I would like to ask for prayers for my brother,who I believe may be in septic shock at this moment,and will not consent to go the hospital or a doctor. My brother has been living with me for a while. He is 45,and has no health insurance (he’s a waiter.) He has terrible ulcerations on both lower legs,which he has taken care of himself,for years. (He actually has unmanaged diabetes also.)In the last couple of days, he’s had no appetite,been... Read more

A reader writes: You know, I just thought of something. I used to have a part-time job as a pest caller (phone surveys, mostly) and so I met a lot of Wiccans. (In the ’90’s they congregated in phone& restaurant work, for some reason; don’t know about now.) And every single one of them was a High Priestess. Every single one. I don’t know what that means, if anything, but I noticed it.” Probably has something to do with the... Read more

Here are a few Thurday meditations (on the Luminous Mysteries) from Mary, Mother of the Son: The Baptism of the Lord Leonardo da Vinci did us a disservice when he painted St. John in his Last Supper. In his zeal to show St. John as especially close to the loving heart of Christ, Leonardo winds up portraying the Evangelist like a wan and wilting flower. Yet Jesus nicknamed John and his brother James “Boanerges” or the “Sons of Thunder.” Zebedee’s... Read more

Woman takes a crowbar to a piece of blasphemous crap. If they give her an NEA grant I will be happy that justice was served. Read more

A reader writes: Please pray for the husband of a friend. He has been diagnosed with a recurrence of colon cancer, along with some other related problems. Doctors are hoping the cancer can be “contained” by chemo and radiation, but they are saying it can’t be cured. So he and his wife are praying for a miracle, particularly invoking the intercession of John Paul II. He is only in his mid-40’s, and he has 3 small children, ages 4, 3,... Read more

What’s so striking about this and the grotesque “No Pressure” ad is how the makers of both ads, living in their completely insular bubbles, seem to have not the slightest clue about how menacing and thuggish they appear to normal people. Like the NY Times film critic who literally did not know a soul who voted for Reagan and was stunned by his landslide election, these ads appear to emerge from minds hermetically sealed from any contact with people who... Read more

Buried amongst the headlines about the hateful Westboro Baptist Church’s antics and their day before the Supreme Court yesterday, was the story of this wonderful, magnificent young man. Thought you might want to post the first two stories and possibly the third one as well in contrast. Take note in the first story that his best friend and Naval Academy roommate’s body was disinterred so that they could be buried next to one another in Arlington. Brings to mind the... Read more

He begged off a few days ago, but can’t resist returning to the fray as he explains here.  His disagreements with Janet Smith are here. My apologies for the stupid and childish pun on his name are here. Note to the humor-impaired.  I like Wade.  I just like stupid puns more. Read more

on the cutting edge of 9th Century thought. Read more

Today, my heralds and messengers, I have a mission for you!  Go forth into all the lands proclaiming that the whole “St. Mary MacKillop the Whistleblower” story is a false urban legend.  As you might expect, it’s a legend that has been cooked up and glued on to the saint because it reflects the angers and anxieties of the period in which she is being canonized, not the facts about the saint.  This is the sort of lie that gets halfway... Read more