Catholicism
This Far and No Further
After the announced LCWR “crackdown,” I was in a Jo-Ann fabric store. A few women in line were deriding the Girl Scouts for being “radical feminists.” I had to butt in and note that if being competent is radically feminist, then Girl Scouts are. I made a lot of jokes about my being “2 for…
#radicalfeministthemes
The Vatican has announced a crackdown on US sisters, who, amongst other offenses like running hospitals and educating countless children and young adults, are possibly guilty of promoting “radical feminist themes.” This news kicked off a lot of frenzied tweeting on my part. I saw Doom arrive in the form of this announcement. I cried…
Wrap Yourself In Vision Bedding!
Thank you, Elizabeth Castelli, for introducing me to the bedroom of my dreams, courtesy of Vision Bedding. I’ve often wondered if there’s a place where faith meets decor. Like most Catholics, I tend to trail statues, plaques, holy water fonts, crucifixes and mass cards all over my house, but I’ve never been able to get…
Lenten Thrills: 1974
Did you know that during Holy Week in 1974, an Australian nun had a top ten hit in the United States with a recording of the Lord’s Prayer? I didn’t either! Happy Lent to me! I made my non-believer husband watch the video with me on YouTube. Our comments are included with screenshots below. …
Belief-O-Matic Results!
I took BeliefNet’s Belief-O-Matic test and here are the results. Check out #1 and #27 out of #27. OK. Fine. I’ll light some candles and don a shawl and pray to the Goddess. Oh wait. I already do that. The first shall be last and the last shall be first, Belief-O-Matic. Click any Faith for…
Your Reformation Day Blowout!
Did you know that October 31 is not only a great time to be a Catholic or Pagan, but also a very special day for Protestants? That’s right! October 31 marks Reformation Day, which Brother Jeffrey Gros recently told me has fallen into disuse: “Since the 1980s, traditional Reformation Day services have evolved into commemorations…
A Kinder, Gentler Apocalypse
Remember all the world-ending-on-May-21 hype earlier this year? Apparently God was playing more of his “I’m gonna pretend to high-five you, then pull my hand away at the last minute and say ‘Psych!’” games with all of us. Harold Camping of Family Radio was admittedly “flabbergasted” when it didn’t happen as planned. But lo! It has…
The Latin Mass of My Dreams
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church “rejects both the liturgical and doctrinal changes of Vatican II in their entirety and without exception.” Indeed, there are other churches in the Louisville area that offer the Tridentine Mass, but “what differentiates St. John the Baptist Church from these other communities is its total fidelity to the Catholic…
The Bad Old Days
A dear friend who was recently on a family vacation in Wisconsin went above and beyond the call of duty. Way beyond. When she returned, she presented me with a clutch of souvenirs from the Queen of the Holy Rosary, Mediatrix of Peace Shrine in Necedah, Wisconsin, a place she knew holds some fascination for…
Madonna’s Guilt, Gaga’s Monsters, Lewis’s Plan All Along
Sez The Atlantic‘s Spencer Kornhaber, in a piece on Lady Gaga’s theology: Gaga-Madonna comparisons […] are played out—yes, both singers are ethnic Italians, raised Catholic, and artistically chameleonic—but remain instructive. For example, compare Born This Way with 1989’s Like a Prayer. Both are self-consciously artsy statements that lean heavily on their creators’ Catholic backgrounds. But Like a Prayer…
Shine On, You Crazy Diamonds
In a recent Guardian article about Italian Bishop Domenico Mogavero’s flash new Armani-designed liturgical duds, mention was also made of the Pope’s rumored penchant for Prada footwear. “The Vatican daily L’Osservatore Romano scotched the rumours, pointing out that the shoes in question were in fact made by an Italian artisan. ‘The Pope is not dressed…
