Recently in Life Category

.....I was an astronaut?"

The follow is an important element of little Michael's vocabulary. He utters it a few times an hour.

I know what it means. Do you?

(hint: It's a contraction of sorts)

Wuff

...because I've been blogging so vigorously!

This is the time of the summer in which I start to go a little nuts. Not because my children are restless and ill-behaved, because they are not, but because the introvert in me is wondering, "Am I ever going to be able to think again?" It's almost as if I can't find myself, and then I start staying up later and later in order to just have some of that time and the resultant fatigue isn't helpful to creative energies. A vicious circle.

I have also been occupied with school registrations, which were this week, and getting Katie ready for another big journey, this time, school-related, with a group. She left yesterday and is, I presume, safely at her destination today.

Thinking about, studying up on various political and religious issues. Thinking about life and how to live it. Thinking about God and the tension between the facts that just as we encounter God through His creation, including His creatures, that creation and those creatures move, change, die and disappear and the questions that raises. Augustine calls, obviously. Thinking about how denying death, separating death out from our daily existence, refusing to accept and embrace our own deaths is an act of profound prideful non-solidarity with creation and most specifically other human beings.  Thinking about the suffering human beings endure right at this moment, suffering so much more painful than mine.

Thinking about a moment during Mass at the Cathedral in Barcelona in which, not knowing the language, my mind was freer to roam, in which I ran through the various options for responses to life at this point and it hit me hard that the only one that was consistent with being a disciple of Jesus, with God's love and love in general,  the only one that would bear any fruit at all was, "Thank you."

Pondering that. Pondering my resistance to it.


Contemplating a major project. Procrastinating on the major work necessary to get that major project off the ground because it involves thinking about all these questions, unsettled and unsure - in addition to those persistent questions about ability and competence.

Read the new Richard Russo yesterday.  I'll have a review tomorrow. 


 Thinking about houses, thinking, as I have discovered is my own particular means of determined escapism, about travel, this time pouring over Gulf shore rentals - I have never been down there, and I thought we might go for a couple of days before school starts. But then, in going to the pool here, we have more often than not found ourselves alone, or near to it. At the beginning of the summer, the complex pools are very busy, but by now, the novelty has worn off. So pondering the situation, with the boys swimming and me reading in the hot sunshine and shimmering waters in near-solitude, I thought...I prefer the beach, but this is pretty sweet. A private pool. We'll stick around.

Well, except for the next couple of days. I have a speaking engagement up north later today and we'll take the opportunity to see a few sites up in those parts. I might get a bit of bloggage in later today, but tonight's stay will be at an internet-free secret location, so we'll see.

In the meantime, just one bit of bloggage, sent to me by a friend, from the print edition of Sunday's AJC, an article on Catholics in Atlanta.

(In case you are confused, the link for continuing to read the article beyond the first page is at the top of the page.)

I thought a lot about this Scripture, proclaimed at Mass yesterday:

Brothers and sisters:
I declare and testify in the Lord
that you must no longer live as the Gentiles do,
in the futility of their minds;
that is not how you learned Christ,
assuming that you have heard of him and were taught in him,
as truth is in Jesus,
that you should put away the old self of your former way of life,
corrupted through deceitful desires,
and be renewed in the spirit of your minds,
and put on the new self,
created in God's way in righteousness and holiness of truth.

The Universalis site uses the Jerusalem Bible translation:

I want to urge you in the name of the Lord, not to go on living the aimless kind of life that pagans live. Now that is hardly the way you have learnt from Christ, unless you failed to hear him properly when you were taught what the truth is in Jesus. You must give up your old way of life; you must put aside your old self, which gets corrupted by following illusory desires. Your mind must be renewed by a spiritual revolution so that you can put on the new self that has been created in God's way, in the goodness and holiness of the truth.

It struck me, and has anchored me the past day and through today. It has been busy with entertaining things, business-type things - a bit of writing, Katie's school registration, which is always an ordeal. And through it all, I think, "Six months ago today. Haven't seen him in six months."

And many thoughts have come to me which are not ready for this spot and are probably better suited for something longer and more substantial. But I keep coming back to one point, one that is not specific to Michael's death and my response to it, so it is probably the one most worth sharing.

