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July 2015

July 01, 2015

10 Things Christian Kids Need to Prepare for an Uncertain Future

In a private conversation Elizabeth Scalia posed a question, and I'm going to paraphrase it wildly:...

June 2015

June 24, 2015

Gay Marriage, Slack Parents, and Religious Ceremonies: An Even Simpler Solution

The usually sensible Fr. Longenecker proposes that the Catholic Church get out of the civil...

June 22, 2015

Something Beautiful: A Short Guide to Praying as a Family

In my mailbox this month: A Short Guide to Praying as a Family, recently released by the...

June 19, 2015

The Terrible Problem with Laudato Si’

"Living our vocation to be protectors of God's handiwork is essential to the life of...

May 2015

May 22, 2015

How to Start a Discipleship Group the Easy Way

Having just observed how desperate Catholics are for serious discipleship, I'd be remiss if I...

May 21, 2015

What Teens (and Everyone Else) Want: Serious Discipleship Time

In conversation with Devra Torres, she commented: I'm starting to think that the habit of...

May 12, 2015

Survey Results: What Would Make it Easier for Families to Learn About the Catholic Faith?

The responses to the first Listen to Me survey have been astounding so far. If you...

May 10, 2015

Preaching: What Works? Why Does it Matter? – Updated

Father Longenecker* writes about his frustration as a homilist here, and he raises a good...

April 2015

April 16, 2015

Are You Smarter than a “Prominent Catholic?” Archbishop Cordileone Rocks the Gospel.

The trouble with being Catholic is that there's not a quiz at the door. One...

April 09, 2015

The Best Catholic Speaker You’ve Never Seen or Heard

Follow-up to my previous post, here's Christian LeBlanc teaching the Catholic faith in a grainy...

April 09, 2015

Three Great Ways to Help Parents Teach Their Children the Faith

In a follow-up on the topic of getting the parent-Church relationship right, here are three...

March 2015

March 20, 2015

Getting the Parent-Church Relationship Right

In private discussions of my post about the role of parents in catechesis, a number...

March 17, 2015

The Hero Complex that is Destroying the Catholic Faith

Ninth grade is when our parish does confirmation, and my son indicated last summer that...

February 2015

February 18, 2015

Atheism, Beauty, and the Loss of Penance

My young daughter, whose cuteness makes her look even younger, sat on the stool at...

February 11, 2015

Screwtape vs. Slubgrip: Fan-Fic? Or do GKC, Belloc, Knox, Lewis, & Tolkien Have a New Colleague?

Fr. Dwight Longenecker has released his second Screwtape-style novel, Slubgrip Instructs. C.S. Lewis fans are understandably...

February 10, 2015

Six Ways to Make Your Confirmation Class More Like an Internet Headline

(Quick update to remind the catechists: This is a blog for adults, not kids. Patheos...

January 2015

January 26, 2015

So, Mr. Jesus. We Meet Again.

This Sunday's Gospel has Jesus out for a walk on the beach, and he sees...

January 11, 2015

A Youth Group Story You Need to Hear

My recent post on my own youth group experience (when I was the "youth") has...

January 08, 2015

Pastoral Care on the Radio, Love of God & Neighbor in Print – Updated

UPDATED to fix the link. My apologies! *** I was amused at some of the...

January 08, 2015

How My Parish Youth Group Helped Me Leave the Catholic Faith

Every week at Mass, I see this really nice couple. I think we first met...

January 04, 2015

Piety Police on Patrol: Try Some Civil Disobedience

In a private forum we're discussing a sad and decidedly personal (so no, I'm not...

December 2014

December 26, 2014

Catholic School Principal Learns $2 Million Catechism Lesson

The IVF case that generated as much heat as light earlier this month has been...

December 17, 2014

Atheists Advise: Don’t Watch Just Anything, Be Discriminating to Safeguard Your Faith

The Washington Times reports that American Atheists have figured out what Catholics have long proclaimed:...

December 13, 2014

Doing Something Right, Episode 2: Church Music

At my house tonight . . . Middle Schooler: What Mass are we going to...

December 11, 2014

Is There a Rational Argument in Favor of IVF for Church Employees?

In discussing the recent scandal out of Notre Dame's theology department, a question arose: Would...

December 11, 2014

IVF, Torture, and Other Hot Moral Topics: Do the Ends Justify the Means?

The topic of ends-vs.-means has been circulating a bunch lately. Are you allowed to do...

December 09, 2014

Are You Smarter than a Notre Dame Theologian? Episode 2, IVF Edition

Tom McDonald pointed me to this article, co-authored by Joel Baden and Candida Moss -- the...

December 04, 2014

Which Saint Book Do You Want for Christmas? This One.

Leah Libresco asks, "So, where should a gal go to meet some saints?" I replied in...

December 02, 2014

You Can Have Santa Magic Without Lying to Your Kids

This post is not about "mental reservation." This is about how it's entirely possible...

November 2014

November 05, 2014

Affordable, Faithful Catholic Education: Online Catholic Schools?

One of the challenges in rearing our children is giving them an education that is...