When you look to the Holy Family for guidance, DO
NOT turn to your own family and think: Boy
are we in trouble. Instead, realize that even with the holy family, sometimes things were messy, chaotic, and totally unplanned. Then, we can relate and simply pray: “Lord, please help us overcome all obstacles in the way of the Holy Family.”
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Friday, December 19, 2014
"Snaketivity" Display Inspires Christian Response
Evil has
reared its ugly head in Lansing, MI where Satanists will display their
“Snaketivity” scene on the state capitol lawn on December 21-23. Even the devil, it seems, has a right to free
speech.
Thursday, December 18, 2014
Fr. Donald Calloway on the Power of Mary
Twelve years
ago, a brief article in the Marian Helper magazine caught my attention. “My mother never gave up on me,” I read.
“Even though I dropped out of high school, she never gave up on me, and now I’m
becoming a priest.”
That simple little story spoke volumes. I was on the
lookout for inspirational accounts to include in the Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart book that I was co-authoring. There had to be some drama if he dropped out of
high school and later became a priest, I reasoned.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
The Smallest Stone
In my article, Skip Those Red Buckets, I warned of the Salvation Army’s promotion of abortion for babies expected to have a short lifespan outside the womb. The story below is about the very short life of Aaron Schreiner. It was originally published in Amazing Grace for the Catholic Heart. Aaron lived for only an hour, but he dramatically changed many lives in that one hour.
Monday, December 15, 2014
Skip Those Red Buckets
The
ring-a-ling of silver bells that herald the Salvation Army’s Red Kettle Campaign
have relieved many Christmas shoppers of excess change and perhaps some
excess guilt from over-consumption. Unfortunately, pro-lifers should not contribute.
Friday, December 12, 2014
The Miraculous Roses of Our Lady of Guadalupe
On December 12, 1531, Our Blessed Mother appeared
clothed in the sun with the moon at her feet and transformed the Aztec/Mayan
people who were practicing human sacrifice. Within 9 years of her appearance, 9
million were baptized into the Catholic Church.
Our Lady of Guadalupe is the reason that Mexico became a Catholic
country.
Sunday, December 7, 2014
Haunted by Souls in Purgatory

Saturday, November 29, 2014
Infertility Healed Through Faith By Cassie McCullers
This beautiful story of the healing of
infertility for Bill and Cassie McCullers is from the book Amazing
Grace for Families, as told by Cassie.
All my life, I dreamed of being a wife
and mother, and everything I did pointed in that direction — from asking Santa
for a baby doll when I was ten to deciding against medical school in my junior
year of college.
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
For Babies, not Supermarket Chickens

So with that in mind, let’s
pause a moment and pray. Dear Lord, please give save-the-world activists the
grace to achieve rationality. Help them
to realize that they have the makings of a great comedy skit. And if they lack
a sense of humor, at least have them take their show to an abortion clinic
where the real tragedy of life might perhaps slap them in the face.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
20 Cool Things About Nuns in Habits
2. In a group, you
can barely tell them apart.
3. No bad hair days.
4. No wardrobe
malfunctions.
5. It brings intrigue
such as: Where do they put their money
and driver’s license?
Friday, November 21, 2014
Jesus Through the Eyes of Mary of Nazareth
Oh to be a
mother—so many reasons to both worry and rejoice from pregnancy onward. But to be the mother of the Savior…who can
imagine it? Every mother
contemplating the Christmas story surely considers what it would have been
like to have an angel announce our pregnancy or to ride on a donkey with no place
to rest during labor except a manger.
But as we
pick up dirty laundry and try to corral our children into order, the thought crosses our minds that raising the Son of God surely must have
been a bit less hectic day by day. An
acquaintance at my parish once jokingly said to me when my kids were little and
scrambling about: “Oh that Mary and her
one son, huh?”
Friday, November 14, 2014
Kim Kardashian & Mama June: The Vultures are Here
Monday, November 3, 2014
The Night Before Election in ND, Fighting for Life
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Fr. Basil Atwell |
![]() |
Fr. John Paul Gardner |
“No matter how much money or time or effort on this work any of us spend,
only our fidelity to God is seen and blessed by Him. Our true faith is measured
by our trust in His effective grace. If we, who fight this good fight to pass
Measure 1 do not recognize our need for Him in this fight, then our efforts are
simply our own and not God's. It will take a miracle to have this pass; and a
miracle of God is what we must pray for.” Pax. Fr. Basil
Different Ways to Jesus
“For there is one
God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus” (1Timothy
2:5).
Does the Bible confirm what Protestants have been
telling us, that we should only go through Jesus Christ when we pray?
No. It only says that we should go to Jesus.
Scripture shows us different ways we can go to him.
Wednesday, October 29, 2014
Just Before Election, Dirty Tactics Against Life
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Woman mocking Church at rally |
Fighting
against a prolife ballot measure in North Dakota, Planned Parenthood and
cronies are exercising their free choice to use dirty tactics. This week has been especially blatant. They don’t even have an office in North
Dakota but they have poured $1.5 million (96% of total donations) to fund
the opposition North Dakotans Against Measure 1 (NDAM1).
Wednesday, October 22, 2014
An Exorcist Talks about Horror Movies
If the devil is going to show
up at some point in a movie, I’d rather not pay to see it. Yet, any exorcist will tell you that it’s the
devil that you don’t see that is the most dangerous--the ones that tell you
immorality is a good thing and if there’s
a God, he wouldn’t mind.
In the movie, Ouija, which opened on October 24, the devil shows up. And by
name. He does not come trying to make
evil look good, he comes as pure evil with all the horror you would expect.
Monday, October 13, 2014
Our Lady of Nicaragua
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Painting of Our Lady of Necaragua |
Somehow, living in the warp speed of our modern world, until just this week, I never heard of the Church-approved apparitions of Our Lady of Nicaragua, also known as Our Lady of Cuapa. The visions with messages for our time, took place from April 15 to October 13 in 1980.
Bernardo Martinez was a humble, middle-aged Nicaraguan rancher who died in 2000 as Fr. Bernardo Marinez, having been ordained a priest in 1995 at the age of 64. This article is condensed from Bernardo Martinez's full statement on the apparitions given to Bishop Mons. Pablo Antonia Vega, Prelate Bishop of Juigalpa.
Sunday, October 5, 2014
The Hope of Lepanto: the Feast of the Holy Rosary
We are not
to lose hope even in the face of the nightly evening
news. We have Jesus and all the
treasures of the Catholic Church. And on
October 7, we have the feast of Our Lady of the Rosary, also known as Our Lady
of Victory. This feast is not just
an example that we should follow, but
one that we must follow if we desire
victory.
Saturday, September 27, 2014
Footing the Bill for Moral Confusion
Moral oblivion
comes with a price tag. There are many costs, such as 1.5 million a day for Planned Parenthood and all the children from single-parent homes needing services, but I want to turn my attention to a recent addition to the
taxpayer ledger. Until May 30 of this year,
Medicare denied requests for sex reassignments surgeries, but the procedure is
now considered medically necessary for people who feel nature assigned them the
wrong parts. I’m not making light of this painful situation but I am
saying: Oh come on!
Saturday, September 20, 2014
Changing the World – One Child at a Time by Diane Sonntag
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Jean Gaunt |
“I
had not thought about adopting for quite a while, until I saw the article,”
says Jean. “One of the little girls,
Samantha, was seven at the time and she looked quite a bit like I did at that
age. It really tugged on my
heartstrings, especially since it was Mother’s Day.” Jean says that she rarely reads the newspaper
and she just happened to read it on that day.
If she hadn’t seen the article, she never would have known about the
kids.
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Courage Under Fire, a 911 Hero by Thomas Edward Burnett Sr.
This 9/11 story is of the hero—a
Catholic and daily communicant-- who tried to take back the plane from
terrorist before it crashed in PA. It is
shared through the eyes of his loving father and was originally published exclusively
in "Amazing
Grace for Families."
Looking down over the Omaha beaches of Normandy, France, my son, Thomas Jr.
pointed to the stretch of land which is now a cemetery holding more than 9,000 WWII
American soldiers. “That’s where some of the fiercest fighting took
place,” he explained.
My son had planned this trip of a lifetime with me. As a history buff, he
was enamored with the heroism of the men who stormed the beaches at Normandy
over sixty years ago on what become known as D-Day. The operation remains
the largest invasion from sea to land in history; involving close to three
million troops crossing the English Channel to take back France from German
occupation. It was a bold and bloody mission in which rapid enemy fire failed
to halt these heroic men from marching forward into almost certain death--all
in the name of freedom.
Note to LBGT Community: Don’t Apply to Catholic Schools
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Marian High School |
Catholic
Schools have morality clauses not in sync with a LBGT lifestyle. But you
already knew that. Barb Webb of Bloomfield Hills, MI knew that too when
she applied to work at the all-girls Marian High School. She was a
chemistry teacher and coach. She was also a lesbian in a same-sex
marriage. When Barb recently told the school about her “nontraditional
pregnancy,” they fired her.
Saturday, September 6, 2014
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Has the Women’s Movement Decreased Happiness?
Hey, ladies, it’s August 26, Equality Day! Woo-hoo!
How’s it going so far? In case you are not in the
loop, Women’s Equality Day
commemorates August 26, 1920 when the right for women to vote became official. But equality has not rained down happiness on women.
Thursday, August 14, 2014
Mary’s Assumption—You’d Better Believe It!
