1 year ago, I was laying in a hospital room wondering what just happened. My daughter had been born just hours before, but wasn’t with me. Being 5 weeks early, she was whisked away to NICU to be hooked up to monitors, a heating pad, and oxygen. I, on the other hand, was whisked out… [Read More]
Why Kids Are Pro-Life
Yesterday afternoon, while walking through HEB with my family, a hurried mom with her two little girls rushed by us in the coffee aisle. The mom didn’t look at us or say anything as she moved past us, but one of her little girls (probably 4 or 5), stopped and said, “I like your baby!”… [Read More]
Caring For Pregnant Women – St Ignatius Martyr Parish Social Ministry Council Panel Series
Austin Catholic New Media in partnership with Saint Ignatius Parish Social Ministry Council is proud to present this new monthly series of panel discussions on the social ministries of the church. This panel which was recorded in January discusses how the church is working to take care of women experiencing a crisis pregnancy. On this… [Read More]
Getting Yelled At For Being Pro-Life: How to Deal
You’d think working in the world of therapists – full of feelings, acceptance, warm regard and the fluffiest Kleenex money can buy – that we would be loving and accepting of all people, no matter their beliefs or religious affiliations. But you’d be wrong. In my limited experience in this profession (6 years and counting)… [Read More]
How Adoption Saved My Life
On September 22, 1966 a little boy was born in Minnesota. His mother, for reasons unknown, was unable to keep him and left him in the hands of a group of nuns who devoted their work to the care of children without parents. Unbeknownst to the boy and his mother, there was a young couple… [Read More]
John Paul II Life Center’s 4th Annual Benefit Dinner November 7
Join the John Paul II Life Center for their fourth annual benefit dinner, Today is the Day!, withTeresa Tomeo, Jennifer Fulwiler, and music from Greg & Lizzy. This social night gathers other pro-life supporters from the area for a dinner, presentation, fellowship, and prayer. They will also be honoring Msgr. Louis Pavlicek, Dr. and Mrs. Tom… [Read More]
Almsgiving in Lent: Amplify Your 2014
During Lent, Catholics are asked to pray, fast and give alms. However, of the three, almsgiving is the most neglected. Prayer & Fasting We usually do pretty good on the prayer part. This is easy because our parishes help us with this one very well, providing increased opportunities for spiritual development at our parishes through… [Read More]
The Holy Innocents
Christmas was only three days ago. The day after Christmas we honored St. Stephen, the first martyr. Think about that: we honor a martyr- the first martyr- the day after Christmas. The day after that we honor St. John the Evangelist, whose authorship is attributed to one Gospel and four books in the New Testament…. [Read More]
An Open Letter to Catholics For Choice
Yesterday Catholics For Choice ran the following full page ad in the Austin American-Statesman. That led me to post the following comment on the Catholics For Choice Facebook page. It is very interesting that “Christ humbled himself becoming obedient to death, even death on a cross (Philippians 2:8)” yet this group of so called “Catholics”… [Read More]
Striving Towards the Promised Land; Pro-Life Advocacy After Special Session 1
Then Moses led Israel from the Red Sea and they went into the Desert of Shur. For three days they traveled in the desert without finding water. When they came to Marah, they could not drink its water because it was bitter. (That is why the place is called Marah.) Exodus 15: 22-23 When… [Read More]
Crisis Pregnancy: My Story
Telling this story is a huge step for me. It’s one that many people in my life don’t know, because it’s one I’m afraid to talk about. But in light of the recent political tug-o-wars, I think it’s time I shared my personal story with crisis pregnancy. It’s a bit long, and a lot vulnerable,… [Read More]
SB5: A Moment in Texas Legislative History
The night of Tuesday, June 25 was one crazy and unsettling night for many Texans. A sea of pro-choice persons clad in orange shirts with speckles of pro-life blue shirts thrown in here and there had been present in the Texas Capitol building in downtown Austin for nearly 13 hours. And the chaotic nature of… [Read More]
Gosnell and the Divine Mercy of Jesus
You have probably heard by now about the case of Kermit Gosnell and the “House of Horrors” in Philadelphia. If you haven’t, I must warn you the details are not for children. There’s information all over the internet about his clinic. If you have been following the story you may have noticed the national news… [Read More]
How to Support SB 521: Put Sexual Education Back into Parents’ Hands
