Hello folks, this is only your periodic reminder that Steel Magnificat, and my family, are almost entirely run on gratuities. I work from home as a writer due to my chronic illness, churning out three to seven literary art projects per week here, my husband copyedits for me, and he’s also the homemaker who takes care of Rosie and does the housework since I’m so often too sick to get off the sofa or out of the house. I... Read more
It’s been more than eight days since the fiasco at the March for Life. It’s about time I actually said something about life issues right now. And there’s plenty to say. What I have to say first of all should not be controversial, but apparently it is: a Do-not-Resuscitate, or DNR, is not killing. It’s ordinary, palliative care, and is not against Catholic teaching depending on the circumstances. Yes, I’m sure of this. I studied graduate level bioethics courses at... Read more
In case you haven’t noticed, Steubenville is being lambasted by a polar vortex. It is brutal out there. With these wind chills, frostbite will set in within a few minutes. Schools and mail delivery are cancelled for tomorrow. My dear friends at The Friendship Room are open 24 hours to keep the homeless from freezing to death– in this kind of weather, it’s almost too crowded to move or sit down in their little house. And they are also... Read more
My skin is fair. I know this, because it’s the name on the label on my preferred shade of foundation at the drug store. If I accidentally buy “light” or “ivory,” I look like a clown; “fair” is my color. My skin is the third lightest color in existence, according to that particular brand. That makes me white. Or rather, it makes me one of what Ta-Nahisi Coates calls “the people who believe they are white.” White, he recognizes,... Read more
Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day, the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz. A few days ago, the Auschwitz Memorial posted a photograph of a man in a Nazi uniform, smiling with his family, a happy little girl and a dog. It was captioned: “One of the biggest challenges when we study the tragedy of Auschwitz, is to understand and accept that the perpetrators were not monsters. They were people – fathers, husbands and dog owners. People who accepted the ideology of hatred... Read more
A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Luke: Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news of him spread throughout the whole region. He taught in their synagogues and was praised by all. He came to Nazareth, where he had grown up, and went according to his custom into the synagogue on the sabbath day. He stood up to read and was handed a scroll of the prophet Isaiah. He unrolled the scroll and... Read more
People have informed me that I’ve been too harsh. They have quoted the Catechism at me again and again about the sin of rash judgement, because apparently it’s the sin of rash judgement to watch a video carefully and give your own thoughts on what you’re sure you saw. They have accused me of child abuse, because I said that teenagers who behaved very badly in front of the whole nation on camera should be disciplined or expelled from... Read more
As I write this, we are waiting for an address from the president which should have happened twenty minutes ago (it’s 1:49 right now). It’s being reported that Congress and the president had agreed to a deal to reopen the government for three weeks, without the funding for the border wall. And it’s amusing me to type out my thoughts in real time as I wait for the president’s speech. For what it’s worth, my personal theory is that... Read more
I have a request from my friend Father Theodosius Walker at the Syriac Orthodox Monastery of the Holy Martyrs in Plymoth, Indiana. This monastery provides hospitality and meals to the local poor every day, and they hand out groceries and non-EBT-eligible items like diapers and soap to their guests as well. They’re in the middle of trying to fix their own furnace and plumbing, which will cost thousands, and in the meanwhile they’re especially swamped with guests needing groceries... Read more
Weeks ago, I wanted to talk about the priestly sexual battery case in my diocese. Some other news item kept coming up every time. I found myself talking about gingerbread and the government shutdown, and then the March for Life happened, and suddenly it was almost February. All this time I felt like I couldn’t let this pass without comment, and all this time I haven’t known what to say. I still don’t, but that’s never stopped me before.... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In