Today / Touched By Grace / The Edge

Homosexuality: A Special Call to the Love of God and Man
Most of us are forced by cultural circumstances to say far more about homosexuality than we would like. Because of the persistent moral challenge presented by gay advocacy, most of what we have to say is negative. This troubles me…

Hawking and the Demise of Culture
One week before the Pope visits England, Hawking?s new book is to be released in order that all the citizens of the Queen can know where Britain?s leading and most famous scientist stands on the question of God.

What is the End of Betrayal?
Some months ago I listened to a client tell me how her sister had betrayed her in connection with the estate of their father. My client is hardly alone as a victim of betrayal. It is a rare person who…

Non Sequitur
At the heart of the proclamation of the Gospel is the call to conversion. This call goes out to all of us, to turn to Christ and to continually deepen our relationship with Him. This is to a large extent…

Beautiful Sleep
Sleep.  Beautiful, blissful, blessed sleep.  How I love it so . . . how I miss it so!  Homer tells us that ?the gift of sleep? is ?sweet? and that sleep will ?speedily free [us] from toilsome weariness.?  Jeremiah says…

Who Art In Heaven
Our Father is not, according to Jesus, merely our Father.  He is our Father ?who art in Heaven?.  What does that mean? Getting at the answer to that, in our present culture, is harder than you?d think, not least because…

A Stay of Execution for Over a Half-Million Embryos in Frozen Orphanages
Last week, in a decision which surprised nearly everyone involved in the scientific community, federal district judge Royce C. Lamberth blocked President Barack Obama?s Executive Order of March, 2009 that allowed expanded federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research.…

Why Good Enough Just Isn?t
Like all teachers — well at least like many teachers — I entered the classroom ready to change the world. Sure, I was a bit older than most when I took my first steps into the parochial middle school milieu;…

Catholic Exchange Interview with Flipped Director, Rob Reiner
If you are looking for a good film to take the whole family to see you will flip for Flipped. The movie opens nationwide today (8/27) and Catholic Exchange writer Mark Armstrong had a chance to talk to Producer/Director Rob…

The Tears of St. Monica: A Wellspring of Hope
Does God really answer our prayers? If He is eternal and unchanging, as the orthodox Christian tradition has always confessed, what?s the point in praying if we can?t actually change His mind? Medieval theology would develop sophisticated accounts of the…

Beating Ourselves?
“What’s the matter, pal? You look down in the dumps.” “I can’t help it. I’ve been wondering lately — could Osama bin Laden be winning?” “Winning? Are you nuts! After he and his conspirators attacked us on 9/11, he had…

Work and the Two Great Love Commandments
Amid the threat of a ?double-dip? recession, and the ongoing plight of joblessness across America, this Labor Day is bittersweet for many. For those who have the gift of employment, the right to work can seem more like a privilege.…

Humility in a Time of Recession
Since 2008, there has been much discussion about the contribution of unethical behavior to our present economic circumstances. Whether it was borrowers? lying on mortgage-applications or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?s politically-driven lending policies, there seems to be some consciousness…

Radical Environmentalists Disclaim Responsibility for Eco-Terrorist James Lee
[Wednesday], at the Discovery Channel offices in Maryland, environmental activist James Jay Lee took company employees hostage, threatening to kill them unless the media outlet agreed to turn itself into a propaganda channel for population control. The standoff ended when…

The Liberation of Lifelong Love: Church Teaching on Marriage
Marriage is a universal human institution, defined?until recently?as the preferred context for both sexual activity and child-rearing. Until the last forty years, every society understood that some contexts for sex and childbearing were preferable to others. Opposition to this traditional…

Free Speech for Me but Not for Thee: President Obama?s Faith Protectors
I got the email in late afternoon. ?In a major liberal initiative to curtail discussion of President Obama?s religious identity,? the email began, ?over 70 Christian leaders and denominational heads have signed a letter saying that questions about the religious…

The Insanity of Washington Spending
When even a centrist Democrat such as Mort Zuckerman calls the Obama administration “The Most Fiscally Irresponsible Government in U.S. History,” you know the nation is in peril. They just don’t seem to get it in Washington. Fortunately,…

Laboring to Change the World
Canonize Bill Buckley? No, I think not. Buckley, who passed away two and a half years ago, was a serious Catholic, but it?s a bit of a stretch to see him as material for canonization. Yet he stands for something…

Teachers Unions and Civil Rights Groups Block School Choice for Black Students
Teachers unions, like the National Education Association (NEA), and many civil-rights organizations inadvertently sabotage the potential of black males by perpetuating failed educational visions. Black males will never achieve academic success until black parents are financially empowered to opt out…

When Compromise Trumps Apostolic Tradition
Pope Benedict XVI?s pastoral visit to Great Britain next month will unfold along a pilgrim?s path metaphorically strewn with landmines. Headline-grabbing new atheists like Richard Dawkins, along with their allies in the international plaintiff?s bar, may try to have the…

Inspiring Examples of Aged Faith
Last week, I had the opportunity to con-celebrate Mass with two priests who, together, have 120 years of priestly experience.  Only bringing 6 years to the Altar myself, I was somewhat in awe of the two aged servants who have…

A Gospel to Make you Squirm
When I was a kid, I got the distinct impression there existed a two-track system in Catholicism.  Some really decided to go for it.  They became priests, nuns, and brothers because they ?had a vocation.?  They ?gave up? lots of…

Building and Battling
When God created Adam, He gave him a twofold task: to cultivate the Garden of Eden and to guard it (cf. Gn 2:15). Unfortunately for us, his failure to do the second crippled his ability to complete the first. But…

Rescuing the Miners
In Chile they have started drilling operations to rescue thirty-three miners trapped after the August 5th collapse of the main exit tunnel of the San Jose gold and copper mine. Thirty-three, 33. Sometimes the Holy Trinity is very subtle. This…

A Lesson from the Cherubim, Sing When it Hurts
Life is hard. Sometimes dark. There are times when troubles pile so high we fear we might suffocate under them. We are lonely. We are scared. We are burdened.

The Importance of Parents as Teachers
I was recently reading the September 2010 issue of Living magazine. Not surprisingly, inside of it was an ad featuring Martha Stewart. What was surprising was the subject matter. Martha was not touting the latest home beautification item or her…

Preparing Our Children Spiritually for the School Year
The feast day of St. Tarcisius is usually forgotten because it coincides with the greater feast of the Assumption of Our Lady into Heaven, but St. Tarcisius himself should not be forgotten, particularly by our children as they head back…

Why Humility Opens Doors
?Nice guys finish last,? says the world. ?The last will be first,? replies Jesus. My guess is that the Lord of creation knows best who really wins in the end.  And he says in this Sunday?s gospel, ?whoever exalts himself…

Conduct your Affairs with Humility
God brought Mike Vida into my life when I was a seminarian serving at St. William of York Parish in the summer of 1984. He ran a hardware store on Route 1 not far from the parish in Stafford. He…

Unexpected Answer
Traveling can introduce you to interesting people.  Once I was sitting on an airplane next to a hippie and a Marine.  I know, it sounds like a joke, but this is a true story.  The hippie was youngish, maybe late…