Maybe Pope Francis isn’t saying what you all think he’s saying on economics
There’s been a lot of angst and blather over a relatively minor portion of Pope Francis’ apostolic exhortation Evangelii Gaudium, a few thousand words out of 55,000 on matters of economics. Political conservatives like Rush Limbaugh and Judge Andrew Napolitano have excoriated the Pope for his “Marxist” views and many Catholics have dismissed the Holy […]
Catholic social media isn’t really media at all
We call it social media, but what if it isn’t really media at all, at least how we understand media? In fact, social media shouldn’t be lumped in with traditional media because they are completely different, with different means and different ends. Social media is more akin to the road to Emmaus than it is […]
Isabella’s First Confession
As homeschooling parents of a 7-year-old, we’ve been thinking about First Confession and First Communion lately. If she were in school, Isabella would be in second grade and so she would be preparing for the sacraments this school year in religious education. We never considered sending our kids to parish religious education since if we’re […]
Mussels for Two Meals
On Saturday we went to the penultimate week of our local farmer’s market and I picked up some mussels from the fishmonger who gives the kids lollipops every week. When we got home I turned to my favored preparation for the shellfish that come from the cold Atlantic waters of Prince Edward Island: Mussels in […]
8 Life Lessons I Learned from Navy ROTC
After graduating high school in 1986, I attended Boston University and was a member of their Navy ROTC[1] program in a non-scholarship status. I only lasted at BU for a year (long story, short: I was not mature enough for college yet), but I learned some important lessons in that brief time wearing the uniform […]
Amazon Kindle Matchbook is a great idea … in theory, so far
I think Amazon’s Kindle Matchbook program is a good idea. They now allow you to get Kindle versions of physical books you’ve purchased from them in the past or from now on for anywhere from free to $2.99. I love the idea of having some of my favorite books in ebook format so that I […]
Catholic New Media Conference in Boston is a Hit
This past weekend, the Archdiocese of Boston hosted the Catholic New Media Conference, the seventh presented by the Star Quest Production Network (SQPN) and the second time the archdiocese hosted it. I was the primary coordinator from the Archdiocese for the conference and despite my worst fears, it went off pretty well. In fact, I […]
Partisan media blames partisan media for polarized politics
The mainstream media wonders why people are flocking to alternatives and ends up illustrating why.
How old are your smoke detectors?
Everybody knows about one of the expiration dates for home smoke detectors: Every six months– or when we change the clocks in the spring and fall– you should replace the batteries, if they are battery-powered. But did you know that there is another expiration date you should know about? I didn’t until recently. I’ve noticed […]
I Dreamed a Dream Anew
I watched the 2012 movie adaptation of the musical[1] “Les Miserables” the other night. It was my first time watching the musical in any form–although I’d previously seen dramatized versions of Victor Hugo’s novel– and it wasn’t bad, even though I had to look up the plot online to follow it completely. I hadn’t realized […]