2019-11-17T00:03:56-04:00

  A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: When some were talking about the Temple, remarking how it was adorned with fine stonework and votive offerings, he said, ‘All these things you are staring at now — the time will come when not a single stone will be left on another; everything will be destroyed.’And they put to him this question, ‘Master,’ they said, ‘when will this happen, then, and what sign will there be that it is about to take place?’ But he said, ‘Take care not to be deceived,... Read more

2019-11-16T11:02:41-04:00

  The whole time I’ve been learning to drive, I was terrified that I’d hurt myself or someone else. This past week, it finally happened. No, not like that. I didn’t get into an accident. This is me, so it has to be an absolutely pathetic injury. I had the last four hours of my in-cars before I can take the test again, this past Monday and Tuesday. Monday was delightfully warm and sunny; Tuesday was bitterly cold and snowy.... Read more

2019-11-11T20:51:16-04:00

  I regard reading LifeSite News the same way I regard changing diapers: I don’t like to do it and I avoid it when I can because it makes me feel unclean, but sometimes I have to because not doing so would have even worse results. Today was one of those days when I had to break down and read a LifeSite News article. I saw my friends sharing an article with a photo of a giant  fruity overblown statue... Read more

2019-11-10T13:13:11-04:00

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Some Sadducees, those who deny that there is a resurrection,  came forward and put this question to Jesus, saying,  “Teacher, Moses wrote for us,  If someone’s brother dies leaving a wife but no child,  his brother must take the wife  and raise up descendants for his brother.  Now there were seven brothers;  the first married a woman but died childless.  Then the second and the third married her,  and likewise all the seven died childless.   Finally the woman also died.   Now at the resurrection whose wife will that woman be?  For all seven had been married to her.”  Jesus said to them,  “The children of this age marry and remarry;  but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age  and to the resurrection of the dead  neither marry nor are given in marriage.  They can no longer die,  for they are like angels;  and they are the children of God  because they are the ones who will rise.   That the dead will rise  even Moses made known in the passage about the bush,  when he called out ‘Lord, ‘  the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob;  and he is not God of the dead, but of the living,  for to him all are alive.”  For to Him, all are alive. The most terrible thing about God, is that what He thinks is true. This is a rock upon which we all fall and break at some point. If God thinks a thing, it’s true. If to God,... Read more

2019-11-09T18:12:55-04:00

I have no idea how to be a mother. Maybe nobody does. In my case, I find myself raising a daughter without the traditional extended family to lean on for counsel and advice. The last time I spoke to my own mother was when Rosie was five months old. I have to figure things out for myself as I go along, armed with nothing but the knowledge that I love her, and that she’s not my property. Take the pixie... Read more

2019-11-07T15:07:36-04:00

Sometimes, even though I ought to be used to it by now, I am overwhelmed with shock at the absolute cluelessness of our Catholic bishops. I shouldn’t be. They’ve always been clear about who they are. But still, today, I’m shocked. Bishop Robert Barron, the auxiliary bishop of Los Angeles, is what counts for media-savvy for a member of the USCCB. He’s considered one of the hip bishops that has a better understanding of the plight of young people. He... Read more

2019-11-06T17:22:26-04:00

  From the third to the fifth grade, I attended a school called Our Lady of Peace, which was infested with bullies as I’ve written about before. One of those bullies was the gym teacher, a real battleaxe named Mrs. Laurent. Mrs. Laurent couldn’t have been younger than seventy. She always wore the same pink and gray tracksuit with a whistle around her neck. Her voice was a crackly squawk. Like most bullies, Mrs. Laurent could spot an easy target a... Read more

2019-11-04T21:12:42-04:00

  The leaves have peaked for the year, and the color is going away. Pretty soon people will start to put up Christmas decorations, the green and bright color of real trees replaced with artificial trees and electric colored lights, which are also beautiful. People are also a part of nature. In a week or two, the world will look colorful, and won’t go totally gray until January. Right now, we are in a bit of a limbo, where the... Read more

2019-11-03T14:36:31-04:00

  If you read my work at all, it is probably obvious to you at this point that the Ohio Valley has a serious bullying problem. The schools here are world famous for violence and for grown-ups rallying around violent students to keep them from experiencing consequences. And I wish I could say that’s changed, but it hasn’t. I will always remember my neighbor describing her anguish to me when her daughter became anorexic from constant taunting by students in... Read more

2019-11-03T12:16:40-04:00

  Hey folks, I’m getting on later today with a real post. This is just the most awkward and embarrassing part of blogging, the part where I remind you that Steel Magnificat runs almost entirely on tips, and to awkwardly pass the hat. I support my family by blogging here at Patheos. I write about spiritual abuse and the clerical abuse crisis, I write very unpopular things about politics, I keep finding myself calling out atrocious behavior in the pro-life... Read more


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