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December 8th marks the feast of the Immaculate Conception. It celebrates an important point of Catholic teaching, and it is a holy day of obligation. Here are 8 things you need to know about the teaching and the way we celebrate it. 1. Who does the Immaculate Conception refer to?  There’s a popular idea that it refers to Jesus’ conception by the Virgin Mary.  It doesn’t.  Instead, it refers to the special way in which the Virgin Mary herself was conceived.  This conception was not virginal. (That is, she had a human father as well as a human mother.) But it was special and unique in another way. . .  2. What is the Immaculate Conception?  The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains it this way:  490 To become the mother of the Saviour,...

What a difference six years and a midterm make. Many Christians I know, who’d been jubilant at the prospect of a Republican red wave on election night, didn’t feel that way the next day. The history of midterm elections, the president’s low popularity rating, the low state of the economy, the hard progressive views of many Democrats, had led most of the country to believe the Republicans would sweep to victory. They didn’t. Everyone has an explanation. I have my theories, of course, as someone professionally involved in observing political life, but I’d stress to disappointed Christians that the results show the psalmist’s wisdom, telling us, “Put not your trust in princes.” Here I’d like to talk about the midterm results, compared with the results in 2016, when the same people did not exp...

[embedded content] How can women come to have a proper perception of their own beauty? I have a suggestion toward a partial answer. A great beginning is that fathers learn to see their daughters’ beauty; and then tell them. I think we fathers too easily forget that insistent voices are telling our daughters how to see themselves. Indeed, these voices are fairly screaming. How insistent and confident is our voice, and what exactly are we saying? Here is a matter for careful reflection. It might be more urgent than we realize. There is a fascinating difference between men and women as regards being told ‘you are beautiful.’ Men surely want to be ‘attractive’ or ‘handsome.’ But we normally don’t speak of men as ‘beautiful.’ Or, if we do say ‘he is a beautiful person,’ we are often simply abst...

VALLETTA, Dec 4 (Reuters) – A large picture of an unborn baby was placed outside the office of Malta’s prime minister on Sunday as demonstrators called on the government to halt plans to amend the country’s strict anti-abortion laws. The protest, the biggest in years, attracted several thousand people including Malta’s top Catholic bishop and the leader of the conservative opposition, but was led by a former centre-left president, Marie Louise Coleiro Preca. “We are here to be the voice of the unborn child,” said 19-year-old university student Maria Formosa, one of the speakers at the rally. “Through abortion, life is always lost.” Some of those present carried placards reading slogans such as “Keep abortion out of Malta” and “Protect o...

This is so great! NBA coach Joe Mazzulla of the Boston Celtics answered questions during a press conference following a victory against the Miami Heat on Nov. 30. One reporter asked about the presence of Prince William and Princess Kate Middleton of Wales at the game. “Did you get a chance to meet with the royal family, and if not, what was it like having them there in the building?” the reporter asked. Mazzulla answers, “Jesus, Mary and Joseph?” The reporter laughs and responds, “The prince and princess of Wales.” Mazzulla then says, “I’m only familiar with one royal family. I don’t know too much about that one. But hopefully they’re Celtic fans.” Mazzulla is a devout Catholic and a husband and father of two children. According to this report,  he is “a focused man of faith who count...