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Learning to Share
I was recently reading “Ramona the Pest” by Beverly Cleary with my children. A classic from a generation ago, it features a five-year-old Ramona and the trials and tribulations of Kindergarten. One chapter features a battle between her and her neighbor and fellow classmate Howie. She and Howie are really not friends, but their mothers […]
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“She Made Home Happy”
Families have different ideas of what they view as a “fun” adventure on a beautiful day. Some enjoy amusement parks or going hiking or going to the beach. My family? We enjoy going on a good grave hunt! (Yes, it is entirely possible my children will be discussing this with their therapists when they are […]
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Book Review: Go in Peace
Go in Peace: Your Guide to the Purpose and Power of Confession by Fr. Mitch Pacwa, S.J. and Sean Brown West Chester, PA: Ascension Press, 2007 If there is one area of Catholicism that causes more confusion than any other, it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation (also known as confession). In “Go in Peace: Your […]
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Book Review: Plain Paradise
Plain Paradise (A Daughters of the Promise Novel) by Beth Wiseman Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson, 2010 Beth Wiseman takes her readers on an enjoyable sojourn back to Lancaster County in “Plain Paradise.” The next installment of the “Daughters of the Promise” series lives up to the high standards set by the previous books. Each one […]
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Changing the World One Small Step at a Time
“Sharing the Tradition, Shaping the Future” is a 2001 publication put out by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Designed to be used by small faith-sharing groups over the course of seven weeks, the introduction states that the group “can explore how these basic [Catholic social] teachings affect our individual lives. With the Holy […]
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Book Review: You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be
YOU CAN BE EVERYTHING GOD WANTS YOU TO BE by Max Lucado Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 2010 I’m a fan of Max Lucado’s books. His writing is straight-forward and uplifting. “You Can Be Everything God Wants You to Be” is no exception. The title of this book alters what children are often told, that “you can […]
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Book Review: “God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours”
God Never Blinks: 50 Lessons for Life’s Little Detours by Regina Brett New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2010 Regina Brett long-believed that “at the moment she was born, God must have blinked. he missed the occasion and never knew she had arrived.” The fifth of eleven children, she got lost in the mix. She was […]
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Social Change – The Burden of Responsibility
by Hrvoje Butkovic Growing up in rural socialist Yugoslavia during the 1970s and 1980s, I became accustomed to a lifestyle typical of the region. Most families owned houses, though they were often old, small and largely unfinished, relying as they did on ongoing slow acquisition of money and materials with which to resume previous years’ […]
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Coping with Regret
Regret is one of those things that seem to plague everyone’s life in one way or another. None of us is perfect. We have all screwed up at one point or another. Merriam-Webster defines “regret” in two ways. The first is “to mourn the loss or death of; to miss very much.” The second is […]
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Time to End the Catholic Wars
Division within the Church is not new. From the earliest days, good people have disputed what it means to be part of Christ’s Church. Saints Peter and Paul argued over whether circumcision and following the Jewish laws was necessary for salvation. In recent years, however, the chasm between Catholics of different persuasions seems to be […]