You Just Broke Your Child

I liked this article about being a good father, although I did find the physical touch aspect of it odd. Otherwise, a good read.

You Just Broke Your Child. Congratulations.

The gifts marriage bestows

It's so refreshing to have faithful Shepherds who teach so clearly (ok I might be biased since I'm from the Arlington Diocese originally). Today Bishop Loverde is reminding us of the basics about marriage:

"Marriage is not a human construct that society and individuals can redefine at will. It is not made by man. God created marriage with a profound and beautiful meaning and effect."

Read the rest:

The gifts marriage bestows

Heroic Husband

This story about a husband dying while saving his wife's life during the recent tornado in Missouri is so touching. An amazing modern day example of what every husband is called to do: "Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the Church and delivered Himself up for it" (Ephesians 5:25). What a beautiful story of sacrificial love!

Husband dies saving wife from Joplin tornado

You may kiss the Cross

This is a neat story about a tradition in Croatia, where the bride and groom hold onto a Crucifix while they profess their vows, and then they each kiss the Crucifix after they have said their vows. The Crucifix is blessed and placed in a prominent place in their house afterward as a reminder of Christ's sacrificial love for us and how we are each called to love each other. What a neat tradition!

You may kiss the Cross

Contraceptive Contradictions

Here's a great article by Fr. Tad explaining why all forms of contraception are always and entirely wrong. Thank you Lord for fantastic Priests like Fr. Tad!

Contraceptive Contradictions

Why do we let them dress like that?

Everyday I am appalled by the immodest dress of increasingly young girls, and I always wonder, "why do their parents let them dress like that?". It is mind boggling and very disturbing. I cannot for the life of me understand why mothers not only let their daughters dress in such an immodest way, but the mothers themselves take them shopping and buy these immodest clothes!

While I certainly went through my own phase of dressing more provocatively than I should have, I am so thankful for my parents who always stressed modesty, my school's ultra-strict modesty guidelines, and especially the examples of all of my older, modest sisters. Looking back though, I cannot believe my mom ever let me wear shorts with writing on the butt! That's like a target for pedophiles, right on my behind, are you kidding me? Why do we let our daughters dress this way?

Jennifer Moses asks this exact question in the Wall Street Journal, and although I don't quite agree with everything she has to say, I think she makes some interesting points.

Why do we let girls dress like that?

If only it were that easy...

We have a lot of great neighbors and a lot of great children for Cormac to play with. One of my favorite neighbors is four-year-old Noah. He has taken quite an interest in "Corvick" lately, it's sweet. He's also well-spoken and very polite. Yesterday he met a new neighbor on the sidewalk and said "Hello. How are you today?" very matter-of-factly (Martha, you would have been so proud!). He even waited for the adult to answer, then when the man asked Noah how he was, he said "Fine, thank you very much."

Tonight we saw a mom holding a new baby walking towards us, and Noah said "Look! A new baby! He came from Amazon." I laughed and said no, babies come from God! He was sure babies came from Amazon but I said again no, babies come from God. Then he said "well at least moms and dads come from Amazon!" Then I started to wonder if maybe there is some town in Korea named "Amazon" and that is where his family is from? So maybe I shouldn't be correcting the poor child if his family really did come from Amazon. So I suggested he just ask his mom about it (his mother is pregnant and due in August so I figured this topic would be coming up soon).

Later, Noah's dad came outside and I mentioned how Noah had been entertaining us and then that Noah had told me babies came from Amazon. The dad grinned and then explained: Noah had gotten mad at his mom the other day and asked for a new mom. His dad told him "ok, I'll just order you a new mom from Amazon." He told Noah she was ordered, but then Noah said he changed his mind, so dad canceled the order. But Noah still believes babies come from Amazon. And moms and dads. Hilarious.