What are we to make of it when the Catholic Governor of New York wants his state to pass the most permissive, most life-unfriendly abortion law in the country? Here are the details: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/andrew-cuomos-brave-new-roe/ If the law were passed there would be virtually no restrictions on abortion. Catholic hospitals and physicians would in effect be put [...]
The song is: "Not For Me." I’ve listened to it on YouTube many times, and finally decided that I must attempt a version of the lyrics in English. It is an extraordinarily popular song with Russians. Why is that so? Russia is a country bitterly acquainted with what happens to the lives of people because of [...]
I’d been watching lots of Russian Folk Chorus videos recently, and then came across this exceptionally lovely and moving song, “A Poor Little Bird sat in a Cage”.I’ve written a version of it in English.My verse is only a version. The original Russian poem is exquisitely lyrical and yet simple. It is beyond my power to [...]
More than 20 years ago, as the Soviet Union was falling, I went on a trip to northern Russia with an environmental group. The purpose of the visit was to collect samples from the fish of the White Sea, so they could be tested for dioxins and furans, common environmental toxins in the almost unregulated Soviet [...]
A few days ago we went to a restaurant here in DC, and at a nearby table there was a woman who, apparently, had no arms. And yet, with her foot bared, she ate her salad with the fork held between her big toe and second toe, and she manipulated that fork as adeptly as might [...]
As I write this, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary begins tomorrow, December 8, 2012. Why do I call the Blessed Virgin “the Immaculata”?Many years ago my mother retired to a small town in Spain. Among the other expatriates living there was an American Catholic, although I didn’t know at first [...]
His Holiness Benedict XVI released a new book called Infancy Narratives only a few weeks ago. The popular press presented it as debunking our age-old traditions about Christmas – no ox and ass at the crib, no warming of the infant Child with their breath, no angels caroling above the astonished shepherds, and Our Lord not [...]
Noted below is the status of one particular case moved by a plaintiff against the Affordable Care Act, which requires employers to provide free healthcare coverage which includes payment for contraceptives, sterilization and some abortion-inducing drugs: http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/1204973.htm The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the case brought by a Christian publisher, Tyndale House Publishers. I’m not [...]
The other day I read a story on the BBC web site about a student in Texas who has refused to carry a radio tag that tracked her movements. The details are here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20461752 The student asserted that the requirement to be radio tagged violated her religious beliefs as implied in Revelations 13, which refers to [...]
Recently, looking through my draft file, I came across an article I’d saved, published last April in the Wall Street Journal. It was an encouragement to all those who fear that the Catholic Church might be fading away, because it noted the increase in ordinations in many places in the United States. Here is the article: [...]
