This delightful question serves as a reminder that fathers—and mothers—are not just biological realities but symbols as well. The role and work that parents...
Parenting
Midway through Magnolia’s baptism, Deacon Lindell said it was time for an exorcism. Though once a routine part of the baptismal rite, exorcisms aren’t included...
On one of the first evenings after our then foster (now adopted) daughter Teenasia came to live with us, second-grade Jacob was at the dining room table doing...
Every weeknight, sometime between 9:30 and 10:45 p.m., my husband will stand and say, “I’m heading up.” He climbs the stairs, stops in the bathroom, and gets...
A couple years ago, when Jon’s daughter tried out for the local club soccer team, she was placed on the B team. “Kayla had been the star of her rec team the...
The well-known international aid group Save the Children offered up an unusual Mother’s Day present this year. Instead of buying flowers, it issued a warning...
All of us are pushed in a thousand directions over the course of a single day. Spouses, children, parents, work, friends—it can be hard to find the time for...
One day during my sophomore year of high school, I found myself crying in the hallway. I had just left my chemistry class and was heading down the hall to my...
By Father James Tunstead Burtchaell, C.S.C. This essay appeared in the May 1988 issue of U.S. Catholic (Vol. 53, No. 5, pages 29-31). Ruth and Paul came by...
I used to have a neighbor, an elderly gentleman who walked up and down the streets of our quiet neighborhood most afternoons, ready to talk to whoever crossed...
