Aaron and Melissa Klein are not backing down. The Oregon couple is in the crosshairs of a truly hypocritical legal battle that seeks to close their business and leave them homeless, all for the supposed crime of refusing to abandon their religious convictions and bow to the LGBTQ agenda. Ironically, it’s all in the name of tolerance and human rights. No matter how you feel about same-sex marriage–come on, people–learn to get along! If your idea of marriage goes against... Read more
As a result of the Supreme Court’s new ruling, the American legal system now upholds a right to gay marriage, and Christians are bracing for widespread persecution and a whole new slippery-slope regarding human relationships. There is certainly enough recent data coming out of Canada to support these fears, so I’m not quibbling, believe me. But we Catholics and others who support traditional marriage have an important choice to make, right now. We can indulge our fears of persecution and become angry, histrionic people, or we can... Read more
Catholicism saved me, I tell you. This Church that is broken in some ways, is still pure, powerful, and holy in its essence. Once upon a time, I spent my life soaking in a big, bubbly hot tub of Secular American Culture and it was slowly but surely drowning me. I was at the point that many of us reach–those of us who were products of a post-Vatican II Church that eschewed authentic Catholic dogmas and moral teachings in favor... Read more
REVIEW: Broken Gods: Hope, Healing, and the 7 Longings of the Human Heart, by Gregory K. Popcak, Ph.D. (Image Books) [This post originally appeared at AmazingCatechists.com on June 2, 2015.] Did you know that God is slowly transforming you into a god and that a holy code exists that unlocks the secrets of this process? From the earliest days of the Church, this process, called “divinization,” has been recognized and believed by all of Christianity. Since God shares his... Read more
Atheists with aggressive anti-Christian agendas sometimes circulate memes that make spurious claims against Christianity, wrapped in hipster cool and packed, supposedly, with incontrovertible “facts.” Last night, a wonderful young person dear to me posted the following meme and asked me what I thought about it: So, I asked some of my more learned friends and colleagues to comment and received the following resources, all of which showed the meme to be totally false. It wasn’t hard. Catholic apologist, Jon Sorenson writes compellingly, here,... Read more
If this doesn’t raise the hairs on the back of your neck, it should. According to an article in the National Catholic Register, the “Charlie Charlie Challenge” is a divination game in which players balance pencils over the words “yes” and “no,” calling on “Charlie”–a demon–to answer their questions. Apparently it’s a trendy game for teens, at the moment, so Father Stephen McCarthy, a Catholic priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, has spoken out against the practice in an open letter to Catholic school... Read more
Last week, I enjoyed a long walk with Jesus. I took part in a Eucharistic procession, which included a beautiful statue of Our Lady of Fatima, through the busy streets of a Long Island town. The heartfelt reverence of the priest calling out the Rosary mysteries and another priest silently and slowly processing with the Blessed Sacrament–raised up in a shining monstrance under a golden canopy–literally brought me to my knees. I was taking photos, because a Christian friend at my chiropractor’s... Read more
The other day, I looked in the mirror and saw some new lines and wrinkles in my face. At first, I was a little saddened. But then I thought, “Each line is a reminder that my time on earth is limited, and I have a lot of loving to do, so I’d better get busy.” The thought made me so happy! Each time I look in the mirror, I see the impermanence of my physical body and the way signs of... Read more
Some of us are deeply scarred by the cruelty of others, and it makes it tough to believe in the reality of our authentic feminine beauty. We may need professional help from a faithful Catholic therapist to help us open to healing from these wounds, but hope and a new vision of ourselves should always be sought through the sacraments of the Church and wise and holy friendships. As I prepare for this fall’s launch of True Radiance: Finding Grace... Read more
A fascinating article at Women of Grace announces a conference underway in Rome to clarify topics related to the occult and its spiritual dangers. With a huge rise in demonic possessions worldwide, trained exorcists are being assigned in larger and larger numbers in dioceses around the globe. Along with an increased interest in practicing the “dark arts” and reading occult-themed literature, among the most spiritually dangerous practices being discussed is pornography. The scourge of the internet, pornographic addiction now impacts a huge percentage... Read more
Water into Wine by Lisa Mladinich
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