Mary was assumed
into heaven, body and soul. Yeah right,
some non-Catholic Christians say. I once
even heard a Catholic with Protestant leanings say, “Mary was just a person, no
different than the rest of us.” Oh
PLEEZE people! Mary’s assumption only
makes sense. If God took Elijah up into heaven in a whirlwind, why would he not
do likewise for the mother of his son?
Wednesday, August 6, 2014
Not Enough Sex Ed in 4th Grade?
Call me repressed, but having
sex with boys was not on my radar screen at ten years old. After all, they had
cooties. Jumping rope and watching cartoons
was where it was at for fourth graders during my childhood.
According to the Institute
for Reproductive Health at Georgetown University, that sort of blissful ignorance is bad for kids. Their research “Investing in
Very Young Adolescents’ Sexual and Reproductive Health” was published in the Global
Public Health journal last month. They claim their findings show that children
should start receiving formal sexual education as early as age 10 to decrease
unintended pregnancies, “unsafe” abortions (all are unsafe for the baby)
maternal deaths, and sexually transmitted infections.
Sunday, August 3, 2014
Guard Your Mouth to a Happier Marriage
When we say I do we should also say, I won’t—I won’t use my words to hurt my
spouse. Infidelity, addictions, and other major destructive behaviors can
inflict mortal wounds on a marriage. But
perhaps the greatest source of damage on relationships is the seemingly less
harmful ones, particularly the cuts to the heart made through unkind speech.
Monday, July 28, 2014
Contraception Tweet-lash
I recently posted a prolife,
anti-contraception tweet that leaked onto the screens of people who insist on
separating sex from procreation. One person
commented that I was “50 cards short of a full deck” for my tweet that said: “Abortion
is backup for contraception. Until we get rid of contraception, we won't get
rid of abortion. #life #Prolife #tcot #trcot”
Thursday, July 3, 2014
Start Defending God!
“I’m mad as
hell and I’m not going to take it anymore!” Those are the iconic words from the
1976 film Network. In an impassioned diatribe, a TV anchor galvanized the
nation, convincing his viewers to shout out of their windows "I'm as mad
as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
I am waiting for God to open up a window in the sky
and to shout those words down to us.
Until then, the time for backlash is long overdue. We must start
speaking up.
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
A Doctor and A Catholic by Laura Archuleta
![]() |
Dr. Laura Archuleta |
Dr. Laura Archuleta struggled with balancing her faith with a
medical career until she saw the light. This story is excerpted from the Amazing Grace for Families.
There
never was a time in my medical career when “the birth control question” did not
hang over my head. I often wondered how my Catholic faith should impact my
medial practice. Was it okay to give
“the pill” to other women, as long as I did not use it myself? The answers did
not come easily.
Monday, June 23, 2014
A Winning Team: Pope Francis and Our Lady
What is the one thing that Pope Francis is rarely without? Hint: He always brings it with him
and is seen wearing it in the majority of his pictures.
Give up? It’s his smile. In most of his pictures, he is smiling. How comforting is that? Pope Francis has the weight of the world on
his shoulders as the Vicar of Christ on Earth.
He is very well aware of the state of the world, and yet, he smiles most
of the time.
Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Fantasy Island Meets North Dakota


Tuesday, June 10, 2014
Living the Beatitudes for Parents
Giving life to a child touches a parent’s heart and leads to the Divine as
reflected in the Beatitudes (Matt 5: 1-5) “Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a
mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to Him and He began to teach
them, saying:
Friday, June 6, 2014
Religion ≠ Magic; Jesus ≠ Illusionist
Dear Atheist,
There’s nothing like a good magic
show, huh? Harry Houdini, the all-time great illusionist, knew this. David
Copperfield is right behind him in the theater of trickery as the highest paid magician
in all of history. What you see is not always what you get, right? But what you
fail to see with religion is that what you get is not only what you see.
Tuesday, June 3, 2014
Divorce Parties: Beyond Stupid

Celebrating divorce, or “uncoupling,” is the latest trend in parties. Divorce parties are also big business for party planners and novelty companies, even outdoing pet birthday parties. Yeah, it’s just that big.
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
The Devil’s Surprise: Mary’s Heel
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Mother of Life by Nellie |
I imagine
that Satan has been surprised a few times by God’s cleverness. The devil chose Hell rather than to humble
himself. How ironic that God saved us
through his own humility.
Friday, May 23, 2014
“Two Gifts: A Baby and a Miracle” by Maureen Merritt Bergman
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Mo and Alan with Victor |
I was so excited at the possibility of being pregnant that I bought and
used three over-the-counter pregnancy kits. I just could not wait and kept
taking the test before the minimum waiting time. When the results finally confirmed what I
had suspected, I ran into the living room to tell my husband, Alan. We hugged and cried tears of joy.
Thursday, May 22, 2014
A Mother’s Perspective on the Fate of her Daughter’s Murderer
Monday, May 19, 2014
No More Porn, No More Contraception, No More Fear
Chad Judice
had a good thing going: a beautiful wife and a teaching job that he loved at a
Catholic school seemed to complete his life.
The idea of fatherhood seemed too much.
So when his wife became pregnant with their first son, it scared him. She was thrilled; he was not. Why mess with a good thing?
But what
could he do except to put on the happy face of an expectant father. He relieved his stress by being critical and
irritable to his wife. Then, there was
the pornography. It’s not a big deal, he told himself. I’m
only human.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Fatima Still Matters
May 13 is the Feast of Our Lady
of Fatima. In a world growing more skeptical of God and cynical of religion,
there is Fatima. It is where our Blessed Mother appeared to three shepherd
children and where a public miracle was witnessed before tens of thousands.
In Fatima, two anti-Catholic
socialist newspapers sent reporters to witness how foolish it was that so many
people came out believing there would be a miracle. Instead, the papers carried
reports of an amazing miracle witnessed by all who were there.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
Former Actress Stars in Live Action Abortion Video
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Emily Letts during abortion |
Abortion counselor
Emily Letts is being celebrated for starring in her own abortion video. Her intended message to pregnant women: Come follow me! Having your baby removed is
a breeze.
Emily, who
works at a New Jersey abortion clinic, had sex with someone with whom she did
not want to raise a child and a new human being was created. She decided to end
motherhood through a surgical abortion. The
former actress decided to make a video capturing the moment that her baby would
be separated from her life-sustaining uterus, although we only see Emily, not the actual abortion. For this
accomplishment, Emily is featured in the latest issue of Cosmopolitan
magazine—the magazine that does not just sell sex but promotes killing the results.
Tuesday, May 6, 2014
Curious George vs St. Faustina
“I have a
problem with Curious George,” a friend announced to me at a party. “I’m not sure about reading those books to my
children.” Christa is the mother of three
young boys. Her comment surprised
me. My children had loved the popular
book series.
Friday, May 2, 2014
Is it a Sin to Put Yourself Down?
“Oh, I’m so inept! I can’t do anything right!” There are endless variations of the
self-deprecating rants. They are dressed up like humility but smack of pride.
The person announcing his failings probably does not boast and is instead seeking
a humble path, but he unwittingly travels by way of pride. Whether boasting or bemoaning one’s own
characteristics, both put the focus on self.
Monday, April 28, 2014
My Message from Heaven to Stay Awake and Pray the Rosary
I learned to pray the rosary in 1989 while in my early thirties. I vowed to say it daily. But a few weeks after the birth of a new baby, I decided to skip it in favor of getting to sleep. That’s when a Divine message let me know, it's worth staying awake to pray the rosary.
When I was around ten years old, my parents decided to pray a family rosary one evening. It was the first time ever. We knelt together in the living room and began. But before finishing the first decade, things began to break down. I don’t recall the specifics but making faces and giggling were involved. My mother declared it a failure, and we never prayed one again during my childhood, although years later my parents became very devoted to it.
When I was around ten years old, my parents decided to pray a family rosary one evening. It was the first time ever. We knelt together in the living room and began. But before finishing the first decade, things began to break down. I don’t recall the specifics but making faces and giggling were involved. My mother declared it a failure, and we never prayed one again during my childhood, although years later my parents became very devoted to it.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Be the CEO of Your Life, Lessons from JPII

Books on leadership in business are not on
my shelves. Yet, I have found meaning in The
Pope & The CEO: John Paul II's Pope John Paul II's Leadership
Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard by
Adreas Widmer. He was a mere guard—although guarding the very
vicar of Christ—at the time he learned these lessons. They have
served him well, not because they were lessons for corporate America,
but because they are lessons for authentic Catholic living.
So
amid laundry piles and washing floors; negotiating with and
leading children, I have learned
that JPII's lessons are less about rising to the top of corporate
America and more about rising all the way to the very top--heaven.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
"Watch What You Pray For," by Liz Gary
Everyone has heard the
saying: “Watch what you pray for; you may get it.” When Liz Gary was was pregnant with her third
child, she prayed that God would take her unborn baby before he was born. Her husband Mike and she had two adorable
children; six-year-old Abby-Lynn and four-year-old Cameron. They had room in their hearts for another child...but just not this one, or so Liz thought. Here is her story.
Amniocentesis revealed
that the little boy I carried had Downs Syndrome with a heart defect and other
possible major anomalies. The news hit me like a sledge hammer. For some
reason, ever since I was a child, I had a deep fear that one day I would have a
Down’s child. I’m ashamed to admit it, but I feared Downs children and turned
away from them.
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