Catholic Fire

Readers: The faith/religion program from American Public Radio, hosted by Krista Tippet, is seeking your views on Catholicism. This is your chance to make your opinions on your Catholic faith be heard. Take the survey here. Share your personal reflections on the Catholic Church Pope Benedict XVI will be making his first papal visit to the U.S. in April, to help revitalize and strengthen the U.S. church. He will be stopping in Washington D.C. and New York City to offer mass at Nationals Park and Yankee Stadium, visit the White House, and address the United Nations. We're using the occasion as an opportunity to start a broad-ranging conversation about the rich tradition of Roman Catholicism -- its history, trajectory, and the contemporary issues Catholics are wrestling with. Although we often hear news stories about the Catholic Church, diverse practitioners of the faith have had little voice in telling their stories. If you are or were Catholic, we'd like to hear your perspectiv

"It was through the Blessed Virgin Mary that Jesus came into the world, and it is also through her that He must reign in the world." ~ St. Louis de Montfort

The Annunciation by Philippe de Champaigne Byzantine Liturgy Akathist hymn to the Mother of God (7th century) “Hail, favoured one”An archangel was sent from Heaven to say to the Mother of God: Rejoice! And beholding Thee, O Lord, taking bodily form, he was amazed and with his bodiless voice he stood crying to Her such things as these: Rejoice, Thou through whom joy will shine forth: Rejoice, Thou through whom the curse will cease!Rejoice, recall of fallen Adam: Rejoice, redemption of the tears of Eve! Rejoice, height inaccessible to human thoughts: Rejoice, depth undiscernible even for the eyes of angels! Rejoice, for Thou art the throne of the King: Rejoice, for Thou bearest Him Who beareth all! Rejoice, star that causest the Sun to appear: Rejoice, womb of the Divine Incarnation!Rejoice, Thou through whom creation is renewed: Rejoice, Thou through whom we worship the Creator! Rejoice, O Bride Unwedded! Seeing herself to be chaste, the holy one said boldly to Gabriel: The marvel of t

Esther tagged me for a meme, so check it out. The rules are: 1. The rules of the game get posted at the beginning. 2. Each player answers the questions about themselves. 3. At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. What I was doing 10 years ago: Wow! I can't remember what I was doing 10 minutes ago, much less ten years ago. As I recall, I was married, writing, singing in various choirs, and serving in lots of ministries. Five things on my To Do List today: 1. Get to bed as it is in the weeeee hours of the morning here. 2. Do laundry. 3. Go to Mass. 4. Pray the rosary. 5. Read. I like living on the edge! Snacks I enjoy: hummus, veggies, organic corn chips (yellow and blue), popcorn, low fat or nonfat frozen yogurt Truthfully, it's whatever someone else fixes that smells good... Wow, no wonder I can't lose weight! Thi

This weekend was jam-packed with Divine Mercy activities , the annual pro-life book sale sponsored by the Knights of Columbus, and the Tony Melendez concert. I forgot to take my camera with me, but check out the video above -- no words are needed to describe this man's talents. I was also very impressed with those who work with him in this ministry of hope. I had seen Tony on EWTN before, but this was the first time I have seen him in person. Don't pass up an opportunity to see Tony and his talented musicians in concert. Those of you going to World Youth Day 2008 -- prepare to be lifted up spiritually.

The pictures above are those I always associate with Divine Mercy Sunday -- I also have the top one in my home. This one of Pope John Paul II is one of my favorites. If it weren't for him, this feast day wouldn't exist. How blessed we are for the many graces that he brought into our lives! In our parish, we celebrated this feast day with the recitation of the rosary, then the recitation of the Divine Mercy, followed by the Divine Mercy Sunday Mass. We received the Sacrament of Reconciliation on Saturday and attended evening Mass afterward -- I am so thankful for all the graces of this weekend! As a priest reminded us: "Now if you get hit by a truck and die, you will go straight to Heaven!" Well, it didn't happen ... but don't you just love plenary indulgences ?

