I am not a theologian, nor do I play one on the internet. I am a person who enjoys words, however, and when you spend time enough with words in a religious space, you can not avoid confrontations. In this case, I have in mind the confrontations between those of us who love Pope Francis, and the “rad trads” who can’t stand him. But before I get to that, let’s look at another inevitable confrontation: between desire for understanding, and... Read more
Because, as soon as I draw on the language that beautifies, I am pretending that wounds aren’t real, that suffering is all in the past, or, worse, that suffering is actually a blessing, because without suffering this or that rich happy person wouldn’t be rich and happy today. Read more
I dared to think, and to see Mary as a woman who thought, who contemplated, who pondered, who analyzed - who had an interiority, secret musings - "but Mary kept all these words, pondering them in her heart" Read more
An article from Crisis, entitled “The Misguided Compassion of Social Justice Catholics,” by Dana R. Casey, was making the rounds on the internet recently, and I tried not to read it, because I knew it would not make me happy. But, because I am an intellectual masochist, and because educated Catholics were sharing it, I did the thing, and clicked the link, and regretted it. I will probably regret responding to it also. I meant to write a piece on... Read more
Perhaps God does indeed work mysteriously through the turmoil of history, but the divinely comedic flowering of good from evil doesn't lessen our responsibility for evil. It should just make us more humble. Read more
Training in sexual responsibility should not draw lines around most of humanity and signal with an arrow that “this alone is safe to see.” It should involve training in seeing the other not as an object, but as a subject herself Read more
we see the resurrected Christ make his appearance first to a woman, Mary Magdalene, and how different it is from the encounters of women with gods in other stories Read more
The most effective way of ending abortion, I believe, lies in working tirelessly to end those causes that drive women to seek abortions: rape, domestic violence, poverty, inadequate medical care, environmental pollution, lack of parental leave, punitive measures on pregnant women and nursing mothers, the lack of an adequate social safety net. And, curiously, it seems that most pro-choice persons are also interested in ending these things. Read more
Breastfeeding is a moral issue, yes, but the moral responsibility lies with the society that tells women they must breastfeed, and then makes it impossible for them to do so. Read more
In the “Dear Padre” piece on the back of our church bulletin this past Easter Sunday, Fr. Matthew Bonk, CSsR responds to the question “Why aren’t heaven’s gates open to all humanity? If God loves everyone, why aren’t all of us saved.” I realize it may shock you that someone reads church bulletins. I used to read course syllabi, too, in my student days. But once you’ve digested this improbable truth, note the problem with the question: that it takes for... Read more
suspended in her jar
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