feel good programs

Ever Get Tempted to Give up Catholics for Lent?

I get a little edgier this time of year every year now. It’s because of the stupid, vapid advice I see repeated about lent. The Forum has posted a lot of good posts about lent on social channels recently. One was this piece of gold by Cindy Paslawski. In it, she asks whether traditional lent is optional. And she…

Read More...

Is your parish dollar buying the subversion of Parish Life?

I am looking around at parish life in the big city these days, and all I see in the bulletin are listings for new programs.  There is one thing that can renew a parish immediately.  It doesn’t cost money.  It doesn’t require volunteers.  And it is a sure fire way to bring miraculous turnarounds and…

Read More...

A Little Catholic “Education” History: Getting Alinsky into the Catholic Parish

Recently, while preparing an article on Common Core national standards, someone suggested that I might be interested in the “open letters” written by a group called Catholics for Truth in Education operating in Illinois from 1974 into the 90s. Interestingly enough, a set of these “open letters” just happened to have been sitting on my…

Read More...