I Am my Mother’s Child

Today marks two weeks since the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre. I am still emotionally raw; I can’t watch the news right now because every time they mention Sandy Hook Elementary my eyes well up with tears. This is Christmas time–it’s supposed to be a season of Joy! But how can I be so joyful when...

So Much for Godless Communism

The dynamic Castro duo has a little treat for Pope Benedict XVI’s Easter basket this year: Good Friday will be celebrated as a national holiday in Cuba for the first time since the revolution in 1959. According to CNN, this raises the total number of religious holidays in that island nation to...

This Just In: World Did Not End Last May

Family Radio’s Harold Camping—the latter-day Chicken Little who persuaded many to divest themselves of their earthly possessions in anticipation of the End of Days last year—has announced that the world did not, in fact, end. Though this is bad news for those of us who stopped paying our bills at...

Wikipedia Pwns Vatican

I’m the last person who wants to jump on the Church-bashing bandwagon. I have managed to accept the excesses of the centuries—the Crusades, the Inquisition, simony, the sale of indulgences, guitar Masses—and have even stood by Holy Mother Church during the recent, let’s say,...

Psalm 16

Psalm 16 is used more than 20 times in Masses throughout the year. It is especially important in the Easter season Masses and in the breviary. The psalmist begs God to keep him safe. He is confident that God will care for him. He knows that the God he honors is the only true God. The gods worshiped by other...

Alien vs. Predator

It’s hard to think of customs and immigration as being comforting, but going through that process Sunday in Chicago, it occurred to me how nice it is not to be the stranger. My trip to Jordan was wonderful – and so educational! – but there’s no doubt that being American in the Middle East comes with...