Saw a curious poll on Twitter asking: Should the Catholic Church stay out of politics? It’s an interesting one because the answer is pretty straightforward, at least where Catholics are following Catholic teaching and Church law. Let’s take it apart and make sense of the questions within the question. What is “the Catholic Church”? We can define “the Catholic Church” in any number of ways: Every person, living or dead, who is united in faith with the Catholic Church. This... Read more
When my daughter played in weekend-long sports tournaments, we always went to Sunday Mass, and so did the other Catholics on her various teams. I live in the Bible Belt, though, and I knew that a number of her teammates and coaches were believing Evangelical Christians, so it surprised me that they never attempted to make it to church when they were out of town. I would not have been surprised if some or all had chosen, instead, to host... Read more
I’d like to talk about sporting categories generally, and then look at a couple of specific situations for people with XY disorders of sexual development. Update 8/4/24: See here for “Toward a Robust Definition of Sport Sex” by David J. Handelsman in Endocrine Reviews. Table 2 lays out all the variations in genetic and physiologic status for the purpose of determining how to categorize an athlete for elite sport. (To my knowledge everything I say below in simpler terms is consistent... Read more
The Olympic Games are in full swing, and that means an inescapable parade of some of the most beautifully athletic bodies in the world. If you struggle with your body image, the steady stream of fitness inspiration can also be a devastating torrent of I don’t measure up. What do you with that? #1 You’re not alone. Ironically, something that makes sports valuable is their ability to affirm the wonderful goodness of different body types. Which is another way of... Read more
Now that we’ve got Catholic candidates on both presidential tickets, partisans on both sides are playing a game of “who’s the worse Catholic?” There is quite a lot of dishonesty and dangerous hyperbole being thrown around, and that we can condemn as a violation of the eight commandment and set aside. Lying is evil, fomenting murderous violence is evil, and we can’t take seriously any argument that does either. I recommend you mute anyone in your media feeds who does... Read more
Checking in to apologize for the radio silence and assure you a new beginning is in sight! Marriage has been much on my mind, and I’m hoping to write more on interrelated topics soon, but meanwhile let me say that the past several months have been the most work* I’ve ever put into preparing for a single sacrament. Usually my advice to young couples is to keep the wedding small and hold onto as much of your savings as possible... Read more
My daughter and soon-to-be son-in-law are facing some major school and career decisions today, and here’s what I’ve been telling her this spring: Marriage is meant to change you. Who you each are, separately, as single, unmarried persons is supposed to be different than who the two of you become when you are intimately joined in a lifelong, life-giving union. The whole point is to become something different! If you wanted your life to be exactly how it was before,... Read more
It’s no surprise that I didn’t agree with everything in Rachel Gross’s article “Women in Menopause are Getting Short Shrift” at The Atlantic . As a woman of a certain age I was naturally curious how I might be getting shortchanged (I can give you a list of my own), and even after realizing the article was about how transgender hormone and surgical interventions provided insight into gynecology, I was open to the reality that one can gain wisdom in the... Read more
What does the Catholic Church have to say about the recent Alabama Supreme Court ruling on embryos and wrongful death of minors lawsuits? Today I want to run through several aspects of the case that touch on the Catholic faith, from legal questions to very personal family planning decisions. Every aspect of this case is highly emotionally charged, and my goal here is to sort out truth from hyperbole. You may not be comfortable with the Church’s stance on a... Read more
Quick thought about this year’s St. Valentine’s Ash Wednesday: Why not consecrate this Lent to your marriage? If you’re already married, what’s the thing you need to be praying, sacrificing, and working on to make your marriage more conformed to God’s plan for your life together? Maybe this is the year that . . . You finally acknowledge you’re in an abusive relationship and take the necessary steps to get yourself to a place of genuine safety. You schedule a... Read more
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