Archives for January 2014

Resources: Regina Magazine

Resources Regina Magazine

Regina Magazine is a FREE publication which launched its first online edition last February (2013). It is published in PDF format, but may also be viewed online on their website (via the online Issuu PDF viewer). Regina also offers an RSS feed.

Let me warn you right up-front: the website is not very good (presentation, organization, broken links and so on). The content however, is excellent and the PDFs look like something you should be paying for (donations are requested). The articles are widely varied, fairly short and always 100% faithful to the teaching of the Magisterium. Many stories are told from a first person perspective, as our faith is experienced. Their tag line is “Inspiring. Intelligent. Catholic.” I agree.

The editions to date are (English versions, but also available in Spanish and German):

  • Vol 6 – Priests Issue (online / PDF)
  • Vol 5 – Christmas Issue, Christmas 2013 (online / PDF)
  • Vol 4 – Fall Issue, Fall 2013 (online / PDF)
  • Vol 3 – Summer Issue, April 2013 (online / PDF)
  • Vol 2 – Spring Issue, April 2013 (online / PDF)
  • Vol 1 – Winter Issue, February 2013 (online / PDF)

Personally, I download the PDF versions to my Android tablet and read them there with my favorite PDF reader app (Moon+ Reader Pro). I also subscribe to the RSS feed and follow that via Feedly. (See it also in my sidebar under Great Blogs.)

Beginning with Volume 4, the content is organized (mostly) in sections. Here is a sample from that edition:

  • Columbus the Catholic
  • Update: The Latin Mass in America Today – A Candid Interview with Byron Smith
  • One Man’s Perspective – After 30 years of working to support the Latin Mass
  • May God Give Us Strength – To Do What Needs to Be Done
  • The Parishes
    • The Cathedral of South Saint Louis – Restoring Saint Francis de Sales Oratory
    • How I Got to Saint Louis – An Interview with Canon Raphael Ueda
    • Prayer, Prudence, and Courage
    • East Side, West Side, All Around the Town – The Latin Mass in New Your City
    • My First Time – Discovering the Latin Mass in West Virginia
    • Bringing the ‘Catholic’ Back to a California Parish
    • The Wonder of ‘Weird’ Portland – How Holy Rosary Parish Thrives
  • The Orders
    • The Sisters
    • The Nashville Dominicans – Springtime for an American Order of Preachers
    • The Order with Vocations ‘from the least expected places’
    • Young Americans Today ‘Know What Emptiness Is’
    • The Sisters Of Mercy and the Statues in the Attic – A Treacherous Journey
    • The Fast Growing Friars – The Eastern Province of the Dominicans
    • “Maybe He Will Be a Priest” – Nick’s Story
  • A Diocese
    • Living In Lincoln – A Beautiful Catholic Culture
    • Back from the ‘Promised Land’ – Our Move to Nebraska from California
  • The Schools
    • 11 Steps to Selecting a Catholic Homeschool Curriculum
    • In Their Own Words
    • The Family That Learns Together – The Homeschooling Hesters
  • The Universities
    • “In True Franciscan Fashion” – The Steubenville Story
    • Towards a Catholic Resurgence in the Media – John Paul Catholic University
    • A Liberating Education – Thomas Aquinas College
    • Breathing Catholic in the Shenandoah Valley – Christendom College
  • Style
    • A Beautiful Goodbye
    • Something Old, Something Borrowed
    • Diary of a Latin Mass Wedding
    • Veiling in America
  • The Media
    • How Catholic Radio Changed My Life
    • In Hoc Signo: “We Shall Publish” – The Amazing Success of Ignatius Press
  • The Home Front
    • Can You Be Fabulous? – An Army Wife Goes Paleo
    • A Catholic Thanksgiving, Oklahoma Style
    • Family Night – Sunday Dinner for 30
  • The Laity
    • The Catholic Gentleman – One of Facebook’s Hottest New Pages
    • Doctor Dad Says
    • Real Pilgrimages
    • Miracle in Palo Alto – How the Saint Ann Choir Kept Chant and Polyphony Alive for 50 Years
    • Ave Maria – A Very Catholic Town
    • Rebuilding a Catholic Renaissance
  • The Saints
    • The American Disciple – Chesterton with Dale Ahlquist
    • Saint Katharine Drexel – She was an American Millionaire, and a Saint
    • Francesca Cabrini – The First American Saint
    • Elizabeth Ann Seton – The First Saint Born in America

Regina is the brain-child of editor Beverly De Soto, a revert to the faith who now lives in Germany. The staff writers include 6 men and 10 women. Yet, the magazine describes itself as “aimed at women” while acknowledging “about 30% of [the] subscribers are men.” Men, ignore that! There are a few women focused pieces (e.g. “style,” “fashion” and the like) which we will of course just ignore. The gender of this wonderful magazine is “Catholic”!

