Last night I was vague because I didn’t want to divulge anything that was meant to be private, but today it seems to be common knowledge, so I can say a little more. My friend and fellow Patheos blogger, Leticia Adams, lost her oldest son to suicide. He’d been struggling with depression. Yesterday, unexpectedly, he died of his illness. We commend him to the mercy of God with great confidence. This isn’t the only death I’m reeling from right now. I’ve been... Read more
In your charity, please join me in prayer for a friend whose son just passed away suddenly. Pray for her consolation and for the repose of her son’s soul. O God of spirits and of all flesh, who have trampled death, broken the power of Satan, and have granted life to Your world;grant rest, Lord, to the soul of Your departed servant in a place of light, joy and peace, where there is no pain, sorrow, or mourning. As a... Read more
It went like this: Since I have been a Catholic, a serious Catholic, I have always been a political conservative in America. Never, ever have the two been said to be incompatible, except by the National “Catholic” Reporter, and now by a certain group of “Catholic” bloggers who voted for Hillary or would have voted for Hillary Clinton had they been in a swing state. I have held the same views on immigration that I’ve had for 22 years of being... Read more
We adore You, O Christ, and we bless You, because by Your holy Cross you have redeemed the world. Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has... Read more
I need to speak to the faithful Catholics today. I know you’re out there; you like to refer to yourself as a “faithful Catholic,” to distinguish yourself from other sorts of Catholic. I know I’ve got readers from all different faiths and that’s great, you are welcome here, but today’s topic is sort of narrow and may not apply to you at all. I need to harangue my brothers and sisters right here in the same church for a minute. Guys?... Read more
It started out so well. I woke up before my daughter and had a nice strong cup of coffee. The mail contained a ten-day shutoff notice, mailed on Friday, for a bill we managed to already pay over the weekend– I call the surge of relief when I throw out an averted shutoff notice “poor people skydiving.” Rosie got a free book of puzzles she’d sent away for from Highlights magazine. There was money in the bank and EBT on... Read more
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has just released a statement regarding today’s revised executive order banning travel from six predominantly Muslim countries. I quote it here in its entirety: Bishop Vazquez’s full statement follows: “We remain deeply troubled by the human consequences of the revised executive order on refugee admissions and the travel ban. While we note the Administration’s efforts to modify the Executive Order in light of various legal concerns, the revised Order still leaves many innocent... Read more
Everybody hold onto your socks. I’ve got some shocking news. Pour yourself a stiff drink and sit down. Go ahead and clutch your pearls right now, save yourself some time. You’re not gonna believe this. Ready? Beauty and the Beast is going to have an openly gay character. I’m sorry, I know that’s not the proper nomenclature. I mean, Beauty and the Beast is going to have a character who openly struggles with same-sex attraction but not really struggles come to... Read more
This morning I found that someone had posted a friend’s complaint in one of my Facebook forums: I wasn’t entirely sure what the New Saint Thomas Institute was. It turns out that the New Saint Thomas Institute is run by Doctor Taylor Marshall. Marshall is a Catholic professor who’s been both to the Vatican and on EWTN, and he now has an online subscription service for video theology lessons. Twelve months of 30-minute video lessons gets you a nice... Read more
We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you, because by Your holy cross you have redeemed the world. Then he handed him over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus; and carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha. God is God, and can do whatever He wills. He said “Let there be light,” and there was light, days before the stars... Read more
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