I got to talking with my friends online about all the things I used to believe, growing up with Charismatic Catholics. It turns out that you don’t have to inwardly pray a Hail Mary every time you touch someone. I’d been told that demonic oppression causing mental affliction can pass from an afflicted person to a clean person through physical contact, but a Hail Mary repels it. It turns out that you don’t need to have a crucifix or a... Read more
I complain a lot about my little region on the cusp of northern Appalachia, but I do love Appalachia, and this is one of the reasons why. My friend Haylea, a young mom from Southern West Virginia who identifies as a “hillbilly,” was not herself affected by the recent flooding, but she lives nearby. Last night, I found this post on her facebook, which I share with her permission: So, what had happened was…. The original plan: take a couple... Read more
… to today’s Supreme Court decision, can be found today at the Dallas Morning News by Kristen Walker Hatten of New Wave Feminists. I encourage my readers to take a look! (image via pixabay) Read more
I admit I’m not a real iconographer, not by a long shot, but I’ve been trying to teach myself how to write icons lately because I feel so drawn to them and I love to paint. And I admit in advance that I’m very likely doing it wrong. But it helps me to pray. I was just applying a layer of white gesso to a new practice piece, out on the lawn so I could also keep an eye on my daughter on... Read more
I just woke up, as I usually do, brushed the twigs and hayseed out of my hair, stumbled downstairs looking for my coffee cup, and found that there’s been a kerfuffle with Peter Kreeft and some atheist. Michael or I will do actual research to bring you the scoop later, so don’t worry. You’ll know everything I know and some things I read about on Facebook. But for the moment, just let me say something. You know what Atheists are?... Read more
Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel! He has come to his people and set them free! How does God set people free? I’ll tell you how: strangely. Always strangely. This is how the birth of Jesus came about: in a good-for-nothing town, among a people counted as worthless and conquered by the Roman empire, God created an immaculate woman free from sin. She didn’t have any outward markings so anyone would know she was an immaculate woman free from sin, mind... Read more
Lord knows why I’m doing research for a movie I won’t watch for months and I’ll probably dislike anyway, but I am. Veteran readers know I’ve got a fatal attraction to watching and reviewing films put out by Pure Flix, so much so that I’ll probably get a phone call from David A. R. White’s attorney if I make fun of his acting ability again. And I’m already determined to catch the premier of “I Am Not Ashamed,” the Pure Flix... Read more
I can’t show you the actual meme under discussion, due to some shady outfit calling itself copyright law. I can tell you that the meme was one of those Goofus and Gallant modesty photo diptychs that appear with alarming frequency, if your Facebook Friends are mostly Catholic and Protestant. On the left-hand side of the diptych was a candid shot of Miley Cyrus in mid-stride, looking healthy and affable, and wearing a flowered crop top and a pair of jean... Read more
When I read the Gospel about Jesus riding into Jerusalem on a donkey and a donkey’s colt, I imagine that Jesus is riding sidesaddle on the donkey with His feet on the colt. When Abraham has a vision of the smoking brazier and the flaming torch, I always imagine that the brazier has two skewers sticking out of it, upon which marshmallows or cocktail olives are roasting. If I reverently try not to imagine the skewers they appear anyway, more forcefully. When the... Read more
It was a miserably hot day. The heat was augmented by oceans of humidity until it felt like the air would boil, but not a drop of rain fell to soothe the ground. I spent the afternoon by the air conditioner, nibbling string cheese and wishing I was a more ambitious cook. At about eight in the evening, though, the nauseating pall of heat lifted. We went outside to play. Everyone was outside: all the neighborhood parents on their porches, and... Read more
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