[S]eeing that time seizes upon all things human, we also in turn ought to snatch from it something which may profit us to eternal life, especially since a certain awful expectation of the approach of the divine judgment importunately demands increased earnestness in religion, while the subtle craftiness of new heretics calls for no ordinary […]

To CE Editors:
I am a long-time Catholic, and it saddens me to see Catholic organizations embracing a party that stands for everything traditional Catholics do not, such as bigotry, oppression of the poor and disabled, a war on human rights, deregulatory policies that have turned this country into a sleazy x-rated sideshow carnival on our […]

The news that Tony Snow, a Catholic convert and national media figure, had lost his battle with colon cancer in the wee hours of Saturday morning was not a surprise, but it was still a sad disappointment. He is survived by his wife Jill and three children. God comfort them.
Tony Snow always considered himself a […]

It is almost impossible to get away from the media’s fascination with the self-destructive tendencies of modern celebrities. Whether it is the tabloid splashing a picture of Britney Spears in and out of rehab, or a video circulating across cyberspace of Amy Winehouse using a crack pipe, the trend seems ever-with-us.
And whether we realize it […]

One of the most amazing works of the Holy Spirit over the past couple of decades or so has been the wave of Protestant converts coming into the Catholic Church.  Notable among them have been the Protestant ministers — the tip of the iceberg of whom have been the names that have become well-known in […]

You can’t put a price on your life, can you?  The question of what your life is worth quickly takes you out of valuations measured in money or in terms of any material good.  Your life, in every meaning of the term, is priceless, isn’t it?
Does it matter at all — does it enter into […]

To the amazement of many talking heads, our 81-year-old pontiff received the welcome of a rock star by multiple thousands of American youths in nearly every venue of his visit last week. Why was this all wrong? Let us count the ways.
First there is the simple fact that he is old. He is a relic […]

"I've got two daughters. Nine-years-old and six-years-old. I am going to teach them first of all about values and morals. But if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby. I don't want them punished with an STD at the age of sixteen" — Barack Obama, comments at a Pennsylvania town hall meeting on March 29^th.

What grabbed a lot of attention about this comment was Obama's reference to a potential baby, his own grandbaby, as a "punishment". This, it was pointed out, was especially offensive to "single moms," and issued, as one commenter put it, "a slap in the face to every child born to a young mother." Perhaps so, but I thought this comment was profoundly tangled and interesting for a number of reasons.

Sally Strle, had often petitioned God for guidance about starting a home business. She especially wanted something that would make use of her interest in sewing and that would allow her to spread the Catholic faith.

When the idea came to her of creating a line of pillowcases imprinted with images and prayers - like lovely holy cards you can lay your head on - she felt her payers were answered. Rest On His Word was born in her imagination. But it would take more than a good idea for this grandmother, active in volunteer work but without any business experience, to bring the plan to life.

This article is not about the Holocaust.  And so I should be very careful, for those who decry comparisons to the Holocaust have a point.  It should never be a trite or passing reference.
I think pro-lifers have a very good case to make for comparing abortion to the Holocaust.  The reasons were enumerated here just recently.  […]

The Washington Post headline read: "Huckabee Complicates GOP Contest."
Wrong. What is complicating the GOP contest is the attempt to imagine, craft, articulate, and sell a "conservatism" that does not have respect for the dignity of life as its most fundamental value.
What conservatism is supposed to be conserving, as in preserving and passing on, is classical […]

Blog Entry:
Got a favorite in the horserace and want to watch him pull ahead, fall back, and take the lead again… maybe.  What you need is an easy way to keep track of the polls.  Of course they might be all wet – like the predictions that Obama was going to take New Hampshire, […]

Blog Entry:
Now that Huckabee has made such a big and unexpected splash, you are going to hear more and more about the tax reform proposal he has endorsed – the "Fair Tax."  Here are a couple of sources if you are interested in delving more deeply into this issue:
The book about the Fair Tax […]

Blog Post:
Here is a great blog post on how to have — and keep – a clean desk.
A messy desk is a sign of creativity and imagination. This is the excuse I gave myself for the mountain of papers, knickknacks, and San Pellegrino bottles normally piled on my desk at work. Truth is, I'm just lazy. […]

Women's minds are just as valuable and just as needful of good education as those of men.  Young women hunger intellectually just as young men do and are just as capable (at least as capable!) of benefitting from full educational opportunities.
That should go without saying, but it had to be said — in fact it […]

