By Kevin Burke, LSW Susan Swander has been involved for many years with the Rachel’s Vineyard ministry in Oregon, reaching out to women and men who have suffered the loss of a child from abortion. I wanted to share her response to an internet post that has been widely circulated since the Texas Heartbeat Law was enacted that prohibits abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected.  This internet post lists a number of women by first name and briefly presents…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW Representative Bryan Hughes serves District 1 in the Texas Senate and is the author of Senate Bill 8, the Heartbeat Act.  Here are a few highlights from his recent article in the Wall Street Journal. Hughes responds to some recent misinformation about the Texas Bill: “The law does not ban abortions after six weeks. It requires that a physician performing an abortion first check for a fetal heartbeat. If there is a heartbeat, the physician may…

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Fr. William Dillard is the Director of Spiritual Formation at Mount Angel Seminary.  He presents an overview of the pornography issue, with some helpful pastoral ministry recommendations for clergy, in his article entitled, The Pornography Epidemic.  Fr. Dillard begins by sharing some shocking statistics: Ninety-three percent of boys and 62% of girls will be exposed to pornography on the internet by their adolescence. Sixty-four percent of young people (age 13–24) seek out pornography weekly or more often.   He shares…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW On the evening of September 1st, the U.S. Supreme Court formally denied the request to block the Texas Heartbeat Act.  The Act requires abortionists to screen for a fetal heartbeat and prohibits abortion if a heartbeat can be heard.  The act only allows exceptions for cases of medical emergency. The Texas Heartbeat Act is already saving lives: … NBC News reported Tuesday evening that “all 11 of the Planned Parenthood health centers in Texas” have “stopped scheduling visits after…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you – St Augustine It’s easy to get sucked into the Coronavirus rabbit hole.  And for good reason.  We face daily news of unjust vaccine mandates, struggle to sort through the massive censorship and misinformation, and make the best health care decisions for our families. But it is all the more important in times such as these, to step…

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Kevin Burke, LSW Oscar-nominated actor Bryan Cranston is best known for his role as Walter White in the series “Breaking Bad.”  He published an excellent memoir in 2016 entitled A Life in Parts.    Cranston frequently draws upon his own life experiences, and interior emotional life, to help bring his characters to life. He begins his book by sharing about a particularly challenging and disturbing scene in Breaking Bad.   In this interview with Rich Eisen, Cranston recounts that powerful experience:…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW The Long Slide: Thirty Years in American Journalism, by Tucker Carlson (Threshold Editions: 2021), 288 pages. The host of Tucker Carlson Tonight has a new book featuring a collection of magazine articles written over the last 30 years with new commentary and reflections on how the revolutions in technology and culture have impacted journalism. The stories range from his 2003 trip to Africa with Al Sharpton to a job before his rise to fame at a…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW The Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus on August 6th is often lost in the month when many families are distracted with travel and vacation.    All 3 synoptic gospels considered it an event of immense significance placing the account of the Transfiguration after Peter’s confession of faith, and Jesus sharing about his upcoming passion.   The Transfiguration revealed to Peter, James and John that salvation history from Adam to the great prophets, law-givers, and kings…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW The Catholic Bishops of the U.S. voted in June to initiate the drafting of a teaching document on the Eucharist.  One of the areas covered in this document has been called Eucharistic coherence.  This refers to the teaching that Catholics who receive Communion should live and act in a manner consistent with the faith of the Church. This naturally touches upon the problem of Catholic politicians publicly supporting policies such as abortion that are contrary to…

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By Kevin Burke, LSW Of women undergoing an abortion procedure in the U.S., around one-in-four are Catholic.  When people think about abortion, they usually imagine a scared desperate teenager, often pressured to see abortion as the best solution to an unplanned pregnancy.  What is surprising, is that close to 23% of these women are married, often with living children.  If we apply that data to the general population, one out of every 16 women procuring an abortion is married and…

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