Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Home
Catholic

true story

Select a Category abortion Abuse Advent America American Christianity angel angels Annunciation Appalachia apparition apparition chaser apparition chasers apparition culture art art review babies baby baby Jesus Bad Lip Reading bad statue contest bath beauty Bible story blog blogkeeping blood book review Brandon Sanderson breastfeeding bus Catholic catholic conspiracy alarmism Catholic Oppositional Disorder Charismatic Renewal Charlie the Cat chastity Christ Christian idenitity Christianity and Judaism Chronic Illness clean clothing COD piece comedy compassion conscience conspiracy theory conversion cop-on-black violence Crucifixion cry of the poor culture Daesh Daily Saints death death penalty devotional diaconate diaper diapers dirty disability Donald Trump Dorothy Day dream drugs Eastern Catholicism Eastern Christianity education election election update Elsewhere on Patheos empathy environment Fear feminism film review fish flashback fluffy buns food Franciscan University of Steubenville Friendship Room fun Gabriel gardening gospel hair-splitting Heaven hell heresy Hillary Clinton history Holly the Witch Holy Spirit holy war Homeschooling homosexuality horror human dignity humor Icon idol immigrants infection inter-religious dialogue Interpretation of Scripture Islam Jesus Jihad Joseph joy laity and lay vocations lamb dinner laundry lent lgbtq literature love manners Mary Medicine and Science Meditation mercy mess milk misogyny Missouri monasticism monster motherhood mourn with those mourn movies movis music mystery nature neurodiversity New Pro-Life Movement news nonsense nostalgia O antiphons obituary objectification Ohio Valley Ordinary Time ordination Ordo Amoris parable paradox Passover peanut butter personal beliefs pets philosophy Planet Charismatic poetry politics polls poop Pope Francis Pope Leo power in the Church prayer prayer request prayers preferential option for non-violence president presidential election priest primary private revelation pro-life prophecy Public face of Catholicism Pure Flix Q and A race racism random rape rape. sexuality reader's request Reckoners refugee religious trauma ressurrection Right to life Saints saints and celebrations same-sex same-sex marriage satire scandal secular feasts seder Seven Joys Seven Last Words sex sexual ethics sexuality silencing six months skid row slavery social justice Speculative fiction spiritual abuse spoon stain story suffering suffrage suffragette Sunday Gospel temple Tenebrae Responsories Terror the exorcist The Friendship Room The New Pro-Life Movement Things I Learned on the Internet tin cup traffic true story tv review Uncategorized USCCB vice and temptation violence Virtue virtue and vice war Way of the Cross whimsy whole life women's ordination work of mercy Year A

Select a Month October 2026 September 2026 August 2026 July 2026 June 2026 May 2026 April 2026 March 2026 February 2026 January 2026 December 2025 November 2025 October 2025 September 2025 August 2025 July 2025 June 2025 May 2025 April 2025 March 2025 February 2025 January 2025 December 2024 November 2024 October 2024 September 2024 August 2024 July 2024 June 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016

February 2020

February 20, 2020

Fifty Years Ago, If a Guy Said to a Girl…

I don't usually comment on "The Transformed Wife," whose real name is Lori Alexander. I...

April 2019

April 07, 2019

Silencing Victims is Not Evangelization

The other day I was furious about the abuse survivor who was told not to...

March 2019

March 10, 2019

More on Christ the Victim, And the Necessity of Speaking Out

I was going to let the trolls take over the combox and retire on...

January 2019

January 14, 2019

They Had Heard No Thunder

My mother had a lurid fascination with apparitions. Most every Catholic I knew was...

November 2018

November 01, 2018

A Legacy of Scandal: Sheltering Abuse at Franciscan University

I loved Father Mike Scanlan. I know that I have been less than complimentary...

July 2018

July 25, 2018

In Defense of Libraries

I once had to do a tricky take-home exam on Plato, over a...

June 2018

June 24, 2018

The Night Hike

We used to vacation in Pocahontas County. My family had reunions in the old...

June 23, 2018

Evening in the Gardens of LaBelle

The day's heavy rain cleared up while Michael was running errands with Rosie. It...

May 2018

May 24, 2018

A Bucket Will Not Save You

I saw one of those ads for a kit, to help you survive the...

November 2017

November 27, 2017

White Supremacism Is Every American’s Monster

I recently saw an article that was published and became very popular last summer, which...

October 2017

October 16, 2017

A Plummeting Ghost

I once read that, if you ever find yourself falling to your death, you should say "My...

July 2017

July 21, 2017

A Sober Discourse About Pornography

Everyone's talking about pornography these days, what with the Game of Thrones season...

March 2017

March 24, 2017

Where’s the Borscht?

I grew up associating Lent with fish sticks and bland, canned-soup casserole on Fridays. My...

February 2017

February 14, 2017

A Message From the Family of an “Illegal Alien”

I received a message from a reader whose husband is in the country illegally. After trying...

January 2017

January 18, 2017

A Testimony Worth Reading: A Review of “You Carried Me”

You Carried Me: A Daughter's Memoir is the memoir of someone who is inconvenient. She...

January 10, 2017

Requiem For The Forgotten

A woman froze to death today. She was homeless. She'd been evicted from her low-income...

December 2016

December 09, 2016

All Who Love Nicholas the Saintly

I asked Saint Nicholas to be my father. It wasn't really necessary. All saints are...

November 2016

November 21, 2016

What the Legion Taught Me: How To Spot A Fake Catholic Personality Cult

When I was a teenager, for a couple of years, my mother forced me to...

October 2016

October 24, 2016

The Only Thing Scarier Than A Spook

(image via Pixabay) Halloween is almost here. Hooray!!! I've already gushed about my great love...

October 20, 2016

Why Do We Presume The Poor Are Stupid?

(image via Pixabay) Almost six years ago now, I went down to the pro-life crisis...

October 04, 2016

The Madman with the Pineapple: A Recollection for the Feast of Saint Francis

(image via Pixabay) Great Grandmother was a Secular Franciscan. "I could be buried in a...

September 2016

September 26, 2016

Soviet Children Fear the Dark: Mr. Rogers and the Call to Love Our Enemy

(image via Pixabay) I'm on an Eastern Countries kick lately. Want to hear about the...

September 23, 2016

Saint Pio, the Transfiguration and a Coconut Cake

(Image via Pixabay.) Today is the the feast of Saint Pio of Pietrelcina. I like...

September 10, 2016

Where Were You?

(image via Wikimedia Commons) Where were you? That's the question people always ask, after there's...

September 02, 2016

The Children of God and the Taco Truck Connundrum

(image via Pixabay) I'd like to repeat what I've stated several times already, that Steel...

August 2016

August 20, 2016

What Do We Do, When We Fold Our Hands? How Do We Pray For An Enemy?

(image via Pixabay) When I was very little, before I lived on the Planet Charismatic, when we...

August 12, 2016

Yochabelle Is Trapped Between The Blocks!

(Image: Charlton Heston as Moses in The Ten Commandments, Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.) My husband...

August 10, 2016

In the Shadow of Thy Wings

(image via Pixabay) If I were a fairy tale character, the magical skill I'd want...

August 08, 2016

Struggle to Perfect Your Loves, Do Not Struggle Against Them

(Image via Pixabay.) Once, I got a ride home from Mass on a cold...

July 2016

July 26, 2016

The One Who Lays Down His Life: A Word on Today’s Martyrdom of Father Jacques Hamel

Once again, I turn on my computer and hear of a terrorist attack in France....