again spitting at the Christians, as our high holy day nears. Not content to simply roll over in bed on Christmas morning, snagging a few more minutes of sleep that church-attending Christians don’t have time to enjoy, they have to hurl stones at their believing neighbors. American Atheists, the activist group which posts controversial messages at every opportunity on billboards across the nation, has just unveiled its latest anti-Christian... Read more
I first saw this ad over on Connecticut Catholic Corner: A Vatican apartment for rent on Craig’s List! Wait…. What? In my mind, I saw it: that unused papal apartment in the Apostolic Palace. Remember how, when Pope Benedict left for the last time and flew by helicopter to Castel Gandolfo, the Swiss Guards came along and applied a heavy wax seal to the door? The apartment would remain vacant until the next Pope was elected…. Well, Pope Francis has... Read more
Y’know what’s REALLY scary? My “To Read” List is scary, it’s so long! With so many great books to tell you about, and with the Christmas holidays coming up so soon, I’m planning to do more, much more in the way of book reviews and recommendations over the next two weeks. For adventurous children, I have on my shelf two books about the strange and wonderful creatures which inhabit the sea. Sharkopedia: The Complete Guide to Everything Shark was published... Read more
Grow old along with me! The best is yet to be, The last of life, for which the first was made: Our times are in His hand Who saith “A whole I planned, Youth shows but half; trust God: see all, nor be afraid!” –Robert Browning Growing old is not for the faint-hearted. I’ve had to wrestle with the problems which beset my aging mother: forgetfulness, impaired vision, hearing, mobility, and gradual decline. Oh, and stubbornness—did I mention... Read more
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