What has been revealed to me, in a really profound way, is the inadequacy of language and intellectual constructs. I could sit down with you for a day, solid, and try to talk about this. I could write a book. We could maybe even talk for a week about our respective experiences, and still, words would not be enough to convey the mystery of it, which is not just the mystery of death, but the mystery of life, too, of course.

I always said that this was true - that words are inadequate - but the understanding of it has burrowed deep inside over the past six months, not in a mournful, despairing way, but in a way that is puzzling, intriguing and even though it is  frustrating, it is also...how shall I say it...inviting.

It just seems to me that while other areas of knowledge are necessary and helpful, the only areas of life which could even begin to say or express anything meaningful about all of this, that even begin to get close to the layers, the questions, the moments of clarity, the doubts, the assurances, the light and darkness, the gratitude and the mystery are two: art and faith.

And so we walk on, renewed, no longer in the futility of our minds, no longer aimless. As the man says.

We went to the zoo today. Did the whole circuit in one visit, which we usually don't do. It was Joseph's desire, though, and I let him lead, knowing how much planning and organizing and figuring things out satisfies him....

With apologies to the original.(Location: Birmingham Zoo)...

Where: Our apartment parking lotWhen:  About 11:30 am Sunday.(Mild language alert, I guess.)We're on our way to the zoo.  A young man and young woman stand in between my car and another. She is slight, with longish blonde hair. He...

Melanie Bettinelli has an excellent post - helpful not just in the links she provides, but in her perspective as one who has prayed the LIturgy of the Hours - with varying degrees of "success" - for years. A good...

There are many good comments on the Padre Pio post below - Fr. John just wrote one that I think sums everything up very nicely:In addition to all the things noted above, I think that Padre Pio had three characteristics...

Nice article in the WaPo today about Franciscan friars walking on pilgrimage from Roanoke, VA to DC: She pressed $3.52 into his hand, which he accepted reluctantly. "I realized she wasn't giving this to us or to me," Goodin said....

Finally, Barnes and Noble frees up the Wi-Fi signal in its stores. Long overdue  - anyone who steps into a Panera Bread midafternoon will be struck by the number of folks w/open laptops, together or in groups, obviously doing work-related...

I blogged about this before,  but as I am finally going through my pics for posting on Flickr, it's simply reasserted - Padre Pio, Patron of Italy.As I said previously, I do believe a statue or image of Padre Pio...

I have been struggling - in a mild kind of way - on what and how to blog. I have been avidly following the debate on health care and have strong opinions, but cannot quite figure out how to blog...

Little Michael's memory is freakish. Or maybe all 4-year olds are like this, all children...maybe even all of us, and it gets obscured.When we were staying at the Sillitti Agriturismo, our only fellow guests were a woman from San Diego...

I am so superstitious, I could not write this post until I'd received my credit card bill for the car rental in Sicily.Superstitious as in "don't count your chickens before they hatch," which, to tell the truth, I do not...

Michael, delighted, feeling the back of his own neck:"I have FUR!"...

...around the world. Outside the Chattanooga Aquarium, June '09Agrigento, Sicily, July '09(Yes, I know the stroller is empty...)...

The grass is there, but patchy. The stone is there, too. His name, etched as if on the pages of an open book. It was not my first choice, but I did not notice that design at first. When I...

Sometimes Daddy comes in my dreams.Does he say anything?Yes.What does he say?I don't remember....

The new issue of Dappled Things is out, and includes and interview with Carlos Eire.Who is that, you say?Well, Eire is the author of a book I have had on my list for ages now, but somehow have never managed...

And you think there's something wrong with a dinner of cream cheese, crackers, cantaloupe, apple juice and yogurt? Bring it!(as in "be my guest to bring something else")Spying on the neighbors:In all the time I've spent in Florida, on...

I thought it would be interesting to take a little tour through the last four Sunday Masses I've attended.I would say, first of all, that  worries about the loss of the universality of the Mass after V2 are sorely misplaced....

Or, as I call it, "meds"...

I broke down and bought one, not at Mount Etna, but at one of the souvenir stalls outside the Archaelogical Park in Siracusa:I have to admit, seen alone, when not lined up in the midst of dozens of other similarly-glittered-up...

All over Sicily, we lit candles for Daddy.In Erice: In Siracusa: (Santuario Madonna delle Lacrime) In Modica:..and some other places.  Not as many as they would have liked. Partly because in most of the churches we were able to get...

