It’s stuff like this that makes Pope Francis the darling of the world media: In an interview with the Mexican broadcaster Televisa, he said “I have the sensation that my pontificate will be brief: Four or five years. I don’t know. Or two or three. Well, two have already passed!” Well then…. Although he seems in good health, the 78-year-old pontiff seems to think that perhaps his years on this earth are drawing to a close. There certainly is no indication that... Read more
Check your wall calendar! (Or, more realistically—Check your smartphone, or your wristwatch, or your computer monitor.) It’s Friday the 13th! It’s a day which can strike terror into the hearts of superstitious people everywhere! Triskaidekaphobians—people who are afraid of the number 13—somehow believe that numbers have meaning, that 13 is a particularly unlucky number which, when paired with the unlucky day of Friday, may bring bad fortune. A subset of those fearful people is the Paraskavedekatrians, those who are afraid,... Read more
Don Piper was dead–and then he wasn’t. Pastor Don Piper died on January 25, 1989, when the vehicle he was driving was struck head-on by a tractor-trailer truck while crossing a narrow bridge. By the time rescue workers arrived at the Texas bridge where the truck had crushed his car, his mangled body had no pulse and paramedics declared him dead. For the next 90 minutes, with a tarp covering his body, Don experienced love, joy and life like he... Read more
If terrorists make good on their threat to attack Pope Francis, the pontiff says he hopes it won’t hurt too much. “I have said to the Lord: take care of me,” the pope said in an interview with La Carcova News, a Buenos Aires news magazine. “…But if your will is that I should die or that they do something to me, I ask you one favor: that they don’t hurt me. Because I’m a real wimp when it comes... Read more
A Detroit man faces some serious prison time for victimizing people who are facing foreclosure. Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette announced today that 53-year-old Anthony Carta has been convicted of seven felonies associated with his formation of a faith-based mortgage assistance scam, Freedom By Faith Ministries. Carta pleaded guilty on Monday to seven charges that he accepted money from his victims, but did nothing to help them find a solution to their foreclosure crises. Carta’s Freedom By Faith Ministries has been ordered... Read more
I was web surfing recently when I ran across a discussion of the “Catholic Luther.” I remember reading that Martin Luther had a deep devotion to Mary as the Mother of God, and that he had a statue of Mary near his burial site in the Castle Church in Wittenberg. But wasn’t he really an opponent of Catholicism? My friend Dave Armstrong has written a book on the topic, and today I’ve invited Dave to share his insights into Luther’s Catholic... Read more
A gym locker room can be a dangerous place for a woman. In New Hampton, Iowa, a 17-year-old girl was raped in May 2014 in the boys’ locker room at her local high school. In the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, a male student was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in his high school locker room. In October 2014, the student, who was 16 years old at the time of the incident, was convicted of one count of... Read more
On March 8, 2011, feminists observed the centenary of International Women’s Day—a day when we remember the struggles of women in the fight against gender discrimination, and celebrate the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. I would like to dedicate this post to the smallest of women: those who have not yet seen the light of day, but for whom Jesus also died. These smallest women, still unborn, have been generated in the heart of... Read more
You probably have seen Bill Donohue in action. The feisty president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights is a frequent commentator on broadcast television and in the media, standing against discrimination and defamation of Catholicism in the public forum. With his characteristic sharp tongue and his moral outrage at brazen offenses in media, in politics and in culture, Donohue is a bulldog for the faith. I saw a different side of Bill Donohue in his new book The Catholic Advantage: Why Health, Happiness,... Read more
On Sunday evening, CNN will air the second of six episodes in its original series Finding Jesus: Faith, Fact, Forgery. Each episode will explore a different historical object–a relic–which leads us to reflect on Jesus’ life and times. Last week, I previewed the first episode of the series, which dealt with the Shroud of Turin. According to Nielsen Fast National Data, Finding Jesus debuted as No. 1 in cable news in their respective time period in both total viewers and the demo 25-54... Read more
Seasons of Grace
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