Last Thursday in this space, CE published a reprint of an article by Terry Mattingly, "The Exaltation of Mitt Romney," a brief examination of some of the political implications for Romney of a few aspects of his Mormon religion.
Reader reaction to the article in our space was very engaged and intense. Some readers argued that […]

Christmas was just a little strange this year — it is my fault.
Well, not exactly my fault but the fault of somebody in my family.  And admittedly, it did start with me.
Being of practical mentality — not to mention being too sick all through Advent to even get the wreath out of the shed this year — […]

Blog Post:
We at CE on Time hope the tips and motivation we have shared with you this past year have helped you have a more productive and organized year in 2007.
With 2008 right around the corner you may be assessing how you can extend your organized approach to life and work to other […]

Ever see the bumper sticker for organ donation that says "Don't take your organs to heaven — heaven knows we need them here"? Well there is something else that heaven knows you need to leave behind for the good of others: your testimony of faith.
Consider what you do when you tell others how God has […]

Blog Entry:
 
File under "I Really Am Not Demanding Nearly Enough of Myself" or maybe under "One of the Most Amazing Things I Have Ever Seen" — a blind painter developes a Braille-like painting technique. On YouTube, of course.

Blog Entry:
 
This beautiful YouTube video is called The Price of Salvation: The Life of Christ. It features the life of Christ as conceived by some of the greatest artists over the past 1000 years, wonderfully set to music.

How do you make sense of your life? What goes on in the heart and mind that gives each of us a sense of "me?"  Our faith teaches us that we human beings are made for relationships. Our experience tells us that the stories of our lives are stories of our relationships with others and […]

Paul Kengor, author of spiritual biographies of Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush, is a professor of political science at Grove City College in Grove City, Pennsylvania. His new book, God and Hillary Clinton, traces the upbringing and spiritual path of the woman who has come closest to the highest office in the United States. Kengor […]

Blog Post:
Ariane Benefit, M.S.Ed. (gotta love that last name!) of the Neat and Simple Living Blog http://blog.neatandsimple.com/ is offering a free 29 page e-book with over 100 tips for organizing your office and desk, taking charge of your paper, organizing your contacts and more. Go here http://www.neatandsimple.com/free-ebook.html to download it. Her website also […]

Blog Post:
A couple of years ago, any suggestion that I would have two computer monitors would have had me in scornful denial.  One was bad enough!  Since I work so much online, I often felt frustrated with "being stuck staring at this dumb screen for hours!"  So why in Heaven's name would I want […]

Blog Entry:
Download this terrific pro-life song and share with others or download sheet music for performances. "We Want to See the World" by David Burke.

On October 19, 1745, Jonathan Swift, the Irish author, died at age 78.  Swift is famous for writing Gulliver's Travels.  It is often considered a book for children, with Gulliver visiting first a land where he is a giant among the Lilliputians, and then a land where he is himself a miniature in a land […]

September 30, 430 saw the death of the Latin Church Father St. Jerome and hence September 30th is his feast day. Jerome spent the last half of his life rendering the Scriptures into the contemporary Latin of his day.  Since Latin was at that time, the common or "vulgar" tongue, his translation was called the […]

Blog Entry:
This is a 29 minute video program concerning the upcoming 40 Days of Prayer and Fasting. You can get more information at www.40daysforlife.com and then view this show here.
This is something that can be done as a parish, family, or individual, and is also an ecumenical effort. About 84 cities in 33 states are involved […]

Blog Entry:
Check out CatholicMil's latest, "In God We Trust" song and video on YouTube.
To find out how you can help Catholic military families and the chaplains who serve them, go here.

Blog Post:
This is a follow-up to Lisa Hendey's blog post on using media mail to save money on postage. Even if all you usually mail are cards and letters, there are some easy tips for saving on postage from home.
Think about how many times you are mailing something from home and you know that it has more […]

Blog Entry:
Denise Hunnell aka Catholic Mom has asked some very important questions regarding the USCCB's appointment of Kathy Saile as the new Director of Domestic Policy for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
This important and very public post has gone to a woman who was a featured speaker at a 2006 (that ain't all […]

The Elephant Party sent me a letter to let me know how important my commitment and support are "as we approach an election that will be a watershed moment in our nation's history."  It seems like this must be the third, or is it the fourth, election in a row billed as a "watershed moment" […]

Blog Entry:
They take the kids grocery shopping!  Mom of 6 explains why she is selling the Pokeman cards on eBay.
(No, I didn't mean that grocery shopping with kids was heaven — but it sure can shorten your time in purgatory.)