This is not to be morbid or obsessed, I promise.It's just that the cemeteries in Sicily fascinated me. Perhaps this type of arrangement, this landscape is common in southern Europe or Italy. I don't know.  It was a bit like...

Carmelite church, Scicli, Sicily, Italy....

Improvise I really need to pay more attention to what they're up to....

Okay, okay...not a parable. A saying. Got it. On the western coast of Sicily, they harvest salt. Not as much as they used to, but they do , indeed, still do it.(The tiles are placed, obviously, to hold the salt...

Or, actually, weeds among the chickpeas.I have written a bit about the agriturismo at which we stayed - and which I absolutely plan to return at some point - the Sillitti Farm, owned by Sylvia and Bruno (photos here)....

The Good Shepherd: South of Caltinessetta, Sicily...

I am slowly getting back into the groove. I am not exhausted or even tired, and no one else is either. I was fairly efficient in unpacking - unusual.  it's just that there have been and are things to do...

On our way from the agriturismo (south of Caltanissetta) to the beach place in the south, we took a bit of a long way, via Caltagirone, very famous for its production of ceramics. The stair steps are quite well-known: Photo...

As I mentioned, I've been up for a while, everyone else is asleep, I just got that work I had to do finished, so let's post pics and blog madly with this fantastic Wi-fi here in Charlotte.I really liked Barcelona...

Currently at the Charlotte airport, on the last leg of this crazy itinerary. Tried to get an earlier flight from here to BHM, but it was overbooked anyway. (Thanks, Gashwin for your advice!)Katie and Michael are crashed on the floor....

I'm so confused. I keep wanting to say Ciao. The Sardana, danced in the Cathedral square after noon Mass: And adios from two now-experienced Barcelona public transit navigators, using up that final T-10 ride on a last look at Sagrada...

Well, not really a manifesto. But anyway...Down at the port, Barcelona....

Buying the boys little notebooks to take along on this trip was genius, if I do say so myself. They forget them a third of the time, drop them while crossing streets a few times a day, but all in...

And I got them...Gracias!...

On a backstreet in Barcelona....

Today began with rain in Barcelona. And continued. And kept going. And still kept falling, even after we had decided it was tapering off, then emerged from the subway station into the midst of umbrella-sellers (I cannot possibly reproduce with...

I have to say, first off, that I know next to nothing about Spain. I have an interest in some aspects of Spanish history especially the Counter Reformation and the Spanish Civil War,  but had never really thought about it...

Glad to be here, for many reasons, including a decent little washer-dryer combination (one of those that does both functions in the same machine.) Was going to go to Montserrat, but I think we're worn out enough from day...

He's everywhere.No, not Michael Jackson.Padre Pio.Yes, I knew he was popular. Yes, I knew Italians loved him. But I had no idea almost every church I would enter would hold an image of Padre Pio. I have to say, I...

Yes, I left my camera in the apartment this morning as we set out for Modica. Durn. There would have been some good photos there. Ah, well, I photographed it with my brain, I hope.This southeastern part of Sicily is...

Yesterday was a beachy sort of day - and I'm also very glad to report that yesterday I discovered that what looked like a hole-in-the-wall down the road is really a nifty little pizzeria/tavola calda that does excellent pizzas in...

It's Sunday night, I'm sitting here on the front porch of our little apartment in a beach town on the southern coast of Sicily. Sitting out here not only because it is comfortable, but because it is the best place...

..or there..Lost internet for a couple of days, but it's back. It's been quite interesting. Going to Mass by the sea - a special Mass they have at 8:30 on Sunday nights literally right around the corner from our apartment....

The duomo, which is interesting for many reasons, including the visible evidence of various stages of construction and restoration. The mosaics give way to baroque decoration, which has been removed from the rest of the church in order to better...

It's early morning here. I've just hung out a load of laundry in the sunny, slightly cool morning air - there's a breeze, so it will dry fairly quickly, in time for us to pack it up and move on.Everyone...

Because nothing says "charming, busy medieval beach town" better than a stuffed....something.From here. An enjoyable little museum containing the Baron's personal collection. Art, archaeological finds, coins, seashells and....critters. I really enjoy these small Italian museums in which they hand...