Highly recommended.

7 Quick Takes Friday (set #124)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: The latest issue of New Evangelists Monthly is ready and calling you. Crushing the Little Sisters of the Poor is an Obama administration priority. Outside da Box has a new video on holy water. An excellent homily on the power of the Holy Name of Jesus. Revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament. ObamaCare “deconstructed.” So God made…

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New Evangelists Monthly

Issue #13, January 2014, of New Evangelists Monthly is ready for your enjoyment! Scores of faithful Catholic bloggers have contributed their very best pieces from December. This month brought these great topics: face of Jesus, King of Kings, the veil, looking back, why I write, lights, mother’s love, listen at her, Salvation Army, Thomas Merton, patron Saint, life untidy, Advent single, learning love, gratitude, Christ’s job, epiclesis, child is born, pulling over, spiritual life, reviewing 2013, first Rosary, stripped, not ashamed, inner brat, Fr. Michael, joy and sorrow, reading plan, failing kids, this mess, saved?, perspective, anchored, socio-political, why?, Santa, Simbang Gabi, entrusted, comfort, unqualified yes, imperfect, His presence, passed today, time left, Christmas tide, holiness, funny Francis, yearly, gift exchange, sad Jackson, book review, via fiction, forgiveness, lost identity, Christmas tree, doctrine, prophecy, Eve and Mary, time travel, Duck Dynasty, gay marriage, precious womb, nuggets, Snapchat, without God, resolutions, Msgr. Knox, children, St. Stephen, believin’, 3 Francis, the unexpected, praying, veiling?, preaching, hedge-priests, 2 queens, confusion, God’s love, life witness, Emanuel, woman, our guide, patron saint, for children?, looking back, countdown, the elderly, dark night, anticipation, Protestantism, running, our fiat and broken stuff.

This monthly “meta-magazine” showcases faithful Catholicism from theology to family life and “everything in between.” Enjoy it now at NewEvangelists.org.

Read Now

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Crushing the Little Sisters of the Poor is a priority for the Obama administration. Not just these saintly nuns, but hundreds of other religious organizations who oppose Obama’s radically pro-abortion positions. Catholics who voted for this man should be deeply ashamed.

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Outside da Box explains why we bless ourselves with holy water. It’s OK, but not their best work.

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An excellent homily on the power of the Holy Name of Jesus:

(While I really like this, I do have two quibbles. First, marriage is a covenant not a contract. There is a difference and it is ironic to use the wrong word in a homily on the power of words. Second, – somewhat of a lesser quibble – is the implication of a specific moment of consecration of the Eucharist.)

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So where do we learn of the Trinity? In the New Testament, of course.

Not so fast! There is a strong case for revelation of the Trinity in the Old Testament as presented by an apologist known only as InspiringPhilosophy:

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This video entitled “ObamaCare Deconstructed” is a good study of the promises and reality of Obamacare.

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So God made…

The country great:

…then not so much:

Spotted by Fr. Z


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

New Evangelists Monthly – January 2014, Issue #13

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7 Quick Takes Friday (set #123)

7 Quick Takes Friday

This week: a Christmas video wrap-up. A touching gift for a widowed husband. The Random Altruist strikes! Gifts for the homeless. A Christmas meal in Las Vegas. Pope Francis visits sick children on Christmas. Teen, glued to phone, doing what? A better way to use “smart” phones on Christmas (off).

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Star 102.5, a radio station in Des Moines, along with local merchants, grants a Christmas wish each year. This is the wish they granted this Christmas:

Spotted by my friend Tom

I set my bow in the clouds to serve as a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. When I bring clouds over the earth, and the bow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and every living creature — every mortal being — so that the waters will never again become a flood to destroy every mortal being.

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The Random Altruist strikes! This is probably a promotion for Google, but I still like it. N.B. the video was captured by some dude wearing (not yet released) Google Glass.

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Actually, these YouTube videos are almost an Internet meme – but a good one. Here is another sample (pay special attention at the 1:45 mark):

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Helping the homeless everyday are organizations like Catholic Charities. Here is what they did in Las Vegas on Christmas:

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Pope Francis spent three hours visiting children at a children’s hospital in Rome:

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Apple had an ad showing that it is possible, or at least conceivable, that someone glued to their phone might be actually participating in the world around them. It could happen – in theory.

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I like CatholicVote‘s take better. On Christmas, some enjoyed a much better version of Facetime®.


Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

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