I'm not boycotting movie director Joss Whedon or anything. I'm just saying I'm not very interested in his movies or television shows anymore. Look, I've been a Joss Whedon guy for a long time. I watched Buffy. I watched Angel. I was all about Firefly. I even defended Dollhouse even though absolutely nothing happened for a looooong time.

I enjoyed his work so much that I didn't even altogether blame Whedon for infusing vampires with souls. But that's why I've been so curious why he's taken the soul out of everyone else. Recently I read that Buffy, in the comic book series that takes place after the show ended, is getting an abortion. Why? According to Whedon, there's not enough abortion...READ MORE

April 15th is an unpleasant day in the United States and we await its arrival with dread. But in Rome and in Écône, Switzerland and around the world thousands upon thousands look upon the 15th with fear and hope all mixed together. April 15th is the deadline. And if you are smart, you should be paying attention too.

By April 15th the Society of Saint Pius X will give their response to a “Doctrinal Preamble” outlining “certain doctrinal principles and criteria for the interpretation of Catholic doctrine … (while also) leaving open to legitimate discussion the examination and theological explanation of individual expressions and formulations contained in the documents of Vatican Council...READ MORE

I grew up in a Catholic family. I mean the kind of Catholic where my mom dragged me by the hair to Confession just because I picked the neighbor's apple tree bare for a rock fight with other neighbors. (I was out of rocks.) But despite my upbringing, I turned into a hardcore agnostic (if that's not an oxymoron.)

I would've been an atheist but I thought I was smarter than them too. Needless to say, the older I got, stealing apples for rock fights was the least of my transgressions. I went to college because I wanted to make a lot of money. I went to a Catholic college because I wanted to marry an Irish-Catholic accounting major. I know it sounds weird but I didn't like the girls I found...READ MORE

I stink at evangelism.

Are you familiar with the term 'inside baseball?"

Wikipedia has a good definition when it defines it as "Inside baseball describes details or minutiae of a subject so detailed or requiring such a specific knowledge about what is being discussed that they generally are not well known or appreciated by outsiders."

I am bogged down by minutiae.

In my other life as an IT professional some people have become aware of my alternative gig as a "catholic" writer.  These things happen I suppose. Couple this with the fact that I have five children (a starter family if you ask me but we got married later in life) and I have become known at work as that Catholic guy. For...READ MORE

If in 2008 you had pondered the possibility of a winner-take-all matchup between president-elect Barack Obama and then Archbishop of Milwaukee Timothy Dolan, I think few would've considered it a fair fight.
As President-elect Barack Obama stood between the Greek columns delivering his acceptance speech, not only the country applauded but the world. There were few who weren’t moved. Barack Obama seemed to be a man astride the Earth.

One can look back now and say he was just reading off a teleprompter or that the Republican Party had nominated a candidate who was never really sure he wanted to beat Obama. One could even say that the image of Obama between the columns was a foreshadowing...READ MORE

Wives. 

We Christian folk, we like to talk about mommies.  We love them.  We cherish them.  We idealize them.  Mommies are awesome. 

But I wish to take a a moment to discuss wives.  Ya know, wives.  The better half.  The ball and chain.  The….well, ya know.  All those things.

I spoke with Father John Higgins, the Pastor of Saint Raymond’s parish in California, last night. He’s a funny and faithful priest. We spoke for a while about the HHS mandate and the Catholic blogosphere in general and he almost made me forget why I called him in the first place. But the reason I called was to ask him about a story he recently printed in his parish bulletin about a miraculous trip to the emergency room about twenty years ago where he witnessed…the improbable. 

I wanted to share it with you. Check it out:

Who doesn’t enjoy a good BarBQue with friends? When I was asked to a young couple’s home for a Young Adult Ministry Home Mass and BarBQue I packed my Mass kit and off I...READ MORE

My son doesn’t look anything like Trayvon Martin, the boy so tragically killed in Florida.  My son also doesn’t look anything like George Zimmerman, the man who shot him.

Does that mean that I shouldn’t care about either of them since they don’t look like me or my sons?  President Obama seems to suggest so.