Dear Infertility Sister:
I’m writing because I know that you’re hurting. I know it’s not easy being you. I know you feel wounded and alone.
I know that it doesn’t make sense that you are being excluded from experiencing what your own mother, sisters, aunts, cousins, and friends have all been able to do without any trouble.
I know that you feel immeasurable desperation to have control and a say in when to have a baby. You wonder why everyone else gets to plan and choose and you don’t.
I know you feel powerless at the hands of your body. I know you hate your body because it has betrayed and rejected you and made you its victim. When you were a little girl, your body deceived you into believing that one day you’d get to have a baby. Sometimes you remember when you played with...
Lifestyle
My dear sisters,
How are you? Hope you are fine and in good health.
These questions seem to be insignificant to ask of my sisters who have been missing in Chibok since April 14, 2014, but I still think we need to ask them.
It’s been more than a year and I haven’t heard from you, and neither have my fellow Nigerians.
It is unfortunate. I’ve never had any personal contact with any of you, but I feel so concerned and worried because you are part of humanity, because you are Nigerians, because you are my sisters.
It’s troubling to see girls who want to acquire excellent education kidnapped in their school.
Today marks one year since you were abducted from your school by the Islamist terrorist group Boko Haram. It’s maddening to know that these terrorists believe that girls...
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Dear Cardinal Dolan,
In 2011, I was blessed to meet you at the Grotto of Lourdes in France. I was there as a malade, suffering from a serious illness.
I had just entered the small sacristy to prepare for Mass at the Grotto when the large figure inside the door turned around. Immediately recognizing you, I blurted out in surprise: “Wow! Bishop Dolan! You’re everywhere!” You smiled.
Your smile was disarming and your greeting warm. It felt as if I were meeting a kindly uncle. Finding some courage in this, I write you.
Your Eminence, I watched your interview with David Gregory on Meet the Press. I hope you don’t mind that I offer my thoughts on what I heard.
Moreover, it’s not just my thoughts: They are concerns which seem to be on the minds of many of the faithful – you know,...
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Dear Pop,
First of all – Happy Birthday!
I know there were plenty of times in the past when your birthday rolled around, and I didn’t call or anything. I know, I was an angry asshole of a kid. I’m sorry for all of that. I find myself wishing someone would build a time machine, so I could roll on back and spend more time with you, and show more love/affection toward you – especially after everything we went through together at the end of 2005.
Secondly – I really miss you, man. Like, a lot.
Nobody busts my balls like you did. Plenty of people try, but it’s just not the same. Maybe it’s because of the shared DNA, but you always had this magically precise manner and a kind of craftsmanship that can never be replicated. Whenever I do something really stupid, I still hear your...
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Dear Justice Kennedy:
Dr. Paul Kengor, professor of political science, says, “Most people who support same-sex ‘marriage,’ including many gays, do so for benevolent reasons. They believe that it is an issue of ‘equality’ and a new ‘freedom for a group of people.’” They are not haters, nor crazy, and they have no desire to destroy the family.
Likewise, most who support traditional marriage do so for religious reasons or their understanding of natural law. They are not haters, or bigots, or crazy, or or homophobes.
But there are just a few things you might not know about “the historical and ideological forces” behind this idea for same-sex “marriage.” I didn’t know them until I read Dr. Kengor’s new book Takedown: From Communists to Progressives, How the Left has Sabotaged Family...
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Dear Father Jenkins,
I work for the Illinois Family Institute on the board of which sits a Notre Dame alumnus. In addition, we have a number of Notre Dame alumni subscribers.
I want to thank you for your efforts to obtain an exemption from the contraception mandate of the Affordable Care Act and urge you to pursue these efforts with vigor and tenacity. If institutions like yours do not oppose every effort that chips away at the religious liberty of faith-centered organizations, what possible hope do individuals have to preserve their First Amendment religious rights – rights that are daily under assault (particularly from those seeking to normalize homosexuality).
I also want to express my disappointment that Notre Dame has chosen to recognize a “student organization” initiated...
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Dear Ex-Husband,
When I saw you in your driveway yesterday, at our routinely scheduled pickup time, it occurred to me suddenly that I have not seen you naked in almost two years. I know that my face must have conveyed the relief I was feeling at this revelation, and I'm sorry I lied and said I was distracted by the dog.
I was actually distracted by your penis.
I am just trying to be honest. I figure this is important now, since it's something neither of us could manage to do while we were married. So in keeping with this new philosophy, there are a few things I things I think it's important for me to say to you.
First, I am sorry. I am sorry that we promised "forever" to each other when we had no concept of what "forever" meant. If there is fault in that promise, it lies in...
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Dear Father,
I hope you don’t mind this open letter. I know we’ve privately corresponded, but I want the world to know that there are other priests who are proud to stand with you. All the apostles ran away when Jesus was crucified. But at least John came back to stand in the midst of the full onslaught of hell, in solidarity. You’ve discovered first hand how weak we priests can be, how fast we can run, how ready we can be to betray. So…
I want to thank you on behalf of all faithful priests. I want to thank you for being a priest’s priest, showing us priests the way, serving priests in this way, priests who will be falsely accused in time to come, showing them how to do it, how to be faithful to our Lord in the most adverse of circumstances, how to plead not guilty and suffer...
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Dear Father Bu,
You probably don’t remember me but my name is Serge. We met a very long time ago. I was still a freshman then back in 2009.
We met at the psychology department. During that time, it was probably just my second or third time there and I wanted to inquire about a couple of subjects for the following year. I was just standing in front of the pigeonholes waiting for my turn to talk to Ma’am Anette, the department secretary, and you were there by the door of your office sitting down. Nothing out of the ordinary except you were holding a staff with both your hands, treating it like a cane. And while I was looking at you (mostly because I was curious why you had a staff in the first place), you caught me staring and you just smiled at me– as if you already knew why I was...
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Dear Mr. Sherman.
It’s been a little over five weeks since you became a father. Warmest congratulations to you and Ashley! The world already knows what a clever boy he is to make his entrance on the date that echoes your jersey number, but as an old veteran of parenthood, I wanted to speed up your learning curve as you navigate the first year of Rayden’s life.
My husband and I are raising two girls, 11 and 17. We didn’t have family around us as we struggled through those first weeks of babyhood. Eyes wide in shock, two days after our first baby was born the nurse nudged us out the door with a smile and a wave, “You’re ready to go home,” and I really wondered if we were.
Lesson One: Don’t Mock Other Parents
Lord have mercy! That ten minute drive home was our first endurance test...
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