I mean, I just blinked! And poof! And now he is married to a lovely woman and they live in another state, and I am become one of those annoying ladies who tells young mothers “appreciate it, even though it’s hard, because it goes so fast….” The sweetest baby, most relaxed baby ever born — and still the same dreamy planet he was the day he arrived: …despite all of my best and worst days of parenting – [my sons]... Read more
As I am still intent on a writing project, it is my pleasure to bring you this guest post by the esteemed scholar, and Franciscan Friar, Elias D. Mallon, who writes to caution Muslim friends that increased Islamic outreach and dialogue is urgently needed, if their credibility is to be preserved in the face extremist factions like ISIS and Boko Haram, and their continued crimes against humanity. An Examination of Conscience is Not Just for Christians If these specific things... Read more
It’s been an odd couple of months, wherein I have found myself interviewed several times, and via surprising venues. First Tom McDonald got me yapping about prayer. And then America got me going on and on about blogging (which generated tweets from Catholic people who actively hate me in humbling ways I hadn’t then-imagined). I had totally forgotten, but around the same time, Patheos’ Book Club asked me to discuss why I Don’t Want to be a Hoo-er, if I... Read more
As George Harrison said, “it’s been a long, cold, lonely winter.” And it feels like years since baseball has been here. But what joy to flip on the television in my office and find Yankees in blue pinstripes, standing in the bright April sun! As I type this, they’re losing 5-0 but it doesn’t matter. There is the whiff of ball against leather glove; there is the crack of bat-on-ball. There are the crowd noises as A-Rod gets his first... Read more
I love this. When my nieces wanted Bratz dolls, I couldn’t bring myself to buy them. Had I had an option to buy fresh-faced dolls that actually look like the girls who play with them? I’d have gone nuts with them. But then, I always did think Mary Anne was prettier and in all ways more interesting than Ginger. Read more
On the Cross, God’s eros for us is made manifest. Eros is indeed – as Pseudo-Dionysius expresses it – that force “that does not allow the lover to remain in himself but moves him to become one with the beloved” (“De divinis nominibus”, IV, 13: PG 3, 712). Is there more “mad eros” (N. Cabasilas, “Vita in Cristo”, 648) than that which led the Son of God to make Himself one with us even to the point of suffering as... Read more
The world needs prayer. Last year, heading into the Triduum, I had a spiritual experience that stayed around. This year, I am thinking how fortunate we are — in the midst of so much social and political chaos — once again within the Easter Triduum, a time of great spiritual power. Let us pray together the Office of Vespers (Evening Prayer). And here are the liturgical prayers for Good Friday Things are about to get quiet around here, for a... Read more
Well, America — pitching between lunacy and sorrow — seems to be reaching a tipping point. The Indiana RFRA story has inspired hypocritical businessmen to declare they won’t sell their wares to the Midwestern rubes who won’t settle down and think right. It has lured dependable establishment shills into bravely expressing the exact moral outrage guaranteed to get a cheer from the audience. It has assured some in the press that cutting off the microphone of a guest who will... Read more
Been working on a project and late to the headlines, but something occurred to me after reading this and this and this and this and all of these, and watching this and this. There is a staggering amount of hysteria and outrage being spewed about Indiana’s RFRA by many of the same people who — just mere weeks ago — were spewing in hysterical outrage about the nation’s growing so-called “rape culture”, and this despite disputed claims that 1 in... Read more
If you take a look at Dawn Eden’s excellent book, The Thrill of the Chaste: Finding Fulfillment While Keeping Your Clothes On, you’ll see a little blurb from me that says: “Dawn Eden’s book helped me to understand that virtue is about much more than our sexuality; its pursuit is a positive action applicable to our work, our relationships, our prayer, our play, our daily bread–indeed, it is applicable to every aspect of our lives. So is this book.” I... Read more
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