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July 2021

July 23, 2021

7QT: Life as a Walking Knock-knock Joke

Since it's that time of week, seven things to make you glad you don't live...

June 2021

June 03, 2021

When Mercy Shows Up at Your Parish

I want to speak briefly to the problem of the horrible people you go to...

May 2021

May 23, 2021

A Mission for Old Married People

If you have been faithfully married for a long time, you are likely out of...

May 19, 2021

Hitting the Personal Reset Button

Late January I wrapped up the public side of one heckuva fantastic conference, took a...

January 2021

January 16, 2021

One Weird Trick for Loving Your Extended Enemy-Family

Two different conversations on-topic with this coming weekend's conference* converged on this morning's readings. The...

January 08, 2021

Allowing Jesus to Heal Your Rhetorical Disease

This morning after half a cup of coffee, what I wanted to write was a...

January 06, 2021

Is Your Debate Style Passionate or . . . Poisoned?

Later this month, I am co-hosting a small, pro-bono conference-retreat for Catholic communicators -- professional...

December 2020

December 15, 2020

When you’re ready to change, Jesus is ready to heal you — Catholic pundit edition

This morning's Gospel is the perfect text for conference-retreat I'm co-hosting in a month-and-change from...

December 02, 2020

Fr. Rutler and Other Sinners

I don't always agree, even remotely, with what Rod Dreher has to say, but today...

October 2020

October 27, 2020

Mind the Triumphalism re: #ACB

Suggested Bible verse for conservatives who are raucously celebrating the confirmation Amy Coney Barrett: Proverbs...

September 2020

September 27, 2020

A Snapshot of Systemic Racism in Action

A series of three tweets caught my attention this morning, from Mandie Landry (@votelandry), a...

August 2020

August 13, 2020

Cultivating the Virtue of Perseverance in Prayer

Fr. Matthew Schneider did a great job covering the recent case of a priest who...

August 08, 2020

Breathtaking Beauty in Church Controversies over Kinda-Boring Stuff

This article over at Crux, "Vatican says baptisms done with plural pronouns are invalid" has...

June 2020

June 28, 2020

Spark Truth: The Life-Changing Magic of Reasoning Up

In prepping my first debate class for teenagers, I instituted a revolutionary rule: No participant...

June 23, 2020

The Innocence of St. Junípero Serra

As statues are being torn down or vandalized around the country, the Catholic Church is...

March 2020

March 15, 2020

Common Sense Diagnoses

I'm not a physician and I'm not an epidemiologist, but I do sometimes teach logic....

October 2019

October 14, 2019

What if a Saint Was Gay?

As I write, the usual suspects are circulating conjecture about a newly-canonized saint: Maybe this person...

February 2019

February 17, 2019

Dear Gay Catholic Priests,

I've been reading about your plight in the New York Times. So let's go ahead and clear...

August 2018

August 09, 2018

The Implications of Not Using the Death Penalty

In all the excitement of every bishop in the world's credibility imploding in one fell...

July 2018

July 28, 2018

McCarrick and the Banality of Dissent

As long as we're asking people to come clean about what they knew and didn't:...

June 2018

June 22, 2018

Soldiers for Christ Hiding Under the Bed

Bishops and bloggers live at opposite ends of the talking jobs. Bishops are charged with...

November 2017

November 29, 2017

Doubt, Demoralization, and the Company You Keep

More and more of my Catholic friends are struggling to stay Catholic. They are demoralized...

September 2017

September 14, 2017

Loud Dogma Living at Your House? Get the T-Shirt

My editors over at the Catholic Conspiracy have succumbed to my pleading and issued a...

August 2017

August 16, 2017

Linking Around: Violent Racism and Christian Conversion

Following up from yesterday's brief blurb on Joseph Pearce's autobiography, over at the Register you...

November 2016

November 11, 2016

Post-Election Political Discourse Tips for Beginners

Tip #1: If you wish to protest the provision in the US Constitution that's designed...

September 2016

September 27, 2016

Immigration Policy and the Moral Law

“You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor...

July 2016

July 15, 2016

When Mere Christianity Meets Black Lives Matter

My Anglican friend Timothy Scott Reeves, who sometimes guest posts here, offered me a reprint...

May 2016

May 26, 2016

The Surprising Evidence that Gender Matters, and What to Do About It

When future generations reflect on the fall of the American republic, they'll no doubt get...

December 2015

December 20, 2015

Holiday Despair and the Meaning of Christmas

Years ago my husband had a business trip to Milan, and he went to church...

November 2015

November 15, 2015

Paris and the Battle for the World

In the wake of the attacks on the city of Paris, I was glued to...