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Priests must preach the hard truths, but with compassion

When I first began my ministry in Russia 20 some years ago I recognized two subjects were off limits for me to speak of with my parishioners — alcoholism and abortion. Although most of the parishioners were affected by the disease of alcoholism either though a spouse, a relative, neighbor or friend no one wanted to talk about what to do. I knew that most every woman sitting before me every Sunday had undergone an abortion — and most likely numerous abortions. And the men as well sitting before me probably played a major role in those decisions.

Give your kids chances to give

One of the kids had brought $5 from home to buy Pokemon cards. But, because of bad behavior, that didn’t happen. Mom drove out of the Target parking lot and no one was happy. It was then they saw a man, with a woman and two children, holding a sign: “No job. Have kids. No food. Please help. God bless you.”
“Aren’t you going to stop Mom? We need to help,” came a voice from the back seat.

The joy of introducing children to Pope Francis

Most mornings, we gather together after chores and breakfast to pray for the “Fourteen P’s,” a list of requests that, over the years, we’ve managed to finagle all beginning with “P” (pope, president, priest, papa, pets, etc.). I also read something: perhaps a passage of Scripture or prayer to memorize, sometimes a saint’s biography or section of the children’s catechism. Now, it is short, child-sized teachings from Laudato Si.

Young Alaska Native embraces Catholic faith & tribal traditions

Traditional Yup’ik dance was a form of prayer, a ritualistic plea to the spirit world in the land that would one day be known as Alaska. In that long-ago age, the shaman donned masks representing animal spirits and led the tribe in singing, dancing and drumming to petition the spirits for specific needs. In the late 1800s Christian missionaries including Jesuit priests banned the Natives’ ancient ceremonial dancing, condemning it as evil pagan idolatry.

Alaskan man saved from the ‘devil & the bottle’

As a homeless man in Alaska, Jeff Lane lived at the mercy of four omnipresent factors — weather, the law, wild animals such as urban moose and bear, and attacks by teens looking to victimize the homeless. A hierarchy exists among the homeless, according to Lane, and any sense of loyalty to one another is underpinned by the crushing tyranny of alcoholic thirst: the next drink is king.

Marriage by any other name would be just as sweet

To the delight of some and the dismay of others, the meaning of marriage in the civil sphere is no longer what it once was, and in this sense, the legal institution of marriage has been “redefined.” But it may be more accurate, more descriptive, to say that the Supreme Court has furthered the deconstruction of this venerable institution. Reading through the majority opinion of the Court, one often encounters the phrase “right to marry” but struggles to understand how this means anything more than the right to be friendly companions.

Pro-life group asks Alaskans to urge Sen. Murkowski to support Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act

A prominent national pro-life organization is urging Alaskans to contact U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski, urging her to support the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act. Introduced in June by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) the measure would ban most abortions after 20-weeks. The bill passed the House in May with a bipartisan margin of 242-184.

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