U.S. Catholic blog https://uscatholic.org/blog/ Blog posts on church issues, social justice and politics, and pop culture from U.S. Catholic magazine's editors and occasional guests. Thu, 12 Mar 2026 17:41:48 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://uscatholic.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/cropped-USC-social-media-icon-32x32.jpg U.S. Catholic Blogs Archive - U.S. Catholic https://uscatholic.org/blog/ 32 32 Pope Francis’ ‘journalism for peace’ starts with you https://uscatholic.org/blog/pope-francis-journalism-for-peace-starts-with-you/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=pope-francis-journalism-for-peace-starts-with-you Thu, 02 Aug 2018 21:54:52 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/pope-francis-journalism-for-peace-starts-with-you/ Is it just me or is the truth getting harder to find? It seems there is an increasing disagreement in our country over how to interpret both the news and the Good News. For example, let me make my biases clear: The Bible tells me to welcome immigrants. Here’s where I’m getting that from: “When […]

The post Pope Francis’ ‘journalism for peace’ starts with you appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> Flint’s holy water https://uscatholic.org/blog/flints-holy-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=flints-holy-water Mon, 30 Apr 2018 20:46:41 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/flints-holy-water/ In the spring of 2016, as a graduate student at Michigan State University, I spent some time in Flint interviewing residents and business owners on how they were dealing with the lead crisis. I attended Ash Wednesday Mass at St. Michael Catholic Church  in Flint and was heartbroken to see the drinking fountains and faucets […]

The post Flint’s holy water appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> How to talk to your children about Jesus’ death https://uscatholic.org/blog/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-jesus-death/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-jesus-death Tue, 27 Mar 2018 23:01:36 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/how-to-talk-to-your-children-about-jesus-death/ “Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer” blares from the Echo Dot sitting on our kitchen counter. We listen to it so much, my 3-year-old daughter Dahlia perfectly mimics the announcement of it in that sing-songy computer voice of Alexa’s. “‘Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer’ by Gene Autry,” they report in unison, with the first syllable in […]

The post How to talk to your children about Jesus’ death appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> A Catholic celebrates Persian new year https://uscatholic.org/blog/a-catholic-celebrates-persian-new-year/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=a-catholic-celebrates-persian-new-year Thu, 22 Mar 2018 17:12:11 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/a-catholic-celebrates-persian-new-year/ I observe two new year celebrations in three months. First, I celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1. Every year, I watch the ball drop at midnight on television, sing “Auld Lang Syne” with family and friends, and sleep in late the next day after celebrating the night before. But the big new year celebration […]

The post A Catholic celebrates Persian new year appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> Keeping faith despite the worst kind of sins https://uscatholic.org/blog/keeping-faith-despite-the-worst-kind-of-sins/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=keeping-faith-despite-the-worst-kind-of-sins Fri, 23 Feb 2018 18:07:37 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/keeping-faith-despite-the-worst-kind-of-sins/ I felt welcome at Michigan State University right away. My journalism professors gave me the tools I needed to succeed in my profession, and I made some great friends. I even found a nice Catholic church within walking distance from campus—St. John Church and Student Center, part of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in the Lansing […]

The post Keeping faith despite the worst kind of sins appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> The Chicago Cubs and the mystery of faith https://uscatholic.org/blog/the-chicago-cubs-and-the-mystery-of-faith/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-chicago-cubs-and-the-mystery-of-faith Thu, 13 Apr 2017 01:10:05 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/the-chicago-cubs-and-the-mystery-of-faith/ I often joke that I came out of the womb wearing a Cubs hat. I was born in New Hampshire into a family of Chicago Cubs fans on November 9, 1992. Three months later, I was baptized. I chose neither of these things. But before I could walk, talk, or seek a rational alternative, both […]

The post The Chicago Cubs and the mystery of faith appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> How shall I pray? https://uscatholic.org/blog/how-shall-i-pray/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=how-shall-i-pray Fri, 10 Mar 2017 02:25:28 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/how-shall-i-pray/ How do you pray? The way I pray changes often. Sometimes it’s intentional, quiet, in front of a candle even. At other times, it’s simply sitting quietly on my commute to work, purposefully avoiding my email and social media while I mindfully observe my surroundings. For a while there in the summer, after putting my […]

The post How shall I pray? appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> We are not alone in our grief and fear https://uscatholic.org/blog/we-are-not-alone-in-our-grief-and-fear/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=we-are-not-alone-in-our-grief-and-fear Fri, 11 Nov 2016 05:10:40 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/we-are-not-alone-in-our-grief-and-fear/ There are times when words fail us. When the future seems unbearable, when we see no way forward, when all we can do is scream at God, “Why, God, why?” It’s tempting, at times like these, to give up. To curl up in bed and shut out the rest of the world. To turn our […]

The post We are not alone in our grief and fear appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> Confessions of a former messy person https://uscatholic.org/blog/confessions-of-a-former-messy-person/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=confessions-of-a-former-messy-person Wed, 21 Sep 2016 20:37:24 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/confessions-of-a-former-messy-person/ Minimalism is a trendy word I thought I could avoid for a long time. I am a life-long believer in clutter. As in “no, this room is lived-in, not messy,” kind of lover of clutter. As a child, I always had a messy room. I was fortunate enough to have a walk-in closet between the […]

The post Confessions of a former messy person appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]> My son taught me the meaning of baptism https://uscatholic.org/blog/my-son-taught-me-the-meaning-of-baptism/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=my-son-taught-me-the-meaning-of-baptism Thu, 18 Aug 2016 20:24:25 +0000 https://uscatholic.org/blog/my-son-taught-me-the-meaning-of-baptism/ My son turned 2 this summer, and over the past year he has expressed a keen interest in church. And when I say that he has expressed an interest, I really mean that he has started to lead our little family on a journey of faith that I had never before imagined for us. It […]

The post My son taught me the meaning of baptism appeared first on U.S. Catholic.

]]>