UPDATE The House hearing for HB 1057 will be on Tuesday, April 2 at 2:00 p.m. or upon adjournment of the House. This means it could be later than 2 pm. The hearing could go late in the evening. After reading an article about new senate bill 521, the Texas Parental Control Accountability Act proposed… [Read More]
NBC’s ‘Parenthood’ Addresses Teen Pregnancy and Abortion
In its four season history as a television show, NBC’s Parenthood has addressed issues that are honest, relatable and believable. From addiction to special needs children to infidelity to being a single mother to cancer to infertility issues to adoption to a soldier’s return from Afghanistan and more, Parenthood has not shied away from tough… [Read More]
Holy Innocents, Then and Now
The past few years a feast day in the Catholic Church I had paid little attention to began to stand out to me: The Feast of the Holy Innocents. I don’t know why this Feast Day began to stand out to me a few years ago. Perhaps it is the reminder of innocent lives lost,… [Read More]
UT-Austin Medical School to be Catholic
The UT-Austin Medical School situation has turned controversial once again. First, it was the issue of property tax increases. Now, it’s the fact that the hospital will be part of the Seton hospital system and will become a Catholic-owned teaching hospital. This situation has, of course, re-sparked debated over public health care services and Catholic… [Read More]
Pro-Hope: The John Paul II Life Center’s Call
In order to graduate, I was required to take a class where an internship was required. I remember getting the list a week before the semester started and instantly looking for the “Catholic friendly” internships. On the list I found the Catholic Charities of Central Texas (they already had an intern for the semester) and… [Read More]
40 Days for Life: Praying on The Sidewalk, Part 1
Two weeks ago I shared with you my reasons for joining the 40 Days for Life campaign here in Austin. I’d like to reiterate what a difficult, yet prayerful, decision it was to participate. Here I am, two weeks and two hours of praying on the sidewalk later, to reflect on my time at the… [Read More]
When Words Distort
I’ve always been fascinated with the power words have to convey subtle shades of meaning. People are usually considered good communicators when they are able to “get to the point” without cluttering the air with lot of unnecessary words. There are times, however, when we deliberately avoid being direct. More often than we realize we… [Read More]
Feel the Love: 40 Days for Life
This past weekend, I made a big decision. It didn’t come easily. You see, standing on a sidewalk praying for the unborn is a bit out of my comfort zone, yet that’s exactly what I volunteered to do for the next six weeks. 40 Days for Life is a project that originated in College Station… [Read More]
Are Baby Girls on the Endangered List? A Look at Gendercide
Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you didn’t exist? (And when I use the word “life”, I mean, the world around you that you’re familiar with…) Who would be the best friend of your current best friend? Who would be the spouse to your spouse? Who would be working the job… [Read More]
Dear Representative Dawnna Dukes…
Dear Representative Dawnna Dukes: I am sorry that you believe that the Catholic Church in the Diocese of Austin is picking on you. I am sorry you believe that you have been given a scarlet letter by the Church. And I’m sorry that you think that it’s unfair that your request to speak at an… [Read More]
On Human Life – Revisiting the Prophetic Words of Pope Paul VI in Humanae Vitae
(In light of the current assault on religious liberty) On July 25, 1968 Pope Paul VI issued an encyclical letter that changed the Catholic Church in a way that few papal documents before or since have ever done. Unfortunately, the changes were not at all positive from an institutional standpoint. After this encyclical was published,… [Read More]
Komen breaks ties with Planned Parenthood
VS This story broke early Tuesday afternoon as I checked my FB feed and saw – no, not from a fellow pro-life Catholic – the story was linked up by one of my most pro-choice {and not to mention, agnostic} friends. I kind of chuckled to myself at the irony of finding out the victory… [Read More]
Our Lady of Guadalupe “Patroness of the Unborn”
In 1531, the apparition of Our Lady of Guadalupe brought an end to human sacrifice all over the Americas. Before she appeared to St. Juan Diego, cruel human sacrificing rituals were performed on a scale never approached, even remotely, by other peoples of the era. Many methods were used. In one of their religious ceremonies,… [Read More]
The power of grass roots movements…
My husband and I had the opportunity to attend the Texas Alliance for Life banquet Tuesday evening, where we heard Lila Rose speak about her first experience with abortion at the tender age of nine and how that shaped her youth-led program, Live Action, in her teens. The enthusiasm she recalled as they all sat… [Read More]
