If you've even glanced at the internet in the past couple of weeks, you probably know something of the hubbub caused by the now-infamous Time cover story, Are You Mom Enough? The image and the accompanying article have ignited debates about everything from extended breastfeeding to breastfeeding in public to the philosophy behind Attachment Parenting, but the angle I have found most interesting is the subject of children's privacy.

Blogger Rachel Lucas weighed in with a strong take in which she denounced the Time cover, and brought it back to the general issue of what mothers choose to share publicly about their kids [note: some profanity at that link]. She writes:

This is the same...READ MORE

Earlier this week someone asked me how to address the issue of suffering when chatting with atheists. I was a guest on Catholic Answers Live, and a caller explained that he had been trying to reach out to an atheist acquaintance who was particularly troubled by the issue of suffering. Whenever the subject of faith would come up, his atheist friend would cite atrocities like rape or murder or child abuse, and he would ask, "Where is your God when people suffer?"

I have spent a lot of time trying to find a good way to answer that question. Certainly when we have hours of time to discuss the subject, or hundreds of pages to analyze it in a book, we can at least begin to convey the depth of...READ MORE

Yesterday, Simcha asked a great question about the Lord's famous teaching that his yoke is easy, and his burden is light. She wrote:

I understand that we can unite our suffering with Christ's -- that we can elevate any pain or sorrow, and that none of it is lost, none of it has to be in vain. But that makes it worthwhile; that rescues it from futility. It doesn't make it easy or light. I guess I just don't understand why Christ used those particular words.

She ended by asking, "What does this verse mean to you? What does 'easy and light' mean?" It's a phrase that I have puzzled over as well, but when it makes most sense to me is when I contrast my life now to my life when I was an...READ MORE

A week ago last Saturday, I witnessed a terrible motorcycle accident in the neighborhood. I was the first person to check on the victim, and was not prepared for what I would find. The young rider had died instantly, but the scene was like something out of a war zone. When the police arrived, even veteran offices were shocked.

I was not able to recognize the young man, and spent the evening in sorrow and shock for him and for his family, whoever they were. It would all be magnified the next morning, when I found out his identity. He was our neighbor, the 21-year-old son of the family just a few doors down from us.

As I went through last week, going to the wake and the candlelight...READ MORE

I was going to write a post for today, but then one of my children got a mild case of food poisoning. While we were jammed into arena seats at a performance of Disney on Ice. I'll leave it to your imagination as to how that all played out, and will only remark that it's a shame that that $12 souvenir hat had to be put to such an unfortunate use.

Since I am in no position to write anything original today, other than perhaps a post about how to offer profuse apologies to the people seated in front of you at Disney on Ice, I will take the opportunity to introduce you to one of my favorite writers: Kristen Walker.

For those of you who don't already follow her, Walker is a blogger for Live...READ MORE