Feminists for Life speakers will visit campuses across the country for lectures and a record-breaking number of Pregnancy Resource Forums SM within the coming weeks. Please share this with college students you know. LECTURE Ann Lowrey Forster "Exposing Coercion: Pregnant Women Stand Up" Tuesday, April 8, 2008 7:35 PM College of St. Benedict/St. John's University , St. Joseph, MN St. Benedict's campus, Goreki Building, Room 204 A PREGNANCY RESOURCE FORUMS SM FFL President Serrin M. Foster Tuesday, April 1, 2008 University of Maryland , College Park, MD Tuesday, April 8, 2008 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Wednesday, April 9, 2008Northwestern University, Evanston, IL Joyce McCauley-Benner Monday, April 7, 2008 Grand Valley State University , Allendale, MI Wednesday, April 16, 2008 Clarion University , Clarion, PA FFL National Program Director Cayce D. Utley Thursday, April 3, 2008 Georgetown University , Washington, DC

Operation Rescue is asking Christians around the nation for special prayer for a meeting that is scheduled to take place on Saturday, March 29, 2008 , between pro-lifers and a working abortionist. In order to prevent any efforts to undermine this meeting, we are not able to tell you at this time where the meeting is taking place or who is involved. This opportunity has been ten years in the works and is the result of much prayer. The abortionist in question is finally at a place where he appears to be open to hearing the truth. Please join us as we pray that the Christians involved with this meeting will be able to share with wisdom the love of Christ and His love for the innocent, and that as a result, there will be sincere repentance and conversion on the part of the abortionist. Via Operation Rescue.

I can't wait for November 4, because on that day, by voting, I'm going to exercise a key aspect of my citizenship in the United States and in the Kingdom of God. In many states, people can vote before November 4, thanks to the provisions of "early voting" - which is a very good idea, given the many unforeseen circumstances that could arise on Election Day to get between us and the voting booth. (To see what the rules are in your state, visit www.priestsforlife.org/states ). Why am I looking forward so eagerly to voting? Because a lot is at stake. One key example is the makeup of the courts. The Constitution establishes the Supreme Court, and says that Congress can establish other courts if it so chooses. Now courts are not given the right to create laws; only legislatures do that. Courts are supposed to resolve disputes related to the application and interpretation of laws. In our day, however, the courts have radically transgressed the bounds of their authority, and

Today's Mass Readings Meditation Saint of the Day: Saint Guntramnus (Contran)

Via The KANSAS COALITION FOR LIFE, Project Love, Prayer, and Persistent Political Action. Thursday, March 20, 2008 CONFIRMED SAVE: Margaret W. & Margaret M.: At about 1:30 pm, a blue / grey Ford Taurus with Kansas Tags, carrying three young black people came into Tiller's parking lot. They did not stop to take material at the gate. Rather, they drove directly to the far (east) side of Tiller's parking lot and parked their car. It looked to Margaret W. like it was a young black couple, with a very young teenage girl who was pregnant. Since they were over 100 feet away from the gate where she was standing, and since they had not taken literature at the gate, Margaret W. tried to talk to them in a raised voice, yelling: "WE CAN HELP YOU…, YOU DO NOT HAVE TO KILL THE BABY…, MAKE AN INFORMED DECISION, WE CAN GIVE YOU A FREE SONOGRAM…, IF YOU KILL THAT BABY YOU WILL REGRET IT FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!... Etc." In response, all three of them just looked at Margaret W. a

American Life League interviews Kristi Burton, founder of Colorado For Equal Rights. Kristi is the author of Colorado's current ballot initiative aimed at extending the definition of person from the moment of fertilization. See www.Personhood2008.com for more information.

Unless I receive help with this blog, I will have to stop blogging. I have done everything I can possibly do to this blog to try to make it work and am extremely frustrated. Please pray that someone will help. Please refer to the details in the post below. I am also experiencing severe stress in my life at this time. Please pray for me! Thank you and God bless you!

