Apparent truce in the Office Depot "pro-life discrimination" case...
There is an apparent resolution in the dispute between office supply retailer Office Depot and a woman who sought to order printing of pro-life flyers for distribution at her Catholic parish. The Internet was aflutter yesterday, after news broke that Office Depot had refused to make copies of a pro-life flyer for a customer. Maria Goldstein had used the store's website to order 500 copies of flyers containing “Quick Facts on Planned Parenthood” as well as a prayer by Fr...
MPs in England and Wales reject 'right to die' law...
We are not sinners because we sin. We sin because we’re sinners...
One of the most troubling things I encounter as a pastor is people’s lack of understanding about sin. On the one hand there are folks who don’t seem to have much of an idea at all. They come to confession and don’t have an idea how to examine their conscience and make a good confession. When they do confess it seems like their idea of sin is “anything that nice people shouldn’t do...
A child's profound reflections on 9/11...
For Lincoln diocese, audit adds to its effective child protection plan...
On the protection of children and young people...
The Catholic Church is a supernatural community, united together in Christ Jesus, protected and sustained by the Holy Spirit. But the Church is also a community of human beings, of ordinary people, who are capable of great love, and of great sinfulness. Sin—especially the most grave sins—can have profoundly hurtful consequences for other people...
What it looks like to fly through our solar system at the speed of light...
Why does the Church make things so complicated?
We already know what happens when we "simply focus in on Christian belief, the idea that we are all imperfect, that that lack of perfection is already paid for in the blood of the Risen Christ, and that in Christianity we no longer have to worry, that our sins are forgiven, and that we should try to live as best as we can according to the Bible...
St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York refurbished in time for Pope Francis...
Holy See won't raise flag at UN before Pope visits...
12 treasures of antiquity destroyed in the Middle East since 2001...
War has always been hard on ancient treasures and sites. In the 14th century Muhammad Sa’im al-Dahr destroyed the nose of sphinx because he was outraged that people were making offerings to it. (No, Napoleon didn’t order it shot off by cannon fire.) During World War II, American bombers dropped 1400 tons of bombs on Monte Casino...
You are made to experience God, and you will be restless until you come to that rest...
What satisfies the soul? What satisfies the deepest part of me? It is clear from all the “restless wanderings” of the people of the world that they are not finding that which satisfies. Half the people are terribly overweight – food does not satisfy. Many, maybe most, are engaged in some sort of driven sexual search – if only on the Internet...
Boys who are never allowed to be wild are boys who never learn how to control that wildness...
Meet the brilliant and holy Frances Chesterton, the wife of G.K. Chesterton...
From blogger Lionel Yaceczko, an unofficial English translation of "Mitis Iudex"...
Judge David Bunning was overstepping his authority when he had Kim Davis thrown in jail...
Kim Davis has been released from jail. Judge David Bunning, who ordered Davis jailed in the first place, says that he is satisfied that her deputies have fulfilled their obligations to issue marriage licenses to gay marriages. His order releasing Mrs Davis requires that he cannot interfere with her deputies issuing marriage licenses to “all legally eligible couples...
The story of the Samaritan woman, as beautifully retold in a movie clip...
There is a story in the Gospel of John that you surely remember: the Samaritan Woman at the Well. She was a woman with a “past.” She’d had five failed marriages, and was now just “shacked up.” And Jesus reached out to her in that searing noonday heat. He reached out to her across the barriers of race and sex. He endured her initial anger and stayed in a conversation with her...
12 historic Philadelphia bars you can visit...
The dunce cap wasn't always so stupid...
14 years later, the fires from 9/11 still burn...
Stunning chapel in Paris now restored as Saint Louis would have seen it...
In the Bible, "scandal" doesn't mean what you think it means...
“Scandal” comes from the word skandalon in Greek and does not mean “something that hurts your feelings or makes you blush,” but encompasses such things as “a trap, a snare, or a stone that causes you to stumble.” It’s an image that refers to something that makes you fall down as you are walking. In other words, it’s about something that makes you “stumble” as you are trying to “walk with Jesus...
Incredible drone footage of a giant flash flood in Utah...
7 ways the prophetic Benedict XVI has pointed us toward renewal...
I am astonished, and also somewhat heartened, by the buzz generated by Rod Dreher’s writing on the Benedict Option. Dreher truly struck a chord with many of us as we try to conceive the way forward out of the devastating position of cultural decline in which we find ourselves. How do we begin the renewal? What is the right balance between withdraw from and engagement with society...
What does "remnant theology" have to teach us about the Church today?
Vatican officially confirms Pope Francis' visit to Africa in November...
Catholic monk Brother Etienne on the art of running...
I met Br. Etienne several years ago at a Catholic New Media Conference in Kansas. While everyone around him was on their iPhones and talking about Twitter and Instagram, Br. Etienne was quietly reading a book by Hans Urs von Balthasar. I thought, “Now there is a kindred soul.” Now Br. Etienne and I are Facebook friends and I am glad because Br...
Please don't say these six things at my funeral...
5 most cringeworthy problems with BuzzFeed's viral 'I'm Christian, But I'm Not' video...
The Gospel of Luke includes many parables, including one about a Pharisee and a tax collector. A parable is a simple story used to illustrate a moral lesson, and a Pharisee was a member of a Jewish sect known for its strict observance of religious ceremonies and practices and adherence to oral laws and traditions. It’s a short but very important read from Luke 18
Fr. Vincent Capodanno knew that where the fighting was thickest, a chaplain would be needed the most...
On Sept 4, 1967, a battle broke out called “Operation Swift.” It took the lives of 127 Marines and gave birth to a Servant of God and Medal of Honor recipient: Fr. Vincent Capodanno.
A second look at Mitis, especially at the new fast-track annulment process...
In an earlier post today I applauded most of the reforms of the annulment process issued by Pope Francis in Mitis Iudex Dominus Iesus. I offered some additional positive remarks about Mitis on my “Canon Law” Facebook page. I mention these points not to win a hearing for the criticisms of Mitis I will make below, but to save the trouble of reiterating what I generally like about the document...
How to understand Catholic teaching on the Blessed Virgin Mary...
Christopher Kaczor: Christian "gospel of happiness" transcends happiness offered by psychology...
Get this entire Catholic website on CD-ROM...The full contents of the New Advent website are available on CD-ROM. It includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church Fathers, Summa, Bible and more and it's only $19.99...
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