(image via Pixabay) I took the Pottermore Patronus quiz. I should mention that I’m not the absolute keenest Harry Potter fan. I enjoy the Harry Potter books and will be happy when my daughter grows into them. But I didn’t read them until I was in graduate school– by the time they were published, the Planet Charismatic’s stranglehold on my family was lessened, but they still viewed every reference to “magic” and “witchcraft” with suspicion. So I didn’t read the series until I was... Read more
(Image via Pixabay.) Today is the the feast of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. I like Saint Pio. I feel closer to him than I do to many saints, because he’s separated from me by only one degree. I’ve met someone who met him. I met her by chance almost ten years ago, when I was baking a coconut cake for a stranger’s birthday. I don’t know many stories about Saint Pio you haven’t heard before, but let me tell you the story... Read more
(image via Pixabay) Once, I was looking at the comments on one of those memes about saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” You shouldn’t do that; it’s always a waste of time. But I was rubbernecking and making my opinion known, as usual. Some people were pointing out that Catholics have many holidays around Christmas, so Catholics ought to say “Happy Holidays.” My friend who is both Catholic and Jewish pointed out that she has even more holidays. Then somebody... Read more
(Official Black Lives Matter organization logo, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.) When I was a little girl, I didn’t know any black people. There were no black people in my neighborhood. There were black people in the neighborhood that surrounded my “traditional” old church downtown, but we didn’t speak to them on the way into Mass, and almost everyone who went to Mass at my church was white. When a friend of the family took me shopping, she would say... Read more
(image via Pixabay) Let me give you the boilerplate again: Steel Magnificat does not endorse any presidential candidate this time around, because everyone with a snowball’s chance supports grave sin as a major part of their platform. I know that, in this political climate, you can’t speak against one grave evil without being accused of supporting another, but them’s the breaks. Now, I need to talk about a meme. I’ve seen this meme at least four times today and it’s not... Read more
(image via Wikimedia Commons) Ever hear a song that just changed you? I heard this song, John Tavener’s Funeral Ikos, more than ten years ago, at a memorial Mass for Saint John Paul II. I didn’t know what the song was called. I couldn’t remember who wrote it. I just remembered snatches of the lyrics. They stayed with me, all this time. Finally, a friend who actually knows her music realized what I was talking about and found the song for me. I’ve... Read more
(image via Pixabay) I just had the following conversation on Facebook: Strange Man: If a person traded 2 hours a day on fb for 2 hours a day earning money, at $10/hr that’s over $7,000. A nice vacation? Friend of Mine: If anyone wanted to pay me $10 / hr for work (and l could leave the kids for free), sure. S&M: Why not leave the children with your husband? Aren’t virtues gender neutral? Surely it is not too difficult to find something... Read more
(image via Pixabay) It’s time for my daughter’s regular check-up. Or, rather, it’s time for me to call and make an appointment for my daughter’s regular check-up. This could take awhile. The last time it was time for my daughter’s regular check-up, the insurance company had just sent me a friendly notice that my daughter would no longer be allowed to see her old pediatrician, and they would be sending me a new card for a new pediatrician shortly, so... Read more
. (image via Pixabay) This is a guest post by John Cavanaugh-O’Keefe. John is a father of six, a longtime pro-life activist in the fields of nonviolence and eugenics, and the author of 21 Stranger Claims in the Old Testament. He blogs at Sign of the Crossing. I visited a local mosque last night, for evening prayer. I went there to invite my neighbors to dinner, to dispel some of the fear that is sweeping the nation. A few details:... Read more
(Image via Pixabay) I wasn’t going to start telling Halloween stories until October, but heck. It’s more than halfway through September. The shops are all already stocked with costumes and decorations. You can buy pumpkins at the garden center now. Some houses on my block already have orange lights and scarecrows. Yesterday Rosie and I went grocery shopping and spent ten minutes in the seasonal aisle, trying on hats and masks. I’ll tell my first Halloween story starting now. I... Read more
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