Dear Readers, I apologize for not posting as often as I normally do and for the mess here. For some reason, I am unable to change anything on my blog. To see if it would make a difference I changed templates. I have done this before but my layout page still freezes up. Today I noticed a message that said "Error on page: Java Script void". I don't know what that means so if someone out there does, would you please let me know. Or if you know why my blog might be freezing up and not allowing me to change colors or fonts or to add new blogs to my list, would you please advise me? Thank you! Update: Well, I have done a number of things to remedy this problem including: changing my security settings, clearing my cache, removing "About Me", removing my shared items, contacting Google's problem group, and I thank those who have helped me, but my layout still freezes my blog halfway up and I have never encountered anything like this before. I am still open to sugg

This week it is being hosted by Sean at A Catholic Canadian and it is an Easter Carnival. Sean tells us, "I am blogging and podcasting this carnival simultaneously in the hope that it will foster some crossover between the Catholic blogging and podcasting communities I have become a part of. The blog carnival entries are all listed in this post and I have added some comments within the podcast." Some of my favorite posts there include: Marcel of Mary's Aggies Attacks On Human Life Getting Bolder in which he discussess the Incarnation, Easter, The Dignity of the Human Person, and the fight for human life in all of its forms. Ian's Top Ten Favorite Quotes from John Milton’s Paradise Lost . Ebeth's A Word on being a Good Catholic Parent . Tupelo Catholic Podcasts' The week ahead , where he points out that this Wednesday is a starting date for Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary and Sunday is Divine Mercy Sunday. I also enjoyed reading Esther'

Today's Mass Readings Saint of the Day: St. Ludger, Priest Famous Birthday: Robert Frost, poet

You can find the results here. Congratulations to all the winners! I would like to thank those who nominated me and who voted for me. God bless you for your kindness! Just as a reminder, writing this blog is my apostolic work for the Lord and is not a hobby, although I do enjoy it. Like most people, I appreciate recognition for what I do; however, it is most important to me that what I do pleases God and that it be in union with His will. Thanks for reading Catholic Fire ! I hope you will find some useful and inspirational information here. God bless you!

Today's Mass Readings Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,”which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them,‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” (John 20:16 - 18) Saint of the Day : St. Margaret Clitherow , Patron of businesswomen; converts, and martyrs. Today's Special Prayer Intentions For the intentions of the Holy Father for this month. For safe travel for the Holy Father. For Father John Corapi, who has been undergoing testing at the Mayo Clinic. For a special personal intention. For an end to abortion and the closing of all abortion mills. For all the prayer requests at One Came Back. For all previous prayer requests posted here.

It's our guy, Paul, blogger at Thoughts of a Regular Guy . This shouldn't surprise anyone. Paul is very bright, 100% pro-life, down to earth, in touch with the concerns of real people working in the real world, he's a guy with strong convictions and high morals. He is a man of truth and integrity. I would most certainly vote for him if I were living in his area -- Lake County, IL . Here's how Paul describes himself: I am a pro-life conservative, a devout Roman Catholic, a veteran of service in the U.S. Air Force during the Cold War, a married man and father of four children, a college graduate with a degree in economics, a regular guy who commutes daily to a job in the city. Read more about what motivated Paul to run for office and where he stands on the issues.

After “blowing away” music executives with their performance of Gregorian plainchant, a group of Austrian monks has been given a record deal with Universal Music. Get the story here.

A special new website - www.papaltrip.org - offers complete information about Pope Benedict XVI's trip to the United States from April 15 to April 20, as well as extensive biographical information about the pope, and about the history of the relationship between the popes of the 19th and 20th centuries and the United States. In addition, the Knights of Columbus is sponsoring a special television program previewing the pope's visit, "A Journey of Hope," on Sunday, April 13, 2008. It will be broadcast on CBS television stations in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles. It will also be carried on the Fox Business Channel at 5:30 p.m. Eastern Time , and on EWTN and various regional Catholic cable programs and channels. A complete listing of broadcast times, channels and stations will be posted at www.papaltrip.org and www.kofc.org . Panelists on the program include Supreme Knight Carl Anderson, Cardinal John Foley, Professor David Schindler, Professor He

"Jesus rises to glorify the Father and to save us. The mystery of the Resurrection is therefore for us; it is our mystery, it is our glory, it is our burning fire of love, it is our light." ~ Fr. Marie - Dominique Philippe, OP, priest, professor, philosopher, founder of the Community of St. John

