Discordant Benevolence: Compassion That Harms

Last updated on: May 9, 2022 at 6:46 pm By Lois Kerschen

There is a post being proliferated on Facebook that lists different scenarios of women who “need” an abortion. It is a commonly used tactic to elicit an emotional response that makes sympathetic readers feel that women are helped by abortion. The post starts out “I’m not pro-murdering babies.” (Dramatic pause until) next line: “I’m pro-Becky (whose unborn child has an “incompatible with life” diagnosis); I’m pro-Susan (who became pregnant from rape) and several other cases. Abortion is made to appear... Read more

Post-Roe: The Work Goes On

Last updated on: May 4, 2022 at 4:50 pm By Lois Kerschen

The news is abuzz about the leaked Supreme Court draft of a ruling that would reverse Roe v. Wade. While the repercussions from the leak may affect the ruling, if it holds, the pro-life movement will enter a new phase. Pro-life activists have all been planning for this development for a long time. Pregnancy Resource Centers are gearing up to help more women. Organizations are shifting their focus to state legislatures, although many states have prepared for the overturn of... Read more

The Value of Silence

Last updated on: April 29, 2022 at 9:54 pm By Lois Kerschen

Catholicism values silence. While we have magnificent music for our liturgies, awesome homilies, prayers we say out loud at Mass or together in the recitation of the rosary and so on, we also place importance on a tradition of silence. There is a hauntingly beautiful and ancient hymn called “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence.” It is derived from the “Prayer of the Cherubic Hymn” from the Litany of St. James, written in the 4th Century. It’s first verse says:... Read more

The Evils of IVF

Last updated on: April 24, 2022 at 5:04 pm By Lois Kerschen

What are our children to us? Are they precious gifts from God or commodities? Do we “have” children or do we “make” them? The practice of In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) says that we “make” children and contributes to the attitude that children are property. IVF is commonly accepted these days. Insurance companies long ago stopped refusing to pay for this “experimental” practice and now readily pay for IVF as just another (albeit expensive) procedure. We’ve even had IVF children as... Read more

Wanted: A Catholic Billionaire

Last updated on: June 1, 2024 at 4:52 pm By Lois Kerschen

We need a Catholic billionaire today who follows the example set by St. Katherine Drexel. She used her personal fortune to promote Catholic social justice and education instead of living the life of a socialite. Drexel (1858-1955) was the second of three daughters of a wealthy investment banker. When he died, the sisters shared the income produced by $14 million (about $400 million in today’s market) and pursued philanthropic efforts. With her share, Drexel established 145 missions, 12 schools for... Read more

Our Sins Repeat “Crucify Him!”

Last updated on: April 14, 2022 at 10:58 pm By Lois Kerschen

The Easter weekend provides an opportunity for some people to travel since they have an extra day or two off work. The “Wandering Pew,” consisting of my husband and myself, usually hits the road at Easter. Of course, that means finding Holy Week services wherever we are. Years ago, we attended Good Friday services at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fayetteville, Texas—a small, historically Czech community between Austin and Houston. The pastor gave a homily that day about... Read more

Men and Abortion: Cause and Cure

Last updated on: April 10, 2022 at 7:01 pm By Lois Kerschen

Abortion is the Devil’s gift to men. It allows them to be promiscuous without penalty; to exploit women while claiming they are empowering them. In a previous blog, I mentioned that NARAL was founded by two men. They wanted all men to be able to take advantage of the sexual revolution with the assurance of abortion as a backup to contraception. https://www.patheos.com/blogs/musingsfromthepew/2021/10/catholic-connections-to-abortion-history/ The goal was to change the culture from shotgun weddings to the attitude of the character in the... Read more

Repurposing Vacant Church Properties

Last updated on: April 4, 2022 at 6:53 pm By Lois Kerschen

An article by Peter Jesserer Smith that appeared in the National Catholic Register last month described a terrific idea that I want to promote: repurposing Church-related buildings. https://www.ncregister.com/features/turning-empty-convents-into-evangelizing-young-adult-residences-st-elizabeth-house-models-how Smith’s article focused on the establishment of two residences for young-adult Catholics in vacant convents in Santa Barbara, California. Deacon Chris Sandner looked at the many vacant residences originally built for thousands of priests and religious long ago. According to Smith, Sandler “realized the Church had an opportunity” to turn those rooms... Read more

An Image of Modesty

Last updated on: March 30, 2022 at 6:05 pm By Lois Kerschen

“Image is everything” we are told by communication experts, and this maxim is largely true. The image you project is what others think is the real you. As Catholics, we need to be aware of our image in a number of ways, including physical modesty. There is modesty that counters pride and modesty that is defined by Wikipedia as “a mode of dress and deportment which intends to avoid the encouraging of sexual attraction in others.” Yet our culture prioritizes... Read more

Catholics on Vacation

Last updated on: March 25, 2022 at 10:53 pm By Lois Kerschen

My husband and I have been on vacation in Central Virginia these past two weeks, so the blog has been quiet while I soaked up a lot of history and a dollop of religion too. We visited the homes of three of our founding Presidents: Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. Did you know that Jefferson and Monroe were actual neighbors and that Madison lived only 25 miles away? https://www.monticello.org/ https://www.montpelier.org/ https://highland.org/ A tour of Monticello includes seeing Jefferson’s... Read more

Which Genesis figure "walked with God and was no more, for God took him"?