Joseph: "I wish we could have Sicily and America mixed together..."Me: "Why?"Joseph: "Because then we wouldn't have to eat so late!"Rest assured, we had food back here at the apartment. No waiting until 9 to eat was necessary for the...

Moving on tomorrow (Friday) to another destination. We are loathe to leave this:  But are hopeful that as we move on, the next spot will hold experiences just as interesting and rewarding.Because really, what else can you do? ...

So yes, today was Mount Etna.Totally worth it, as the kids say. Totally.I had promised several things, including castles and volcanos. That's out of the way. I had also promised  puppets, but I don't know if that's going to happen...

When it comes to buying souvenirs, I am usually all for the tacky. My dad and mom went to London right after the Diana/Charles marriage, and I asked them to bring me back the tackiest thing they could find...

Joseph demonstrates his muscles at Mt. Etna.And you know what? Yeah, it's volcanic, and it's really light, and it's a joke, but he is strong. He is....

As in - serious castle.This is the Castle of Chiaramonte overlooking the town of Mussomelli.We headed up there around 9:45 and arrived around 11:00, even though it was maybe 30 miles from where we are as the crow flies. But...

...but still fascinating.So, as we ate our sandwiches I had picked up at the autogrill on the way back (autogrill=convenience store of sorts with gas station. Coffee/mediocre panini bar replaces slushees and sausages slowly turning on rollers.) - oh, by...

I have weaknesses and strengths in regard to this little Sicilian towns. I can find my way in and out of them, but once in them, I can never seem to find anything I intend to. Even the big church...

So you picture Sicily (or many other parts of Europe) and you might picture "flocks of sheep in the road." I scoffed. A pious myth, I said. Doesn't really happen.Okay, so it was goats and sheep: How is this going...

...of the duomo in Piazza Armerina: A mom's eye view. Her own child in the forefront, naturally. Katie's eye view.  She really liked the almost Wedgewood-like effect of the interior.Little Michael's eye view. (He took the photo. Randomly) Closer to...

I'm sorry.Actually, I'm not really.Look, these little boys have been super, fantastic travelers so far, and even decent eaters. Joseph gobbled down pasta with pesto the other night - perhaps it  being about 9pm had something to do with it,...

When I first started researching Sicily, one of the things I read is that it's popular to eat gelato for breakfast, and in a particular form: as a filling in a bun. I just couldn't picture it. Well, here's the...

Yeah, basically this trip is about going places where Katie and I can absorb a little history and the boys can run around like madmen, ...and contemplating variations of sic transit gloria mundi for three weeks straightOh, and wine and...

The agriturismo where we are staying right now has dogs and cats. Both boys are enchanted with this, but especially Michael. He races through his breakfast so he can run out and greet his friends. This makes me happy, sad,...

I don't mind the Italian way of driving.In fact... I kind of like it.Let me explain. When I was planning this trip, it became clear to me pretty early that renting a car was going to be a necessity. If...

So saith my daughter at the end of the first full day in our B & B in Scopello.My poor children. I haul them around the world, thinking I have explained to them where we are going and why, only...

I have two days to catch up on here - I'm thinking Saturday will be a quiet day, which I need, but you never know. Better internet today, but still not great. However, I will take not-great internet in Sicily...

The quiet life.I finally have decent internet connecton - one which does not involve hanging outside the window of a B & B in Scopello, Sicily, with a TIM USB key trying to catch rays and communicate them to the...

I had no plans for the first full day here - I have very few plans, period, as a matter of fact. As I was thinking about this trip on Sunday night, I was sort of shocked at how few...

..is the fact that they sell contact lenses in vending machines.Okay, so I'm kidding. It's my second favorite thing.Oh, stop. For all I know it's a European thing - or even a non-US-thing. All I know is that it's nifty....

And it was worth it. ...

1. Fly First Class or Business. Yeah, I know. Me neither.Okay, try this:2.  Be three feet tall.No? I'm with you on that one too.I always hope to sleep on a plane, but never really have on any of my numerous...

So, yeah, if you saw me running through the Charlotte airport on Monday right before noon and I didn't say "hi..."  well, sorry about  that.  I was determined not to check bags. On the return end, I will, but on...

Something on the other side of a wall-sized window excites Michael."It's Daddy's plane!"Katie and I stare at each other. Neither really knows what to say. Finally, I manage, "What makes it Daddy's plane?" He doesn't answer, but only repeats, "It's...