The Feast Day This coming Sunday, March 29, is Divine Mercy Sunday . This feast was instituted by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000, in response to a direct request by the Lord to a Polish nun, St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, whom Pope John Paul II canonized that year . The Image On February 22, 1931, Jesus first appeared to St. Faustina at the Congregation of Our Lady of Mercy convent in Plock, Poland. This is how she describes that vision in her diary: “In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw the Lord in a white garment. He had one hand raised in blessing and the other was touching his garment at the chest. From the fold in His garment…..there were two large rays: one red and the other pale.” Jesus later told her: “Paint an image according to the pattern you see with the signature Jesus, I trust in You. I desire this image be venerated first in your chapel and then throughout the world.” The Meaning of the Image There is a connection between that image and the liturgy of the sec

What do you get when you cross a Jehovah's Witness with an atheist? Someone who rings your doorbell for absolutely no reason at all! Thanks, Tanja!

I hope you enjoy this beautiful Easter video from Esther as much as I do.

"The Resurrection" by Carl Heinrich Bloch Alleluia! Wishing you a glorious Easter!

Earlier this week, I wrote about late-term abortionist George Tiller's appearance at the Feminist Majority Foundation’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference held at the NEA Headquarters in Washington D.C. and posted the undercover videotape captured by Students for Life of America. . On the videotape, he: admitted to performing abortions up to the day before delivery, showed photos he collected of the dead bodies of babies he aborted, admitted he never heard of the Federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act, and described babies with handicaps as burdens on women and society. Here is Judie Brown's take on this bizzare incident and her reaction to it: Abortionist George Tiller is in the news, and it appears he is also making the news. When Tiller spoke to the Feminist Majority Foundation’s annual Women’s Leadership Conference, he pointed out that not only does he do late term abortions, but told his audience that he will abort up to the day that is the child’s mother’s schedul

Holy Thursday is also known as "Maundy Thursday." The word maundy comes from the Latin word mandatum (commandment) which is the first word of the Gospel acclamation: Mandátum novum do vobis dicit Dóminus, ut diligátis ínvicem, sicut diléxi vos: "I give you a new commandment: Love one another as I have loved you." (John 13:34) These are the words spoken by our Lord to His apostles at the Last Supper, after he completed the washing of the feet. Easter Triduum Easter or Paschal Triduum is the ancient name given to the three days of the ‘pasch’ or ‘passing over’ of the Lord, beginning on the evening of Holy Thursday and ending on Easter Sunday. This is the "Feast of feasts", the high point of the Church’s liturgical year, when we celebrate the heart of our faith -- the great mystery of salvation when Our Lord Jesus Christ passes through suffering and death to the new life of the Resurrection. The triduum liturgies teach us the meaning of Christ’s life, death

Scriptural Stations of the Cross: A Way of the Cross by Kathryn Mulderink, published by Lulu, 2008. Kathryn Mulderink , Catholic homeschooling mom of seven and Lay Carmelite, has done it again! The author of The Way of the Cross for Children and Walk New: A Way of the Cross for Teens has now also written a beautiful new collection of meditations and prayers for adults. Kathryn Mulderink’s Scriptural Stations of the Cross are based on those celebrated by Pope John II on Good Friday, 1991 and 1994. As an alternative to the traditional Stations of the Cross, these stations provide a way of meditating more deeply on the scriptural accounts of Christ’s Passion. Beginning with the Agony of Jesus in Gethsemane and omitting some of the traditional non-scriptural stations in favor of incidents mentioned in the gospels, these Stations of the Cross focus on the following events: · Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane · Jesus betrayed by Judas is arrested. · Jesus condemned by the Sanhedrin. · Jes

You cannot possibly imagine how grateful I am to God for the most recent comments endorsing enforcement of Catholic Church laws that are designed to protect Christ from sacrilege. I am writing, of course, about Canon Law 915, a Church law stating: Those who have been excommunicated or interdicted after the imposition or the declaration of a penalty as well as others who obstinately persist in manifest grave sin are not to be admitted to communion. We all know there are Catholics in public life these days who flaunt their pro-abortion advocacy while at the same time defying Church officials to deny them Holy Communion. And sadly, many Eucharistic ministers, deacons, priests and yes, even bishops, prefer not to deny the Sacrament but rather to entrust that decision to the conscience of the pro-abortion Catholic! MORE from Judie Brown's blog.

