Twenty Things that Caught My Eye Today: A Win for Vulnerable Children

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3. Elizabeth Kirk: Supreme Court Unanimously Protects Catholic Foster Care Agency

Far from marginalizing religious organizations, all nine justices recognized the enormous contribution such groups make to the public welfare. 

A broad consensus that government routinely relies upon and benefits from the good work of religiously motivated groups is especially critical at a time when there are renewed efforts to pass the Equality Act, a law which would federalize the policies embodied in the city’s position and that explicitly provides that federal religious freedom protections would not apply in its enforcement.

4. 14-year-old Cal would like ‘a home that’s comfortable, feeling safe’

“It doesn’t matter which one they give me; it’s just a matter of what you’re grateful for,” Cal explained.

5. Mom of 11 remembers adopted micro-preemie who died 8 days after birth

“Eight days is never enough to have with anyone in comparison to a lifetime, but I know we will cherish every moment we were given,” she said. “As his passing came and the doctor gave the official declaration, our little guy has his tiny footprints forever stamped on my heart. I was asked this past week how I could love someone so much I did not give birth to and my answer was, how could you not? He needed us and we needed him, and that is the definition of family.”

 

6. Wolf again vows to veto any bills that limit abortion access in Pa. 

7. Grazie Pozo Christie: How liberty failed fertility

The things that tie us down, like family duties, religion, tradition, and even anthropological realities, are more and more regarded as obstacles to personal freedom — even sources of oppression.

How could we expect childbearing — effectively disconnected from love and marriage by widespread contraception and legal abortion — to survive in an age that worships personal freedom? …

We must acknowledge that the exhilarating shaking off of our bonds and fetters has freed us only for a lonely, frigid future. The idol of personal liberty, so promising and enticing, has finally failed us on a massive scale. It is time to replace it with a humbler, nobler kind of liberty.

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9. Arthur Brooks: Sacrificing for Their Kids Makes Fathers Happier

10. Ian Rowe and Brad Wilcox: Sorry, Harvard, fathers still matter — including Black fathers

This Harvard research is part and parcel of a larger effort to call into question the idea that married, two-parent families matter not just for Black children but, indeed, all children. … (But) young white men from single-parent families, for instance, are more likely to end up in prison than young Black men from intact, two-parent homes. 

11. From Charter School Teacher Lelac Amalgor: Why Remote Learning Is A Failure: I Taught Online School This Year. It Was a Disgrace.

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13. Nightbirde’s deep faith shines through in her viral performance on America’s Got Talent

“It’s important that everyone knows I’m so much more than the bad things that happen to me. … You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore before you decide to be happy.”

14. John J. Miller: ‘The Conjuring 3’ keeps Hollywood’s fascination with spiritual warfare alive

15. ‘I Got It’: Daughter Offers Perspective on Her Mother’s Decision to Become Cloistered Carmelite Nun

16. Fight Revenge Bedtime Procrastination and Sleep Better: The Lie We Tell Ourselves About Going To Bed Early

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18. Explore the medieval Christian art of Ravenna in this Smithsonian class

19. Shi Meiyu Celebrated the Image of God in Chinese Healthcare

Her work in medicine, public health, nursing education, ending abusive practices such as footbinding, and vices such as opium addictions, were an extension of her work of evangelism. They were all expressions of her understanding that the Gospel was meant for all of life, not just our eternal salvation. In all of these cases, she was acting out of love of God and neighbor, seeking to improve the lives of the people she served, both for this world and the next.

20. Archbishop Charles Chaput: On Matters of Life and Death

For more from retired Philadelphia Archbishop Chaput — who we have to thank for the Fulton win today — see my recent conversation with him here: