Praying for Patience
Only when called on to help someone who really needs it do we tap the deepest reservoirs of our love and compassion. Prayer helps bring them to the surface.
Killed by the Law and No One Protests
Someone needs to investigate what happened to Robert Ethan Saylor and hold those responsible to account.
Guns, Glee, and Down Syndrome
Abortion proponents want to know: Who’s going to pay for your child’s health care when you’re gone?
Our Sacred Tradition Marks Us
When we are at our most vulnerable, our sacred traditions are there to give us solace.
Welcome to Sparta
They sacrificed the most vulnerable because they thought it would make them more powerful. But it had the opposite effect. It made them weaker.
Testing Down Syndrome to Death
Winston Churchill said that a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to put its pants on, and this 90 percent claim has certainly done some impressive travelling.
Local Catholics Await New Pope and New Bishop
An announcement could be imminent, or the whole thing could be on ice until a new pope is selected and installed.
A Lament for Ordinary Time
Catholics are praying for God to grant our Church a wise, holy, and steadfast new pope. I am praying for a return to Ordinary Time.
Connecticut Yankee with a Country Heart
To a northeastern fellow with Generation-X ears, the glory of country music is its total lack of irony. It’s corny, romantic, tough, funny, clever, patriotic, faithful, authentic, and upbeat. I like it. Really.
A Letter to “That” Doctor
Many times in the past six years Matthew and I have wanted to bring our Magdalena back down to that office to show Dr. So-and-so what a bundle of crazy, joyous energy she is.
Catholic Politicians Betray the Faith…Again
Are politicians like Cuomo and Malloy merely Catholics of convenience, happy to wear the label when the media approves but disinclined to the point of defiance when the Magisterium of the Church conflicts with the party platform?
Halcyon Were the Days
Not that long ago, if you wanted to find the answer to a nonobvious question, settle a dispute, or simply satisfy your curiosity, you had to make a little effort.
Questions Without Answers
There is madness and violence. There is random death and inexplicable cruelty. But there is also redemption.
Surfing with Sharks
I always thought no marine life would make it through the nest of needles, aluminum cans, and diapers that I presumed formed a radius of detritus around the entire city of at least 5 miles. Wrong.
The Spy King of the Commuter Rails
If, like me, you are fascinated by human behavior, then commuting is the life for you and the train is the place to be.
Russia’s Cruel Adoption Ban
Russian president Vladimir Putin recently signed a new law banning the adoption of Russian children by Americans. A member of Putin’s United Russia party and a deputy in the lower house of the Russian Parliament has proposed an amendment to the law that will allow an exception for orphans with special needs.
He weaves a tangled web
The spiders come inside when the air turns chill. These suckers don’t know who they’re messing with.
The fine art of delayed gratification
Taking our faith seriously in a world of instant gratification is a hard swim upstream. If we’re lucky, we’ll end up back were we started.
Babies, nurses, and blessings
So I gave birth to a little girl on Wednesday evening. All is well. Her three siblings are loving and gentle, and we’ve all enjoyed the unexpected flower arrangements and cute stuffed animals that have arrived at our door these last 48 hours. A few thoughts on the early days of new motherhood, fourth time […]
The gift
My mother is gone now, but I still have that guitar. I remember how happy it made her to give it to me.
Mom of teens? Help me out.
How could a mom work to prevent this kind of mess for their future teens? Is there a way?
The Down syndrome community’s abortion rift
In the strange case of the competing Down syndrome booklets, it all comes down to abortion.
My ideal bookshelf
An artistic college acquaintance of mine is hitting the big stage with an awesome idea. If I had $380 lying around, I’d buy one of her minimal, bright, and winsome paintings of my ideal bookshelf.
There is darkness before the dawn
Our true fate is not in the hands of Connecticut Light & Power. Even if the lights go out, we have to remember to keep the faith.
Rights Language and the Right
Policies are negotiable. Rights are not. If you characterize your rival’s policies as violations of other people’s rights, you can write your own political future.
Ode to running
I have a long-standing love affair with the NYC marathon. I’m glad they didn’t run it last Sunday because I would have been very, very jealous.
What to think?
I knew movie stars, hipsters, college students, East Coast elites, union members, academics, and public schools teachers and administrators would all vote Obama. Understandable. But Catholics?
Boys will be boys
Every day, in a thousand little ways, we are forced to decide which rough edges of our kids’ personalities we are going to sand down.
