It was one of those days that’s very hard for former Charismatics. In fact, I’d call it a devil of a day. There was a very silly priest, an alleged exorcist, who was featured in a video going viral on Twitter. The priest was excitedly explaining that there are demonic rituals and “the occult” hidden in Taylor Swift concerts and that you could get possessed if you weren’t careful. I reacted to that like the nonsense it is, because... Read more
When I was ten years old, in the wake of a terrorist attack, I planted a white oak tree. This was in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, shortly before the end of the fourth grade. I was at that terrible Catholic school in Columbus, Ohio, a world away from Oklahoma City, and my parents didn’t let me watch the news. I knew that a huge crowd of people had suffered a calamity, a long way away, and... Read more
You have probably already heard that Cardinal Raymond Burke has once again been slapped down by Pope Francis. Specifically, according to the Associated Press, Francis has taken away Burke’s right to an allowance and a Vatican-subsidized apartment. Burke’s “apartment” is said to be 4,488 square feet, and the only information I can find about his pay is that it’s about $68000 a year (from which he doesn’t pay rent thanks to that behemoth of an apartment). That’s quite a... Read more
On Friday night, we saw the fireworks. The City of Steubenville put off the official Christmas tree lighting Tuesday, due to rain. That meant that on Black Friday, the whole population of Steubenville went downtown to cram themselves into tiny Fort Steuben park to try and catch a glimpse of an artificial tree sticking out of the municipal fountain. We all craned our necks and stood on our toes. A local music group sang “O Holy Night.” We counted... Read more
I didn’t die last week. Thank you to the people who were so kind to me when I was sick with another bad cough. I’m on the mend now. That’s why I didn’t write very much last week. The sudden sickness cleared out, a little slower than it plowed in, with nothing in its wake but sniffles and a messy house. On Thursday we tidied up the house, watched the parade and baked pies. I had to keep stopping to... Read more
I got sick again. If you’ve never had a chronic illness, you cannot know how terrifying it is to be sick. If you’ve not known what it is to be often homebound and sometimes bedbound, unable to accomplish anything, for more than a decade, and then to have a better diagnosis and a treatment plan and begin to get your life back when it’s too late to live normally, I can’t describe for you the panic that wells up... Read more
If you follow Catholic news, you might have already heard that Michael Voris, the founder of the Catholic tabloid Church Militant and of Saint Michael’s Media, has abruptly resigned from his position. At the time I’m writing this, no one is entirely sure why he has resigned. This sudden resignation has come as shock to many. Church Militant has announced that he was asked to resign due to his violation of their “morality clause.” They posted the following statement... Read more
There was a bit of a kerfuffle on Twitter, which I refuse to call by its tacky new name of “X.” The kerfuffle was about Christmas, of course, because it’s the week before Thanksgiving. But it was also about ballet, queer nutcrackers, and performative masculinity. It all stared when the Reverend John Kalchik, a Catholic priest with whom I wasn’t familiar before this weekend, posted a link to an article about a rainbow nutcracker holding a Pride flag which was... Read more
The season of Advent is coming. There was a package of purple and pink Advent candles at the craft store the other day, when I was rummaging the clearance rack. I bought them. I like candles. And I didn’t think about Advent again that day. Adrienne and I were on one of our drives recently, and we drove through downtown. There were the red and green wooden chalets set up for the annual Advent Market, a part of the beautiful... Read more
Hi, kids! This is your weird old Aunt Mary you can say anything to. I’m an elder Millennial– I was born all the way back in 1984. I have something to say about a recent TikTok trend. I know I’m not the kind of person you’d usually listen to about things that happen on TikTok and and Snapchat and Teddy Graham Gram and whatever other social media you’re using these days. But the topic involves something that deeply affected... Read more
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