Every mom — and everyone who was ever a kid — remembers the occasional chaos of school mornings, grabbing breakfast, homework, lunch bags, negotiating who gets the bathroom next.

I used to be supportive of the SSPX and have regularly attended Mass at their chapels at different points in my life. How do I know if I’m excommunicated now?

July is my favorite month of the year. It’s my birthday month, so that adds to the joy, but July is also the heart of the summer—and summertime is the best.

As we mark the national semiquincentennial on July 4, we might well reflect on Benjamin Franklin’s answer to Elizabeth Willing Powel, when the elderly sage left the Constitutional Convention in 1787 and the Philadelphia matron demanded, “Well, Dr. Franklin, what have we got, a republic, or a monarchy?”

“Alone” sends 10 trained survivalists into the wilderness to live off the land. Armed with strict limits on their gear, the individual who lasts the longest wins a $500,000 prize. Unlike other reality shows, the participants do their own camera work.

I was making coffee early on the Fourth of July when I heard the ping of a text message.

Hypothetically, would a vow renewal like this have any impact if a couple were to try for an annulment later?

Did she like mustard? We didn’t know. Did she want a stuffed mustard? Maybe not. But we had a feeling this was the right gift.

The short answer is that your priest isn’t offering Mass for the people of the parish because he personally wanted to or because he thought it was a good idea (although he probably is happy to do this and praying for the people of the parish is indeed a good idea)! Rather, he was offering this specific Mass intention because the Church’s canon law specifically requires him to do so.

Getting someone’s attention at the balloon counter was tricky, but when I finally found an employee, I asked her to fill up six red balloons.