2016-09-30T15:53:45-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

Kathy Ireland is arguably one of the world’s most beautiful women.  She also seems to be really nice.  No–REALLY nice. A supermodel in the 1980s and 1990s, she founded her own company Kathy Ireland Worldwide.  Among other things, she designs wedding dresses and gowns. But here’s what I love:  Ireland spoke at the fourth Youth Assembly at the United Nations Headquarters on August 13, 2007 encouraging young people to engage in activities aimed at ending poverty.   Ireland’s sister, Cynthia, has a... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

So many words have been written about Jahi McMath, the 13-year-old California girl who was declared brain-dead after she suffered complications following a tonsillectomy.  Jahi’s parents didn’t believe that and wanted her kept on life support.  This week, Jahi has finally been transferred from Children’s Hospital Oakland to a Catholic care facility where she has received a feeding tube and a tracheal tube to replace the ventilator which has kept her alive since December 9. Today Bishop Robert Finn, bishop... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

I saw this photo trending over on Reddit:  A happy couple beginning their life together surrounded by…. penguins. And it got me thinking about some of the other possibilities for wedding locales. I mean, you can marry on a roller coaster…. …or on a glacier… You can vow to love, honor and cherish while standing in a cave… Or you can celebrate your love by marrying on a pirate ship… If you’re a runner, you can celebrate your new life... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

More than 200,000 Earthling adventurers from 140 countries have applied for a one-way ticket to the Red Planet. But they won’t all get to go.  This month Mars One, the visionary firm which plans to establish a human settlement on Martian soil, has narrowed the field of selected applicants to 1,058.  The list will be further pared until only about 40 remain by the time the first quartet of adventurers is launched into space in 2023. Mars One is a... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

I just finished reading one of the most practical, helpful guides to the spiritual life for ordinary folks.  It made me think of a special place, a unique bookstore in my community called Faith@Work.  More than simply a bookstore, Faith@Work is a wonderful place where head knowledge about the Catholic faith is integrated with social action, with charitable giving, with volunteer work.  Proceeds from the shop’s book sales benefit charitable causes such as a home for expectant mothers.  In short,... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

Pride, said Saint Thomas, is the queen of all vices.  The saint understood Pride to be that frame of mind in which a man, through the love of his own worth, aims to withdraw himself from subjection to Almighty God, and disregards the commands of his superiors.  It is a kind of contempt for God, and for those whom he has placed above us.  It is mortally sinful. I mention this to introduce eccentric Chinese multimillionaire Guangbiao Chen.  You may... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

Hoodies, t-shirts, aprons—even doggie apparel. In the wake of the “Pope Francis Effect”, all of these items and more are now available in special Pope Francis editions. Britain’s Catholic Herald reports that since the election of Pope Francis, sales are up 20% for papal gear:  clothing, key rings, tea lights, and various papal paraphernalia.  And indeed, Catholics With Attitude, a custom printery which offers t-shirts in the U.K. and right here in the United States, has a large assortment of... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

  Finally, after scandals and controversies plagued the Legionaries of Christ necessitating an apostolic visitation, the order is moving on with a revitalized charism of service. After a three and a half year review, the Legionaries will this week appoint a new government and approve new constitutions which will govern the organization into the future.  On January 8, the Extraordinary General Chapter began with a Mass at the Legion’s Centre for Higher Studies in Rome.  Preceding the Mass, all Legionaries participated... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:46-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

In a small town in western New York, a new councilman was sworn into office January 2 wearing a pasta strainer atop his head. It seems that Christopher Schaeffer, the newly-seated Pomfret Town Council member, is a “Pastafarian” and a minister in the so-called “Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster.” “Strainer things have happened,” quipped The Observer, the local newspaper in Dunkirk, New York.  According to The Observer: Schaeffer wore a colander (a strainer typically used to drain water from spaghetti)... Read more

2016-09-30T15:53:47-05:00

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 3:53 pm   By

Fr. Jamie McLeod wanted to brighten up a retreat home run by his church in Derbyshire, England; so twelve years ago, when he found an oil portrait at a local antique shop, he bought it and hung it on the center’s wall. Some years passed.  Only once did the painting leave its spot, when it crashed to the ground—destroying a CD player on the way, but none the worse for wear. A few years ago, though, Father McLeod decided to... Read more

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