I have never been more than an occasional viewer of Fr. Robert Barron’s Word on Fire chats. His recent televised interview with EWTN’s Catherine Szeltner put paid to whatever interest I had. Newly elevated to an auxiliary bishop in the sprawling L.A. diocese, now-Bp. Barron was in Baltimore for his initial appearance among the USCCB.…
Halloween snuck up on my family again this year. A new baby, a child entering college, a late start to homeschool, and the ever-present demands of work and family just about pushed the whole thing out of our minds. We were going to do a family theme: the Skojecs as the Avengers for Halloween. It was perfect.…
After the first terrorist attack in Paris in January of 2014, I began working on this essay. Following the most recent attacks, I decided it was time to finish it and see it published. Two important articles have raised important questions about the state of the West in its unavoidable confrontation with the increasing expansiveness…
“Ecclesial communities derived from the Reformation and separated from the Catholic Church, “have not preserved the proper reality of the Eucharistic mystery in its fullness, especially because of the absence of the sacrament of Holy Orders.” It is for this reason that, for the Catholic Church, Eucharistic intercommunion with these communities is not possible.” – Catechism…
Institutionalized adultery, incest, infanticide, shameless sexual abuse of children, and homosexuality. After about a hundred pages of overlap with Catholic truth, the fifth book of The Republic reminds one of the dark side of paganism. The shock of reading Plato talk so uninhibitedly about what we now know as horrific vice is refreshing, like a…
Thanksgiving has been one of my favorite holidays since I was a child, and it hasn’t changed much over the years. It may seem like the focus is on food more than thankfulness, but as a parent you don’t have to fight terribly hard to help your children remember what it’s all about. Cut out…
Editor’s note: this report originally appeared at the website of the Lepanto Institute. We have agreed to republish it to assist in sharing information about this important story. The Lepanto Institute was recently asked by a supporter if the Salesian Missions was a “safe charity” to donate to. Not knowing the answer, Lepanto Institute conducted…
Twenty-some years ago, I had a typical freshman year in college: studying, getting acclimated to dorm life, and training to go door-to-door to get people to “make a personal decision for Christ.” Wait, what? Didn’t you do that last one your freshman year? I guess that was unique to my experience as an Evangelical Protestant…
Editor’s note: as with all stories attempting to uncover what is transpiring behind the scenes at the Vatican, this report includes, by necessity, a certain amount of speculation based on information gleaned from unnamed sources. While the Italian press appears to have long-since accepted the blurring of the lines between reporting and rumor that is…
Since early October, Catholics have peeked through the looking glass to see if the Jabberwock of doctrinal plasticity could be slain. It is a destabilizing place to be. Never in their lifetime have most Catholics been here before. We watched, pawns in “a great huge game of chess that’s being played—all over the world—if this…
These days, the Universal Church is wending her way to the end of the liturgical year, which can be a bittersweet time for believers. As the days shorten and natural light diminishes, we are asked to remember the myriad witnesses who have gone before us “marked with the sign of faith.” Our long, rich history…
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