You can almost hear the mental cogs turning as we enter our third and last week of final exams at MEC. Take a walk through the house and you’ll encounter small groups of people in all sorts of nooks and crannies, earnestly discussing metaphysics, fundamental moral theology, or catechetical methods. Although the seniors have the lightest class load, I still find exams rather daunting – it’s psychological; I know. Normally, it’s no difficulty for me to fill a blank piece of paper with words, but I suppose it’s fear of the unknown that makes me quake before even the most non-threatening exam. That being as it may, I had cause to remember the real reason for exams (no, it’s not original sin, although I did hear that theory proposed recently) when I walked upstairs to the freshman-sophomore hallway the other day. Between the two classrooms, someone has hung up a blackboard that’s now covered in intentions – relatives, friends, a soon-to-be-born niece, the Pope, peace in the world… It looks like the underclassmen have pretty much everything covered! I took a second to add a few intentions of my own, and then headed back downstairs to my books, reminded that my studies are not about proper punctuation and a 4.0 GPA; to put it simply, they’re about saving the world.

“Drink because you are happy, but never because you are miserable.”

― G.K. Chesterton, Heretics: The Annotated

How much is too much? How often is too often? It seems that too many people "need" to have 2 glasses of wine or a few beers after a long day at the office or with the kids. Certain dinner parties can resemble more of a college fraternity party than a mature adult gathering. Kids do notice and many assimilate this behavior. Although this escape can provide a short term "fix", it does not address the deeper needs of the soul. Moderation and self control are critical habits for so many other aspects of our lives. Pray more, do physical exercise to burn off the stress, and try to "offer up" the excess drinks for those you love; this will bring peace.

This year some of us from Immaculate Conception Academy were able to attend the March for Life in Washington DC. We made the drive out to the National Shrine and literally camped out in one of the pews from 1 pm to 6:30 pm, when the Vigil Mass began. During this time we admired the incredible mosaics, prayed, visited and hobnobbed with the thousands of people filling this massive basilica. It was amazing and energizing to see so many people, a huge convergence of Catholics from all over the States ready to pray and witness to the sanctity of life. I even ran into my cousin who is a diocesan seminarian in Detroit. Many Regnum Christi members were there; and of course, they could spot a consecrated member from a mile away. It was truly a huge family experience, an experience of the great family of the Church.

Cardinal DiNardo

On Monday morning we hustled to make it to Mass at the Verizon Center and were just in time for some of the opening remarks and introductions. The newly appointed Apostolic Nuncio was there (Archbishop Carlo Maria Vigano) who smiled at all the young Americans giving him such a warm and enthusiastic welcome. He gave a message from the Holy Father that made everyone cheer for minutes on end. The conclusion of the homily was the most rousing. Monsignor Charles Pope challenged everyone to raise the greatest cheer in praise of God and the sanctity of life to outdo all the other cheers that had been raised in that stadium over sports games and rock stars. The noise was almost deafening, but definitely motivating; a great way to begin the march itself.

Despite the rain we tramped out with our signs and great spirits towards the rallying point on the Mall, and then shuffled our way towards the Supreme Court. Signs, songs, chants, cheers and prayers surrounded us for about an hour. On the edge of this joyful stream of people filling Constitution Avenue, we saw one lone pro-choicer, calling out taunts and running up and down the line. He had a cardboard sign on that said all women have the right to abortion. One of my students, a tenth grader named Kara O’Donnell, felt moved to speak to him. This is how Kara described the whole conversation: Read the rest of this entry »

I really hope there is a special place in Heaven for Catholic catechists.

I teach 8^th grade students in preparation for their Confirmation at my Catholic parish in metro Detroit.  During one of my recent classes (I was trying to explain the meaning of the concept “One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church” on an evening when my teenage students were in a particularly rowdy mood) and one of my female students piped up with the question about whether or not “gay” people can get married. Read the rest of this entry »

“Make your choice, adventurous Stranger,

Strike the bell and bide the danger,

Or wonder, till it drives you mad,

What would have followed if you had.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Magician's Nephew

I "struck the bell" and my "priestly adventure" adventure began 26 years ago…and what an amazing gift! Intimacy with Christ, celebrating Mass, being an instrument of his merciful love in Confession and Anointing of the Sick, so many "sacred" moments in which you are clearly an instrument of God for others, etc.. But this initial decision can be gut wrenching. Pray for young men who are currently discerning so they will have the courage and strength to make this step if this is what God is asking of them. It's not easy to say "yes" to God!

It is debate season.  The field narrows and every few days several fairly articulate and determined men stand on a stage and field questions from different cabals of news persons.

The interviewers ask about a wide range of things, from how to fix the economy to whether Iran having nuclear weapons might be a problem.  But the media folks seem to be most focused on issues in the “gotcha” category:

• · How do you respond to these nasty things your former wife said about you?
• · How do you justify being rich and famous?
• · Is it true that you really agree with the teachings of the Catholic Church?
• · Do you, candidate A, agree with Candidate B that Candidate C is a dirty rotten scoundrel?

Perhaps there is a place for such questions, although they probably are better handled by the tabloid newspapers in the rack at the grocery store – the ones with the stories about three-headed aliens.  But we live in an insane and immoral culture.

In a sane and moral culture, the first question any candidate would be asked would be something like this:  “Mr. Candidate, several thousand unborn babies are murdered each day in the United States.  As President, what would you do to halt the slaughter of the innocents?”

That is THE question.

At the end of high school, everybody in Alberta has to take standardized tests in core subject areas. When I took them, my English grade was about 25% lower than my average for my other four courses, so I figured that wasn’t my strength. At the end of Philosophy, almost all Legionaries get letters for their apostolic internship. I figured I would not be any good at speaking to kids and always go over their head.

What a surprise it is to me that I have written a big section of the Conquest program. Both kids and writing, the two things I thought I couldn’t do.

It all started when I needed an explanation of apostolates for the Conquest clubs I worked with. I searched around and asked everyone – nobody had what I needed. Many fathers and brothers had a few apostolates but each one had their own formatting and way of describing them. I needed a bunch listed that followed the same scheme. In the end, I collected 40 apostolates and rewrote them in a Read the rest of this entry »

“Die before you die”

― C.S. Lewis

During my year of studying Classical Humanities at our seminary in Spain, I was edified by a particular seminarian. He was an exceptional soccer player, perhaps one of our best, yet one day when I was made captain of the team, he told me that he would stay in goal for the whole game, because he could see that the other young men were restless and needed to run around. He did not enjoy playing goalie, but this was typical of his hidden charity. He was always thinking of others. The next day, that seminarian left on a road trip and never returned…a truck hit his car and he did not survive. He had gone to Confession the night before and I only heard great stories about his random acts of charity and his cheerfulness from the seminarians who knew him well. Br. Eduardo "died before he died"…what a witness!

“Prepare for Battle!”

Gandalf, Return of the King, Lord of the Rings movie trilogy

There is a virtual blackout in the media, with the exception of EWTN… this is the situation I am seeing on my television and computer as I look for news of the 2012 March for Life.

My husband and my daughter Megan took the red eye bus with other students from Everest Collegiate High School in Clarkston, Michigan, last night to attend the annual event in Washington DC today.  I have been eagerly searching for coverage of what must be a major national news event.

I read a few days ago, in the Catholic media only, that March for Life organizers are expecting close to 200,000 people to descend on our nation’s capitol to mark the tragic anniversary of the legalization of abortion, now decades old, in our country.  I even saw the figure “10 million” expected. (Catholic media personality Teresa Tomeo calls the March the “Shuffle for Life” because there are so many people on the streets that it is difficult to move.) Read the rest of this entry »

“These are the days when the Christian is expected to praise every creed except his own.”

― G.K. Chesterton

Jesus Christ, God, founded the Catholic Church. He personally instituted all 7 Sacraments. He remains physically with us in the Eucharist in every Catholic Church throughout the world. He forgives our sins through his priests. He established a clear Hierarchy with the Pope (Peter) and his Bishops to govern and teach us the truth. He left us his own mother, to form us, guide us and protect us as we journey towards heaven. He left us his exact words in Scripture to inspire us along the way. There are over 10,000 named Saints and Beati from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources.

Be proud to be Catholic!!