In case you were having a nice relaxing day, I’d like to call your attention to the following things that you might not be quite worried enough about:

via

1. Sunscreen

Every other summer, I’ve just hated sunscreen for being messy and having that odd dry-slimy feel and because if, like me, you like letting your kids do stuff on their own you could end up with kids with weird patterns burned onto their faces. And your husband probably wouldn’t like it.

But THIS summer, everywhere I turn I see something new about the DANGERS OF SUNSCREEN and how the stuff you’re putting on to avoid cancer is perhaps causing cancer, and how spray sunscreens are problematic for the very kids they’re meant to be used on, and how women in Sweden are maybe dying of not getting enough sun. Oh and how it could make you catch on fire. No biggie.

Ugh.

But, with a husband who miraculously (?) survived stage III melanoma, we don’t want to ignore the dangers of sun exposure either.

So, here’s what we do to avoid unnecessary sun exposure AND unnecessary sunscreen use:

  • The kids all wear swim shirts.
  • We do most of our swimming before 11am and after 4pm.
  • We use mineral rather than chemical sunscreens. The cream kind. They aren’t even all super high-end. We got ours at Walgreens and it was similarly priced to other sunscreens.

2. The Seal of the Confessional

Remember when a priest being compelled to violate the seal of the confessional by the courts was just a Hitchcock movie?

Apparently it’s happening in real life:

Louisiana’s Supreme Court has ruled that a priest may be compelled to testify as to what he heard in the confessional in 2008 concerning an abuse case.


The priest, Father Jeff Bayhi, faces automatic excommunication if he breaks the seal of the confessional. But he also could face jailing if found to be in contempt of the court should he refuse to testify. (read more at CNS)

The thing that’s difficult to understand is that it’s the penitent herself (and her parents) who are suing to require the priest to testify about her confession. According to The Faith Explained
, my go-to for stuff like this:

This bond of secrecy–“the seal of confession”–forbids the priest to reveal for any reason whatsoever what has been told to him in confession. The penitent himself is the only one who can release the priest from that bond. Not even to the penitent himself, outside of confession, can the priest speak of things which the penitent has told in confession; that is, not unless the penitent so wishes and permits.

So I’m all for protecting the seal of the confessional, but, unless I’m mistaken, it wouldn’t apply here, since the penitent “so wishes and permits.”

Update: People are saying in the comments that Jimmy Akin addressed this on Catholic Answers yesterday. The podcast wasn’t up in the archives yet when I checked, but my understanding is that he says that according to Canon Law, a priest cannot testify in this instance. I’m going to figure that he and the Louisiana diocese in which this is all taking place are on the right side of this, which is clearly a complicated and unfortunate situation.

3. That Soccer is NOT done

I have to admit, I kinda stopped paying attention once we lost. But then I started seeing stuff like this in my Facebook feed:

Love it. You already know my thoughts about those red shoes . . . so I guess I’m going to have to root for Germany.

4. The Copyright Policies of the USCCB

I’ve already mentioned that I’m involved with some other bloggers in a new project, creating a daily online devotional for Catholic women. You can already check out the site and sign up to receive daily devotions by email. You can like us on Facebook or Instagram to receive updates and inspirational images.

But, today . . . we were all in a panic because of the USCCB and its death grip on the NAB, which is the translation of the Bible used in Catholic Masses in the US. We asked them if we could use it. They said we could not.

It’s an issue that was discussed at length last year, when Matthew Warner got over 100,000 people, including me, to sign up for daily emails of the text of the Catechism. And the USCCB made him stop sending them.

Brandon Vogt wrote about it in detail, and started a campaign that I guess didn’t yet soften the hearts of the powers that be.

But, all is not lost for the stalwart ladies of Blessed Is She. I think the current plan is to use an approved translation of the Bible that’s in the public domain, perhaps the Douay-Rheims. The NAB would have been nice because that’s exactly what you’d hear in Mass, but for something you’re using for reflection at home, I don’t think it’s that big a deal.

5. That My Children Don’t Have Nearly Enough Cousins

My completely awesome brother- and sister-in-law are hoping to adopt. Check out their adorable video, featuring my kids being read to and instructed in the finer points of football and legos by their dear aunt and uncle:

If you know of a baby in need of a home, you can contact them through their agency. And please pray for them!

6. That Christina Might Lose Her Dream-Farm

When I (finally) joined Facebook a year and a half ago I grambled up the sign up process almost beyond recognition. Not only did I accidentally send friend requests to anyone I had ever sent an email to, I also somehow sent dozens of friend requests to people I didn’t know in any way at all.

Most people who got those friend requests from a complete stranger just ignored them (or told me to leave them alone or reported me to Facebook), but Christina kept trying to figure out if we did in fact know each other. We didn’t, but we found out that we have a lot in common, like our Catholic faith, and a shared love of Doctor Who, American Girl dolls, and backyard chickens. So we stayed Facebook friends.

Due to unforseen one-time circumstances, Christina and her family are facing the loss of their newly-acquired family farm unless they can come up with $10,000 in the next week.

They are selling things to try to make up the shortfall, but if you could spare anything to help this nice family live their dream, I know they’d be very grateful.

Donations can be made in any amount through PayPal.

7. Pope Francis, but in a GOOD Way

Seriously, mamas, how much do we love this guy?

 Happy Weekend everyone!

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