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June 2015

June 15, 2015

How to Idiot Proof Your Parish and Diocese Against the Sexual Abuse Crisis

The idiots in question are ordinary people like yourself, busy, overwhelmed with responsibilities, always trying...

June 13, 2015

Transvestites and Conservative Christians Meet Minds at the Cult of Prettiness

Being pretty has never come naturally to me. I like the concept in theory, but...

May 2015

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 20, 2015

Marriage is Not a Purchase, Your Spouse is Not Your Slave

Unclear on the concept is abounding these days. Michelle Arnold shared the link to this...

May 15, 2015

Letter to a Discouraged Evangelist

I wrote the following in response to a "What would you say?" question from Sherry...

May 13, 2015

The Shame that Breeds Helplessness is Destroying Our Parishes

There was some debate among internet-Catholics about the recent findings by the Pew Research Center concerning the...

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 11, 2015

If Your Ministry, Apostolate, School, or Parish is Failing . . . It’s Probably You. – Updated

Updated to preface the comments below with responses to two readers who scrupled in various...

May 10, 2015

Survey Now Open: Listen To Me, Catholic Mothers Edition

I've lost my patience with church people who just won't listen to the real stories...

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 19, 2015

What’s Wrong with Age-Bracketed Sacramental Prep?

In a private conversation I found myself writing, "This is why I despise, and I...

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...

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...

March 10, 2015

A Patron Saint for Rabble Rousers and their Bishops

When I answered Tom McDonald's How I Pray series, one of the pile of question marks...

February 2015

February 24, 2015

Understanding the Catholic Blogosphere 101

In response to a private conversation lamenting some of the unrelenting negativity that can infect...

February 23, 2015

The Antidote to both Clericalism and Nostalgia . . .

. . . is a thorough reading of the lives of the saints. Don't pick...

February 20, 2015

Christian Community and the Loss of Penance

In a private forum, someone asked why Catholics don't talk about acts of penance so much...

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 13, 2015

Why the Bad Music at Mass?

Fr. Longenecker writes here on why Catholics can't have good music, and he makes a...

January 2015

January 17, 2015

The 2nd Commandment is Like It: The US Bishops Face Their Boko Haram

In thinking about the massacres in Nigeria, my train of thought ran like this: How...

January 15, 2015

Christian Community Renewal for Ordinary Moms

This story is for Melanie Bettinelli, who is far more thoughtful than I am, and...

January 13, 2015

Liturgical Living: What Does It Look Like At Your House? – Updated

UPDATED with the bit about Fridays and Solemnities. Melanie Bettinelli writes about the awkwardness of...

January 12, 2015

You Know Catholic Education Has Serious Problems When . . .

. . . Father Barron can drop a quote like this: To see how quickly...

January 12, 2015

Single-Solution Christian Formation is Guaranteed to Fail

In the on-going conversation on what works, and what doesn't, in youth ministry, here are...

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

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 07, 2015

Gay Marriage & Employment in the Archdiocese of Miami

Kathy Schiffer reports that the Archbishop of Miami has laid out his response to the...

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 27, 2014

Diocese Pays for IVF, Does $2 Million Penance

In my comments yesterday, I neglected to fully rake the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend...