Easter Blessings

As I’ve written before, I love Easter.  It’s my favorite holiday. This Easter felt like even a bigger deal than usual to me.  For one thing, all holidays post-fire feel like milestones.  I know what happened to us doesn’t compare to a death in the family, but things are different now.  Not only are we [...]

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Our First, Most Cherished Liberty

Yesterday, the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) published an eloquent statement on what it means to be both Catholic and American, and the importance of religious freedom.  Since the Bishops don’t give me a personal call when they make statements, or send a copy to my inbox, I learned about this the same [...]

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What Is the Mass For?

Today is Holy Thursday, the day of Holy Week on which we remember that Last Supper Jesus shared with his Apostles, the birthday, as it were, of the Mass itself. We’ll hear the story tonight at church, and some of us will have our feet washed in commemoration of Jesus’ actions that night. At the [...]

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Why Do Catholics Contracept and What Can the Church Do about It?

Someday I’ll write a post about lies, damned lies, and statistics so you will know that the “98% of Catholic women use artificial birth control” you’ve seen bandied about as though it were gospel is a distorted statistic turned damned lie.  I’ve already written one in which I touched on how it doesn’t matter if [...]

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Evidence of Conviction

“If you were arrested for being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?” As Christians, our lives are supposed to be our witness.  In the Gospel of John (13:35), Jesus said to His disciples: “By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”  [...]

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Bring It On, Lent!

Am I strange because I like Lent?  I always have, even when I was a little girl.  Back then, we went to Mass every morning at school.  I loved the rhythmic way Father Henkel chanted, “Remember, man, thou are dust, to dust thou shall return” over and over and over.  I loved singing “These forty [...]

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It’s Religious Freedom, Stupid

The Catholic Church is supposed to proclaim the truth, not reflect the culture. So IT DOES NOT MATTER if every single Catholic woman in America uses artificial birth control. (They don’t, by the way.  And that 98% figure that the media is flinging around is . . . shall we say . . . imprecise.  [...]

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Christians who AREN’T

So I’m taking my son and his girlfriend to the mall this morning, and find myself behind a car with the bumper sticker above.  Looks like a nice Christian sentiment, right?  Especially considering it was accompanied by one of those Christian fish symbols some people put on their cars (there was one on my late [...]

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The Lord Be With You . . .

And with your spirit! Yesterday was my first chance to experience the new Roman Missal (I was driving Emily back to school post-Thanksgiving last Sunday). You might expect I’d have a lot to say about the new translation, but you’d be wrong. (Oh, I have things to say, just not about the TRANSLATION!) I am [...]

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Christmastime is here . . . NOT!

The rest of Knoxville–the rest of the United States–may think it’s time to celebrate the Christmas season, but we Shollys firmly insist on celebrating Advent first. For those who don’t know, in the Church calendar, Advent is the season which precedes the Christmas season, a time of watching, waiting, and preparing for the coming of [...]

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