Caution: Graphic Images An improved copy of the undercover video of Wichita, KS late-term abortionist George R. Tiller , filmed by Students for Life of America , at a Feminist Majority Foundation event in Washington, D.C. held at the National Education Association headquarters earlier this month is now online. The video shows Tiller making incriminating comments and shockingly displaying photos of babies he has aborted. In this video you will hear Tiller: Say he has done late abortions up to the day before delivery Show photos he collected of the dead bodies of babies he aborted Admit he never heard of the Federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act Describe babies with handicaps as burdens on women and society The previous video had been taken down because of poor audio quality and hard to read subtitles. Those issues have been resolved. Via Operation Rescue. My Comments: It's just incredible that the National Education Assn. is supporting Tiller in this way - they have always been a

Today is known as Spy Wednesday because on this day Judas made a bargain with the high priest to betray Jesus for 30 silver pieces. Today's Mass Readings Today's Spiritual Meditation Jesus carries this betrayal in love so that we too may be able to carry in love all the struggles the Church is now living, all the struggles of humanity. We know that these battles are terrible and sometimes they make us lose hope. Well, no! They should not make us lose hope! The stronger the battle, the more Jesus is present and the more He wants to be glorified in our heart. And Jesus is glorified in our heart to the extent that love triumphs. This is truly what the glory of Christ is: love victorious over betrayal, victorious over all lies. ~ Excerpted from Return to me ... Daily Meditations for Lent By Father Philippe, O.P., Philosopher and Founder of The Community of St. John compiled by the Sisters of St. John

On American Idol, Season 7, David Archuleta sings The Long & Winding Road. This young man captured my heart the first time I heard him sing.

"We know that the child to be born is a human being from the moment of conception. The child therefore, cannot be considered an extension of the mother: he or she is another human being. A woman's greatness, her personal growth lies in being the cause of life, not in suppressing the child of her womb. God repeats in one of the Ten Commandments: 'Do not kill.' But God is not a tyrant. If He is demanding, it is because He has provided the way even in difficult circumstances and has given the means to help carry out this commandment." ~ Chiara Lubich , foundress of the worldwide Focolare Catholic lay movement

... is Chicago Public School principal By Jill Stanek I received this email yesterday from an 8th grader at Lavizzo Elementary School in Chicago: Abortionist Dr. Arnold Bickham is our PRINCIPAL.... MORE

WARNING: VILE and VULGAR LANGUAGE I have been listening to the discussions on Ave Maria radio about Obama's pastor who has been a major influence in his life. Not only does Jeremiah Wright preach racism and hatred of whites, but he also "damns" this country over and over again, blaming it for many wars. This man is vile and vulgar in his speech and thoughts, totally uncharitable, and divisively dangerous. His words are anything but Christian and he has been Obama's spiritual mentor for twenty years. How can Obama possibly unite this country when he's been spoon fed this kind of garbage over the years? How can he call himself a Christian if he believes what this man preaches?

It's being hosted by Marcel LeJeune at Aggie Catholics - aka "Mary's Aggies" this week. There are some great posts there - here are a few of my favorites: Matthew at Play the Dad No, Be the Dad! opens up his heart to talk about parenting, the loss of miscarriage and changing what he knows about parenting . Tausign, from Perfect Joy, who writes a wonderful meditation on the Way of the Cross . Teresa from Teresa's Two Cents writes a beautiful account of how she is passing on the way of the cross devotion to her son . I really enjoyed Heidi 's post on spending a day at the Toledo Zoo where she and Sarah R. get together with their children for a fun day. There are lots of cute baby and kid photos here. Be sure to check out all the great posts at Marcel's.