Blog Post:
If you have just sent or are about to send the kids off to school, you know what I mean. In the first week of school they are going to trudge into the house clutching pages upon pages of school paperwork in their little fists.
What is all boils down to is a […]

The emails were coming nearly every day.  They were desperate and urgent — and they were long.  They were from Eric Encina in the Philippines, a man whom I had never met, but who found Catholic Exchange on the internet and was sure that here someone would listen and someone would help.  The subject lines […]

I have never believed that abortion was anything other than a violation of God's command against murder.  Even though I grew up in a pseudo-Christian cult (Jehovah's Witnesses) I recognized that, and so, when I finally became a Protestant Christian, there was little to change in my understanding on that subject.  But when I became […]

Blog Post:
Okay, so Merlin Mann of 43 Folders was invited to address a bunch of Google's techs on how to achieve getting their inboxes to zero and boy, would you have liked to be a fly on the wall in that room.
Fret not, for you can watch and listen to the whole thing here: […]

Blog Entry:
Catholic Soccer Mom, Christine, and owner of two blogs Ramblings of a Catholic Soccer Mom and Domestic Vocation, has a terrific review of Champions of Faith along with her thoughts about why our children need examples of public Catholics. Here is an excerpt:
"Our goal is to play in the Big League with God."
"Ask […]

Blog Entry:
These are the lyrics of the second verse of the number one song in Quebec right now, translated from French and heard here (with English subtitles):
Your great-great-grandmother had 14 children
Your great-grandmother had almost as many
And as for your grandmother three were enough for her
And your mother didn't even want you
You were just an […]

June 21 is the first day of summer because it is the day of the summer solstice.
Okay, just a quick review of your high school astronomy.  In summer and winter we have solstices — the summer solstice is the longest day of the year and the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year […]

Here's to hoping and praying that one of the pro-life candidates now in the Republican field or who may enter the nomination race, ends up being the Republican Party's nominee. Here's to working and donating to make that a reality.
Speaking of reality, it is a distinct possibility that pro-lifers will end up with no one […]

Grace builds on nature.
This is an axiom of our faith. It means that Thomas Aquinas had to study and that Michelangelo had to pay his dues as an apprentice artist. It means that God blesses our efforts and establishes the work of our hands (Ps 90: 17) but that there is real sweat in the […]

Blog Entry:
USMC: Making the world (or at least the seminary) safe for orthodoxy. Very funny YouTube video. 

Blog Entry:
Here is a great offer from a language software company: A Free Word-by-Word Genesis CD is being made available as a joint project of jewishsoftware.com and the Jewish Continuity Foundation.
One Free CD per household while supplies (500) last.
Word by Word teaches the meaning and pronunciation of every Hebrew word in the book of […]

Blog Entry:
John Pacheco, a Canadian friend of Catholic Exchange, has fired off a letter to Mac Convenience Stores to protest their mockery of the Catholic faith in an ad campaign featuring a nun and a praying goat. See the ad poster and John's letter at his blog SoCon or Bust.

Blog Post:
A dear man in my parish is facing the loss of his spouse.  She has been diagnosed with late-stage, widespread untreatable cancer.  The cancer is slow-growing however, so when my husband and I spoke to him recently he told us, "It could be six months; it could be six years. No one […]

April 11, 1930, was the birthday of Anton Szandor LaVey.  He was born in Chicago, but his family moved to California when he was a small child and he spent most of his life in the Bay Area. He died on October 29, 1997, in St. Mary's Hospital in San Francisco.  You may be surprised […]

Today, Holy Thursday, we celebrate the institution of the Eucharist and the establishment of the priesthood.  Many people today question the necessity of the Catholic priesthood.  They may deny that it was established by Christ and claim that it is an innovation of the 2nd or 3rd or 4th century.  Or they may recognize its […]

As annoying as PBS can sometimes be, you've got to hand it to them for This Old House, Ask This Old House, and The New Yankee Workshop which explains why the TV was on the other night, and my husband was actually awake, when Tom Silva's demonstration on how to replace deck boards intersected a spot […]