...with a new camera. Because we're all about depth and profudity here. But I had to practice for upcoming events: There will be pictures of churches: (Cathedral of St. Paul, Birmingham, AL. Not bad.)         Boys running...

I have many dear, sweet friends who have been thinking about me this past week. More than thinking in fact. They have been praying. They have offered Masses. One friend fasted for our intentions on Wednesday. Sometimes, this virtual neighborhood,...

"Wake up and start living a life that can't be explained except for the fact that Jesus is your Lord and you follow him."The Internet Monk with thoughts and questions for parents on Father's Day....

Well, actually, it was. A lake beach, of sorts. Muji journal: check. (volume...what? 6? 7?)Summer reading: checkThomas sandals: checkThey're a little small, but whatever.Boys, swimming: checkWhere? Here.  An easy 10 miles or so from our apartment.We had been here once...

Maybe this:  The one who provides seed for the sower and bread for food will provide you with all the seed you want and make the harvest of your good deeds a larger one, and, made richer in every way,...

We all have our definitions for good service. Here's mine: We sat down, she greeted us, and then immediately, with knowing grace, removed a certain utensil from each of the boys' place settings. Either a parent or a veteran of...

I was awestruck by the pattern on these rays....

So, a bit of change in plans. Not that I plan much these days anyway.I'd post a photo, except for the fact that even though I brought my camera, I left the USB connector at home. (Maybe I should get...

(Comments open now.)Sorry for the slow blogging - but I think the Internet is slow, period, these days, except for @ChangeforIran at Twitter. Well-merited, that. It's nice outside (except for that amazing storm this morning at 11:00 am that left...

...driving and swimming.....that's our week so far.Years ago, I was talking to a mother of two toddler girls. Christopher (now 26) was just a baby. I don't remember what the topic of conversation was - perhaps the sweetness of little...

...or at least a block down.Thursday night, the boys saw their first Broadway show - The Thirty-Nine Steps, a rather madcap sort of re-imaging of Hitchcock's film, with the primary attraction being the fact that the many characters are played...

If you're Catholic, you heard that phrase from Matthew 28 today, but translated differently - as "but they doubted." The Greek can be translated either way.I have written before about the gift of being prayed for. About startling mystical experiences....

A leg. Brought on the train around Stamford, taken off at Grand Central Station....

...who remember how much I always appreciated seeing Buddhist monks in the post office, walking around the park, or in Kroger's in Fort Wayne, Indiana..this is for you: I did love seeing people of all nationalities and faiths going to...

Wednesday night, Katie and I went to see Waiting for Godot.The wonderful daughter of a wonderful friend stayed with the boys in the hotel. Over the four full days we were in NYC, one or all of us saw four...

(as they say at Trip Advisor and such) Dear God, where is she taking me next?...

(or seem so at least)...spend a week in single hotel rooms with three other people...That'll do it.I am contractually obligated to write five blog posts a week. I guess I'd better get cracking on that over the next few hours...(It...

Yes, we're here in New York, for the first part of "Dramatic Change of Scenery Tour '09"It will be wandering, meeting up with a couple of people, and a couple of shows, and a trip up to New Haven so...

More in the morning. I will give a big thumbs-up to the closed-off portion of Broadway. A big, busy, glowing, people-watching mecca. With lawn chairs....

Sorry for the silence. It was an unrelenting day. I tried to think of various other adjectives.  Hard, harsh, brutal, difficult...they were all either too dramatic or inadequate in other ways. Unrelenting fits.It had not seemed as if it would...

The house in The Fort has been sold, basically. It is a huge relief. We are heading up there this weekend to do a final cleanout. The basement is full of stuff that we couldn't fit in the apartment and...

Over the course of the year, he took a little Latin class.They met after school, it had a conversational bent (yes), it was informal and small, and he learned some things.At the end of the year, they had a party....

Yeah, my head wasn't here for a few days. For the usual reasons - I have all kinds of thoughts going on, but don't quite have them sorted out enough for publication. There's all kinds of other stuff going on...

Begin here.(No photos today - good food, but really not worth photographing)(Food - even sans photo. Katie had some sort of sandwich which she declared "okay" boys had shrimp  & grits - if by "shrimp & grits" you mean "what...