Recently, a Wall Street Journal story reported that Planned Parenthood is going to spend an unprecedented $10 million this election cycle to make sure they will have strong allies at all levels of government and in the courts. Why is Planned Parenthood spending millions this cycle as opposed to past cycles? They are being criminally investigated in Kansas on 107 criminal counts including falsifying documents in order to perform illegal late term abortions. They are fighting a lawsuit in California by a whistleblower which alleges they defrauded taxpayers to the tune of over $180 million. They were caught in Idaho willingly and enthusiastically accepting donations from a perceived racist donor who advocated for more black abortions. In Ohio, they are being sued for not reporting the rape of a 15-year-old by her father. Jenn Giroux, President of Women Influencing the Nation: “The reason Planned Parenthood is spending an unprecedented $10 million this election cycle is to ele

Today's Mass Readings Today's Meditation We understand the suffering of Jesus' heart, His sadness over one of His disciples, one of those He had chosen and therefore one of those whom He loves: "One of you will betray me." Here we see the two extremes: the disciple whom Jesus loves, John close to Jesus' heart, and Judas, who draws further and further away, who turns in on himself and closes himself in on his evil will. A division arose among those whom Jesus had chosen and loved and the cause of this division is Judas' jealousy towards John. Judas did not directly will Jesus' death, but he could not stand Jesus' love for John. Judas did not go to the end in his first love and he rejected this first love because he saw that another was first passing ahead of him. Let us ask Jesus for the grace to be faithful to the end in our love for Him and that nothing, absolutely nothing, make us stray from Him. May He always be the one we love above all things.

Wichita, KS – Operation Rescue has launched a massive radio and phone campaign designed to focus public attention on the Kansas Supreme Court with the intent of keeping them honest as they consider motions filed by late-term abortionist George R. Tiller that are meant to deny a citizen-called grand jury critical evidence. MORE Listen to radio ad now airing in Kansas

Jill Stanek shares a video of late-term abortionist George Tiller at the Feminist Majority Conference held last weekend at the National Education Association headquarters in DC. The video, which is of poor quality but is dubbed in parts, was taken by Two Students for Life of America. Here are some some tidbits from that video: Tiller's contention he had never heard of the Federal Born Alive Infant Protection Act and that aborting babies alive is "sloppy technique," and "the guy that did that ought to have his head beat up." Despite his expressed ignorance of Born Alive, Tiller nevertheless speculated Barack Obama opposed it as state senator because it would force an abortionist to "rush" an aborted baby to the hospital "against the mother's wishes" if s/he should "slip out with a heartbeat," total mischaracterization of a law that has been in place 5-1/2 years now. Tiller's contention that while deciding to deliver or abor

Today's Mass Readings Today's Homily

The Way of the Cross for Children – a coloring book by Kathryn Mulderink, OCDS, with drawings by Victor KyNam Kathryn Mulderink, lay Carmelite and Catholic homeschooling mom of seven, originally wrote these beautiful prayers for the 14 Stations of the Cross for her own children and has used them for several Lenten seasons. Kathryn’s poignant prayers and meditations on the Stations of the Cross combined with Victor KyNam’s sensitive illustrations make this book one that will touch the hearts of the children who peruse it. The Way of the Cross for Children offers brief meditations entitled “I Think of Jesus”, which help children to reflect on the suffering that Jesus experiences during His Passion, while reminding them of His overwhelming, unconditional love for each one of us. This is followed by a prayer “I talk to Jesus” which gently encourages children to open their hearts to Him, to broaden their prayer intentions, and to change their behavior in response to His love. A one line c

Blessed Pierre is on his way to World Youth Day. Totally Catholic Youth Ministers Lounge shares: ... Pier Giorgio Frassati is an incorruptible, so because of his example of loving and choosing God, he will go to Sydney Australia to be venerated by the youth of the world. Dom also shares a wonderful bio with photos here. My Favorite Quotes from Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati: "The end for which we are created invites us to walk a road that is surely sown with a lot of thorns, but it is not sad; through even the sorrow, it is illuminated by joy." “To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing.” "You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be, so long as my trust in God gives me strength. We must always be cheerful. Sadness should be banished from all Christian souls. For suffering is a far different thing from sadness, which is the worst disease of all. It is almost always caused by

Thursday of the Fifth Week of Lent Today's Mass Readings Meditation - The Eloquence of Jesus' Silence How singularly majestic must have been the eloquence of Jesus, when as a boy He sat among the doctors of the law in the temple, or when He thrilled the multitudes, commanded the winds and waves, and put to flight diseases and demons and death itself! Yet, perhaps nowhere else did the majesty of His eloquence reveal itself, as it did in that heroic calm and consistent silence, which reached its climax in the three hours of His agony. MORE at Catholic Culture. Saint for the Day: Saint Roderick, Martyr Today's Special Prayer Intentions: For the repose of the soul of Archbishop Paulos Faraj Rahho. The fruitfulness of the 9 day novena to end abortion at Tiller's and abortion in Wichita forever. For all the special prayer intentions at One Came Back.

