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Today’s Mass readings are excellent reflection material for contemplating how much we really trust God rather than ourselves. Do we grumble about our circumstances, like the Israelites in the First Reading, or are we the “rich soil” of Jesus’s parable in the Gospel Reading? With these texts as a backdrop, we take up a couple scenarios which challenge us to trust in God’s will for us rather than in our ability to control our circumstances. . . . → Read More: Trusting God or Grasping for Control?
Day 3 in our weeklong series on natural family planning. Since the sexual revolution drew its sword and despoiled sexual intimacy of its life-giving purpose, are we really happier and freer, or have we become slaves to our own pleasures? Have our relationships become better or worse? Do men and women respect each other more or less? The fruit of the sexual revolution is decidedly rotten, straight from the devil. . . . → Read More: Despoiling God’s Plan for Sexuality
“Fear not! Stand your ground, and you will see the victory the LORD will win for you today.” Leaving behind contraception to begin natural family planning (NFP) can be a bit like this. It can be easier to cling to familiar ways than to leave them for something new and uncertain, no matter what the promise. Let’s try to clear up a couple common fears and misconceptions about NFP. . . . → Read More: Dumping Contraception for Natural Family Planning 
Civility in public discourse seems to be dead. When is the last time two candidates had a serious debate, a genuine exchange of ideas rather than accusations and zingers? Candidates seem to no longer champion ideas but rather simply represent ideologies. This is also a major challenge of the New Evangelization. . . . → Read More: What Ever Happened to Reason? 
A preliminary report, “What Catholic Women Think About Faith, Conscience, and Contraception,” co-authored by Mary Rice Hasson and Michele M. Hill, offers new data about the views of church-going Catholic women, ages 18-54, on faith, conscience, and contraception. This report is part of a larger research effort called the Women, Faith, and Culture Project. Report Highlights 13% of church-going Catholic women completely accept the Church’s teachings on family planning. Acceptance of the Church’s teaching on family planning doubles (27%) among young women (aged 18-34) who attend Mass weekly. 37% of women who both attend Mass weekly and have been to confession within the past year completely accept Church teachings on family planning. Take-Away: The . . . → Read More: What Catholic Women Think 
Editor’s Note: In honor of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, welcome back Renee McGuire to The Practicing Catholic. Read Part 1 of Renee’s testimony 6 Things I’ve Learned Since Dumping the Pill. * * * Once we removed the pill from our marriage, my husband and I experienced healing we didn’t know we needed. This truly was a turning point in our marriage. But after the birth of our first son, we had to trust in God another way … postponing pregnancy. Here comes the responsible parenthood part. What’s responsible parenthood? It’s the virtuous decision made by a married couple to either conceive a child or postpone conception. Catholics are NOT expected to have . . . → Read More: 5 Steps to Embracing Natural Family Planning 
City Council agrees to remove image of chapel from new logo. UPDATE: August 3, 2012 – According to Steubenville City Manager Cathy Davison, the mayor, City Council, and administration are reviewing all options regarding the city logo. At this point, no lawsuit has been filed against the City of Steubenville. Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly Alliance Defense Fund) is reportedly considering setting up a national escrow fund to help the city fight this issue. A couple quotes: “All of the facts lead us to believe we can win this case and set a precedent going forward. And I don’t believe the FFRF will file a lawsuit. The foundation has limited legal . . . → Read More: The Smoke of Satan in Steubenville  8 comments  Schmidt, Joel  Baptism, Christ the King, Contraception, cross, Debaptism Certificate, Ecclesia Militans, Election, Faith, Franciscan University, Free-liars, Freethinkers, Imprimatur, Jewish, Muslim, Religion, Religious, San Diego Padres, San Francisco, Satan, Secularist, St. Louis, St. Paul, Steubenville, US Constitution, War on Religion 
Christians need to facilitate dialogue without arguing politics and religion. Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winner Sally Pap! Enter to win a your own copy of Indivisible! Simply leave a comment here. Next Wednesday, July 25, we will randomly select this week’s winner. Giveaway sponsored by The Maximus Group. You also can buy Indivisible from Ignatius Press (with Voting Guidelines for Catholics bonus CD). This is the third installment from our interview with Dr. Jay Richards; click the links below to read the previous ones: Law, Liberty, and Freedom (July 4) Morality and Economics (July 11) Political events of the past few years, particularly regarding the HHS contraception mandate and religious . . . → Read More: Indivisible: Jay Richards on Natural Law and Reason One comment Schmidt, Joel Contraception, Dissident, Encyclical, Faithful, Family, Government, Health and Human Services, Health Care, Humane Vitae, Indivisible, James Robison, Jay Richards, Marriage, Morality, Natural Law, Nature, Obamacare, Orthodox, Planned Parenthood, Politics, Public Square, Reason, Religion, Revelation, Rights, Secularist, Voting Guidelines for Catholics
Distinctions between social and economic issues are artificial. Congratulations to last week’s giveaway winners Jessica Kiesling and Rita Rawson! See details below to enter this week’s Indvisible giveaway. You also can buy Indivisible from Ignatius Press (with Voting Guidelines for Catholics bonus CD). This is the second installment from our interview with Dr. Jay Richards; read Part One here. In the wake of the recent Supreme Court decision regarding the Affordable Care Act (ObamaCare), it seems appropriate to publish an excerpt in which he discussed the moral connection between social and economic issues. * * * The . . . → Read More: Indivisible: Jay Richards on Morality and Economics 16 comments Schmidt, Joel abortion, Contraception, Economic Growth, Economics, education, Employment, Family, Gas Prices, Health and Human Services, Health Care, Holiness, Hunger, Indivisible, James Robison, Jay Richards, Jesus Christ, love, Marriage, Morality, Obamacare, poverty, Unemployment, Voting Guidelines for Catholics, Welfare The faithful should embrace this barb for what it really means. I had a Facebook dialog a few weeks ago with a couple Catholic friends who struggle with some of the Church’s teachings. The subject of the exchange was Rep. Paul Ryan’s budget proposal. One of them suggested he should be denied communion because he supposedly doesn’t care about the poor. After I refuted that bit of nonsense, the conversation quickly turned toward the HHS contraception mandate. One of the two interjected: Why, when many states had similar mandates already on the books, did the Bishops suddenly decide to cry foul? Seems entirely political to me and disingenuous as well. . . . → Read More: Power to the Sheeple! |
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