"I think I'll go to Boston..."

I'll be gone for the weekend; enjoy a little Augustana and some really good reads while I'm gone.

First up, Leila at Little Catholic Bubble has a wonderful post by Steve Gershom, a Catholic man who is also gay.  A little teaser:  When I go to Confession, I sometimes mention the fact that I'm gay, to give the priest some context. ... I've always gotten one of two responses: either compassion, encouragement, and admiration, because the celibate life is difficult and profoundly counter-cultural; or nothing at all, not even a ripple, as if I had confessed eating too much on Thanksgiving.
I also encourage you to check out Steve's blog.  It's a really good read.

Also, a little victory dance is happening over here in the Diocese of Peoria.  A judge has ruled that DCFS was wrong to end its relationship with Catholic Charities for foster care.  You can read a nice little summary article about the good news here.
Looking for someone else to do the cooking?  Megan Brent is a personal chef and owner of in good taste in central IL and she's dang good at what she does.  A friend gave us a gift card for her business when James came home from the NICU and, while we have not yet used it - I just kept saving it for something special! - I have had the privilege of eating her fish tacos.  Megan is warm, smart, and talented.  Her website is here and you can find her on Facebook, too.

Lastly, here's a thoughtful post from CatholicMom about the book Premarital Sex in America by Jeremy Uecker.  A teaser from the post:  Yesterday’s premarital sex was generally “pre-marital”—sex before marriage between two people who did, in fact, get married to each other.  Today’s premarital sex is typically not pre-marital and may occur pre-relationship or with no-relationship. It almost certainly occurs with a succession of partners, well before marriage enters the picture.

A post with a related topic is Fr. Longenecker's "Comments on Cohabitation."  It's a list of things priests might like to say to cohabiting couples who come in for marriage prep.