..at Whole Foods, where the wine buyer was tasting the offerings of a vendor at the table next to where I had parked myself with my computer (free wi-fi), my books, my journal and my cup of some sort of...

Brian Saint-Paul looks at recent polling indicating a gradual shift in opinion on abortion rights.For the first time since Gallup began polling on the question 15 years ago, more Americans now describe themselves as "Pro-Life" than they do "Pro-Choice," and...

Obama speaks at Notre Dame on Sunday...what happens Monday?Presenting...the Monday Project.A fundraising project for Crisis Pregnancy Centers...even if you don't participate in this particular effort - it's still a good idea....

By Jody Bottum. A longer version of this will appear in the next, soon-to-be appearing issue of First Things. This preview is in The Weekly Standard:It's not about politics, he says - it's about culture:Meanwhile, in the offices of the...

I was hoping to make it to the new Saigon Noodle House that's opened in the Target shopping strip just a mile down the road - it's getting raves locally, not just for the noodles, but also for the Banh...

Beautiful new ad from Catholic Vote - the second "Imagine the Potential" ad. The first, as you recall, focused on the image of an unborn child, imagining the potential and promise of that child growing up to be the first...

On a Friday night, the blue-tinted Puck crouched onstage, in the shadow of broken, rusted machinery, and spoke to us about dreams. If we shadows have offended, Think but this, and all is mended, That you have but slumber'd...

Judy Blume wants you to honor her with a donation to Planned Parenthood....Say thanks. Say thanks this Mother's Day with a gift that honors her courage by making a donation to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund in her name. I...

These boys are on their way to:a) workin' on the railroadb) the theaterc) Post-Industrial WastlandWorld at Disney World. New attraction.And the answer is...b....

From Maureen, (of Aliens in this World and invaluable podcasts at Maria Lectrix) in the comments below:If you're against capital punishment, you must be more against capital punishment against babies, which is carried out without trial or jury or appeal...

This week's failed attempt at FoodBlogging:Some sort of salumi, sopressata, Mozarella di Bufalo, homemade cured olives, roasted tomatoes and...arugula. Never had arugula before - never understood what was meant when it was referred to as "spicy." How can a...

From an alumna, in First ThingsFor many members of the Notre Dame Class of 2009, the uproar surrounding the university's decision to honor Barack Obama with this year's commencement address, and to bestow on him a doctorate of laws, has...

Thanks to commenter South Bender:Laetare Recipient Wanted (Notre Dame, IN) Reply to: gigs-zd7sb-1143896969@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?] Date: 2009-04-28, 9:24AM EDT URGENT!!! Laetare Award recipient needed ASAP!!! Christian preferred, agnostic case-by-case. If interested call Fr. John ,,, by May...

Do I?There are things that bother me. Obviously.  Amid the many things that bother me, detailed here already and not worth repeating, has been the whole issue of the resurrection of the body.But this is nothing new. Michael's death has...

Over at the NCRegister, Father Raymond de Souza has produced a lengthy post about Mary Ann Glendon's decision - putting in the historical context of examining past honors and platforms given to others, including Mario Cuomo and Patrick Moynihan as...

Mary Ann Glendon, in a letter to President Jenkins faxed just this morning, declines the Laetare Medal.(the link is to First Things, which seems to have crashed - much of the text of the letter is here.)Oh, my.Last month, when...

You know how sometimes you go to arts festivals and the kids' areas is all frou-frou kind of crafts about rainbows and flowers, pipe cleaners and tissue paper and such?Well here's how we do arts and crafts for the kids...

This week, I did some things that I've not done in a while. And things I've not been able to face - not because they are painful, but because they are a hassle, and I am well known as Ms....

First, from an interview the NYPost did with Archbishop Dolan, addressing issues raised here and other places: But Dolan acknowledged he did not speak out against Notre Dame when President George W. Bush received the same invitation in 2001, despite...

I notice the Catholics for Sebelius site has been quiet for about a six weeks now.Well, anyway, the confirmation vote for Sebelius has been delayed. Last night she vetoed a bill adding some restrictions - mostly reporting requirements - to...

Well, duh!The good thing is that the racist, xenophobic, classist convictions of Margaret Sanger just might be slowly creeping into the mainstream. I mean...slowly. Every time Hilary Clinton professes her love for Sanger, another opportunity pops up to make the...

More in our "Corporal Works of Mercy" file - remember, this is something I do regularly, using this space to alert you to smaller-scale works of mercy around the globe - even if a small percentage of those of you...

On Friday afternoon, the NIH released draft guidelines for federally-funded embryo-destructive research. Backstory:  The Bush administration had limited such research to a few already-existent cell lines - a decision some hailed as a good compromise, and others - like me...

This is rather amazing - via Fr. Z - Bishop Wenski of Orlando (not a raging "conservative" by any means) is presiding at a "Mass of Reparation" in the Cathedral:As Catholics we are aware of the many shortcomings and transgressions...

Last night, I journeyed out west - to Tuscaloosa, for the first time. Accompanied by my trusty assistants (because their assistant had a play rehearsal), we hopped on 459, then 20 and made our way to a place called Mugshots...

Well, back to President Obama and Notre Dame for a moment.The Catholic Channel on Sirius/XM or whatever it is now, features the radio stylings of Greg and Jennnifer WillIts - the "Catholics Next Door" - midday. Greg and Jennifer are...

I want to tell you what happened on February 3.I can already hear Michael. "Why do you write about my stuff?" He would say. "Write about your own stuff. You've got enough."So I will....

Well, this gig is turning out to a bit more challenging than I thought.Oh, I'm sure in a few more days, I'll be fully in the swing  of it, but right now, I'm stuck.Why?Let's see.....

Day by day, he's living out Romans 7. He's two years old. Our little son Michael is energetic and willful and focused on things of his own choosing - in other words, as I said, he's two. Sometimes his will...

To long-time blogger, fellow Living Faith contributor and Jesuit Mark Mossa who was ordained to the diaconate on Saturday! As well as to art critic, biographer, commenter and opera librettist Terry Teachout who was married on Saturday!...

It was late Saturday afternoon, late enough for Sunday Mass. I didn't think we were that late, but given the no-nonsense approach to liturgy in this parish and the fact that they recite the Gloria rather than sing it, a...

..in case you were wondering.  See, the problem with making a decision to cut down on your blogging is that it makes the decision to actually blog much more difficult to make. For me, at least, it puts so much...

Son #1: Hey, Mom, you know that Love in the Ruins book you gave me? Me: Yeah? Son #1: I read it. Me. (Hopefully) And? Son #1: It was stupid. I didn't like it at all. Me: (Deflated) Oh. Son...

Had a lovely, lovely time last night, speaking to and with the Chicago Legatus chapter. Great people, interesting conversation, and even a couple of familiar faces! I flew - considering gas prices and the relatively low fare  (in Fort Wayne "International"...

Not the best day evah  - oh, certainly not the worst, by any stretch of the imagination - just a few momentary bumps in the road. Three, to be precise, each starting with "Dear [Amy's agent]" . But I'm telling you, nothing...

...er...maybe not. Couldn't get a good picture - the sun was in my eyes, and I couldn't see very well. but there it is. An old replacement steeple for the original steeple, I believe, that is finally being replaced...

Sorry for the light - in every respect - blogging. My brain is full of stuff, but it's having a hard time finding its way to the blog, for some reason. I am not sure why that is. Probably the...

Last night, Katie and I went to an "Information Night" road show type presentation about Notre Dame. Yes, she's two years away from college apps and no, ND is not a place she is particularly interested in attending, but I...

For some reason, a few months ago, I got slightly obsessed with reading adoption blogs. Oh, I know exactly how it happened. It was around Easter, and I was doing one of those "Catholics celebrating around the world" posts, and...

A couple of notes from elsewhere: Diane from Te Deum Laudemus has a great video she has put together on Benediction at her parish, Assumption Grotto in Detroit. She is hosting it at GodTube, not YouTube, and adds: I had...

Me: I saw Mrs. Miller today after Mass. Katie: What did you talk about? Me: Our ungrateful daughters. (Pause. Double Pause.) Katie: (tentatively) Really? Me: (shrug) Me: How was school? Katie: It was great. I have the best lunch table...

Worst first day of school ever. Weather-wise, that is. Emotionally, everyone was up for it, but..oh the rain! I had the best of intentions - I wanted to take my camera to Joseph's school and snap him in front of...

Our public intellectuals. Our greats. What would we do without them? Ask the child of one of them. He knows. No photograph of him has ever been published, but those who know Daniel Miller say that he resembles his father....