I was thrilled to see that Pope Leo XIV is indeed a Rerum Novarum guy, which I’ll explain in a sec but first here are his own words, from his May 10th address to the College of Cardinals: . . . I chose to take the name Leo XIV. There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution. In... Read more
There’s been growing publicity about using genetic screening of embryos as a way to avoid serious genetic conditions. For families who have suffered with devastating inherited diseases, it’s understandable that parents would want to find a way to spare their children that plight. So what’s wrong with using embryo screening? Embryo screening is already here. In vitro fertilization centers are already offering genetic screening as an add-on service, so this technology is not merely hypothetical. Here’s how it works: Eggs... Read more
I had a lovely evening last night at Bible study with a group of moms who are just . . . Catholic. We were not there as women of the “left” or “right” — though no doubt each of us hold points of view that might lean one way or the other. We were there as regular people who love God as well as we can and try to live a good life. It was a refreshing counterpoint to something... Read more
I’m thinking of taking up blogging for Lent. I know! It’s been ages. Nothing overly dramatic going on, other than since August I can’t seem to make it three weeks without catching some new, usually minor virus, but which lays me out hard due the dread disease. But Lord willing, I will be picking back up with blogging here and over at the evangelization newsletter. Today I want to hit a few essential Lenten notes, and also talk about the... Read more
Saw a curious poll on Twitter asking: Should the Catholic Church stay out of politics? It’s an interesting one because the answer is pretty straightforward, at least where Catholics are following Catholic teaching and Church law. Let’s take it apart and make sense of the questions within the question. What is “the Catholic Church”? We can define “the Catholic Church” in any number of ways: Every person, living or dead, who is united in faith with the Catholic Church. This... Read more
When my daughter played in weekend-long sports tournaments, we always went to Sunday Mass, and so did the other Catholics on her various teams. I live in the Bible Belt, though, and I knew that a number of her teammates and coaches were believing Evangelical Christians, so it surprised me that they never attempted to make it to church when they were out of town. I would not have been surprised if some or all had chosen, instead, to host... Read more
I’d like to talk about sporting categories generally, and then look at a couple of specific situations for people with XY disorders of sexual development. Update 8/4/24: See here for “Toward a Robust Definition of Sport Sex” by David J. Handelsman in Endocrine Reviews. Table 2 lays out all the variations in genetic and physiologic status for the purpose of determining how to categorize an athlete for elite sport. (To my knowledge everything I say below in simpler terms is consistent... Read more
The Olympic Games are in full swing, and that means an inescapable parade of some of the most beautifully athletic bodies in the world. If you struggle with your body image, the steady stream of fitness inspiration can also be a devastating torrent of I don’t measure up. What do you with that? #1 You’re not alone. Ironically, something that makes sports valuable is their ability to affirm the wonderful goodness of different body types. Which is another way of... Read more
Now that we’ve got Catholic candidates on both presidential tickets, partisans on both sides are playing a game of “who’s the worse Catholic?” There is quite a lot of dishonesty and dangerous hyperbole being thrown around, and that we can condemn as a violation of the eight commandment and set aside. Lying is evil, fomenting murderous violence is evil, and we can’t take seriously any argument that does either. I recommend you mute anyone in your media feeds who does... Read more
Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight! Marriage has been much on my mind, and I’m hoping to write more on interrelated topics soon, but meanwhile let me say that the past several months have been the most work* I’ve ever put into preparing for a single sacrament. Usually my advice to young couples is to keep the wedding small and hold onto as much of your savings as possible... Read more
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