Fifteen years ago, night after night, I paced the rooms of our tiny apartment with my daughter Kateri — a screaming infant — in my arms. I ran the vacuum, bounced her on my hip, and swaddled her writhing body with flannel blankets, but nothing the books recommended seemed to work. She screamed so hard … Read more
Those of you reckless (or charitable) enough to check out my semi-regular Friday YouTube surfing will know by now that I have developed a fascination bordering on obsession when it comes to stop-motion short films. At root, I think my fascination stems from the fact that I have never had much patience, and the amount of patience on … Read more
Today is the feast of St. Joseph, which Margaret mentioned this morning. St. Joseph is one of my go-to saints and he doesn’t get the attention he deserves. It’s probably how he would like it, but the husband of Mary, earthly father of Jesus, deserves the highest honors. He is the patron of the universal … Read more
Happy Feast of St. Joseph! The Church’s calendar of saints designates today a solemnity, so you should really be celebrating more than you did for St. Patrick’s Day. (And yes, that means you can eat meat. The pope would surely insist, being his namesake and all.) On to the morning’s links: Twelve more Christians — … Read more
On a related note to Eric’s post yesterday, I argued over at my TrueSlant blog that unlike their modern counterparts, Democrats of the 1960s passed legislation by constitutional means. Here is a snippet: As Robert Mann showed in his overlooked The Walls of Jericho, Democrats in the 1960s passed civil rights legislation by changing the … Read more
Perhaps the most telling sign that our country is headed for trouble is the phenomenon of the shrinking middle class. Once the hallmark of America’s promise, America’s middle class was dealt a serious setback last year against the backdrop of the imminent death of the domestic automobile industry. In the past, America’s salvation … Read more
I’ve always enjoyed Rick Reilly’s writing. His peculiar balance of brutally hilarious sarcasm and extraordinary feel-good stories that no one else seems able to find has kept him at the top of the sportswriting world for many years. His latest article for ESPN, detailing Denver Nuggets’ coach George Karl’s battle with cancer, doesn’t really fall into … Read more
Contrary to the letter released yesterday by NETWORK that claims the backing of all 59,000 American women religious in support of the health-care bill, the Council of Major Superiors of Women Religious today released their own letter disputing that figure. The president of CMSWR, Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, writes: In a March 15th statement, Cardinal … Read more
Frances Cardinal George of Chicago announced yesterday that he is appointing a commission to gather information about Fr. Augustus Tolton, the first known African-American Catholic priest. Cardinal George said Tolton’s prayer and assistance can help us be “a more united church.” Tolton escaped from slavery at the beginning of the Civil War, and was baptized … Read more
ABC News is just now discovering last week’s confusion over Christoph Cardinal Schonborn’s comments on priestly celibacy. If you missed it, the cardinal had written a column for his diocesan magazine addressing the past sex abuse scandal. In the article, Cardinal Schönborn called for an “unflinching examination” of possible reasons for pedophilia, and said that … Read more
In an effort to show that folks like Michael Sean Winters at America magazine are not one-dimensional characters, I post his interesting comment on Catholics for Choice. In the midst of the various disagreements between the Catholic Left and Catholic moderates, everyone tends to be painted in black and white (I get that a … Read more
In an effort to show that folks like Michael Sean Winters at America magazine are not one-dimensional characters, I post his interesting comment on Catholics for Choice. In the midst of the various disagreements between the Catholic Left and Catholic moderates, everyone tends to be painted in black and white (I get that a … Read more
“Don’t mess with nuns!” is a comment I’ve often heard over the years from cradle Catholics who were taught by them. The question now arises whether the undecided Catholic members of the House will be influenced by the 60 nuns — each a leader of her religious order — who signed a letter to members … Read more
Just because I love irony: That video was from 2003, when the Republicans were in charge of the House. He was complaining about a “rule” colloquially named deem-and-pass. Now, as majority leader, he seems to feel differently about that particular rule. This interview comes from early Wednesday (move to 2:20 to hear about deem-and-pass). I … Read more
According to Salon‘s Jennifer Bleyer, a significant number of young hipsters are using food stamps across the country — and using them to buy things like organic vegetables, line-caught fish, and raw milk cheese. Although the majority of the 38 million Americans on food stamps are the “working poor, the elderly, and single parents on … Read more
I’m not sure this video — created by a British publishing company — will do much for the book industry, but it’s awfully clever just the same. Watch the entire two and a half minutes for the twist…
Despite my snobish insistence on refraining from “any and all things Facebook” — I waste so much time on the IntraWebs as it is, I’m afraid of what might happen if I added FB to the mix — I could not let this story pass by without comment: Social networking website Facebook has capped a year of phenomenal … Read more
“You’ve got to disintegrate the positive/then figure-skate about the negative/latch on to the pejorative/don’t mess with Sister In-Between.” If that’s what I’ve been singing for the past few columns, let me here squirm out of the blame and shunt it onto the subject matters I’ve dealt with: modern liturgy and terminal cancer. These two things, … Read more
As new clergy sex-abuse allegations come to light in Germany, some in the media seem eager to tie them in whatever way possible to the German pontiff. Damian Thompson of the Telegraph points to a Times headline — “Pope knew priest was paedophile but allowed him to continue with ministry” — as just one of … Read more
If you live in the Washington, D.C. area, possess a brain, and have not attended at least one of the Tocqueville Forum lectures at Georgetown University… well, I don’t know what to tell you. The good folks at the Forum have been putting together some of the most compelling lectures and conferences available in the … Read more