Father Jonathan Morris shares the truth about the seven deadly sins after the AP and Reuters get it wrong. Deacon Greg Kandra gives his firsthand report here. Yes, it does include abortion. And, no there's nothing new here. Father James Martin, SJ at America Magazine has been following this and shares his views here.

on the film festival's website . Or click on the links here: High School Category Wrinkles in Time - WINNER Blood Out - Honorable Mention College Category The Poet - WINNER Open Category Mad World - WINNER Able - Honorable Mention For a list of the judges go here These films are powerful! Via Carl Olson at Insight Scoop. Previous Post: A Call for Pro-life Films: Cinema Vita Film Festival

Sr. Nimala Joshi, head of the Missionaries of Charity, is skillfully interviewed here by Father Thomas Rosica on Salt and Light's TV program Witness . I think you'll like this.

Today is Wednesday the Fifth Week of Lent. Mass Readings Catholic Culture has a beautiful Meditation on Forgiveness: We must forgive our neighbor always. This fraternal charity is the source of strength among the members of the Mystical Body: "If two of you shall consent upon earth concerning anything whatsoever they shall ask, it shall be done to them by my Father." This charity should animate us in giving fraternal correction, which should always be free from all vanity, self-love and desire to humiliate and defame. The Church dispenses Christ's forgiveness through the power of the keys: "whatsoever you shall loose upon earth shall be loosed also in heaven." Christ's pardon of us is limitless. Just as the small quantity of oil, increasing miraculously at the word of Elias, enabled the poor widow to pay all her debts, so the infinite merits of Christ enable us to expiate all our sins. Love of God and of neighbor imposes on us constant self-denial and self-

By Father Pavone Three years ago, I wrote a column called "The Party Matters," in which I stated, "Voters need to ask how much the election of a particular candidate will shift the balance of power between the parties, and what will happen when a particular party takes control. Voters should know the platform of the party and the official positions of party leadership on the same moral issues on which the individual candidate is evaluated...In short, the party matters." Some criticized these statements, complaining that they are partisan. Yet it is time to restate and reaffirm that Yes, the party matters. This is one of the many elements of the moral evaluation of one's vote. Morality deals with human actions, and voting is a human action. The first moral consideration, of course, is whether one votes at all. Voting is a moral duty, as the Church has affirmed multiple times. Whether one's actual voting choice is morally justified depends on a lot of other fa

This week's Catholic Carnival is being hosted by Ebeth of A Catholic Mom Climbing the Pillars . Once again, she did an excellent job of hosting. Image Source

Mike at Sacramentum Vitae shares some humor: You know you're a Catholic nerd IF: you feel challenged by Catholics who see no irony in considering themselves more Catholic than the Pope. at Mass, you find yourself mouthing sotto voce, a prayer prescribed for the priest, only to be horrified by his ad-libbing. you're disappointed that the Church doesn't have an official position on every controversial issue. MORE

As I mentioned in an earlier post , Fr. Stan Fortuna , was here for a mini - parish retreat beginning with a homily for at all of the weekend Masses, a talk, and Eucharistic Adoration on both Monday and Tuesday nights. If there is one thing that I will remember about this Lent it will be the impact that Fr. Stan Fortuna’s words and his music had in my ongoing conversion. Without going into any great detail, I will say that particularly at this time in my life I have had great difficulty in accepting God’s will for me and have been fearful about His future plans for me, which seem to be changing constantly and weighing very heavily upon me. However, I know that I am not alone in this struggle – Many of the great saints have dealt with the same inner turmoil. We have recently become aware of Blessed Mother Teresa's spiritual aridity and her "dark night of the soul" through the publication of Come Be My Light. Even Pope John Paul II who boldly proclaimed, “Be not afraid”