Catholic Fire

O Most Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of Mercy, at this most critical time, we entrust the United States of America to your loving care. Most Holy Mother, we beg you to reclaim this land for the glory of your Son. Overwhelmed with the burden of the sins of our nation, we cry to you from the depths of our hearts and seek refuge in your motherly protection. Look down with mercy upon us and touch the hearts of our people. Open our minds to the great worth of human life and to the responsibilities that accompany human freedom. Free us from the falsehoods that lead to the evil of abortion and threaten the sanctity of family life. Grant our country the wisdom to proclaim that God’s law is the foundation on which this nation was founded, and that He alone is the True Source of our cherished rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. O Merciful Mother, give us the courage to reject the culture of death and the strength to build a new Culture of Life.

Can you compare the redefinition of marriage movement to the civil rights movement? Black Catholics United for Life’s Gloria Purvis gives us her take. Related: My Answers To Questions About Gay “Marriage” Did SCOTUS gay marriage decision put Catholics in the closet? Ben Carson: Gay marriage not a civil rights issue Huckabee: Comparing gay marriage to civil rights movement 'an insult' to blacks

What can I say to express my gratitude to our military heroes? Is a simple "thank you" really enough for those who have given their lives to preserve our freedoms? If for just one day, let us honor them and pray for them and for those they have left behind. Let us thank those who have served for all they have done. A Prayer for Memorial Day Remember, Lord, the fallen Who died in fields of war, In flaming clouds, in screaming crowds, On streets that are no more, That we today might waken And greet this day in peace With grateful prayer for those who bear The storms that never cease. Remember friends and strangers, And those forgotten now, Whose names are known to you alone, Before whose love we bow And ask that you surround them With mercy’s endless light That they may live, and we forgive The foe they went to fight. Remember, Lord, the living, Who bear the pain of loss- A death she died who stood beside Her Son upon the cr...

The next Catholic archbishop of Portland comes with a Twitter account, a Facebook page and the relatively youthful perspective of a person born in 1960. At 52,  the youngest prelate to be named an archbishop in the United States, the Most Rev. Alexander K. Sample  says he's ready for the challenge of an unchurched state. At a press conference Tuesday, Sample, who has been bishop of Marquette, Mich.,  for seven  years, said some people see Oregon as a tough place to be Catholic. "I see it as fertile ground to plant the seeds of a new evangelization," he said. The facts that Catholics account for about 14 percent of Oregonians and that almost 24  percent of the state's population don't identify as members of a particular church don't discourage him. "I want to connect those who are longing in their hearts for spirituality with the one whom I believe is an answer to that longing, Jesus Christ." Sample also promised to speak out on moral issue...

Voter's Guide for Serious Catholics from Catholic Answers Action ( www.caaction.com ) H/T: Steve Ray's blog.

In many Asian cultures, little girls are considered a burden rather than a blessing. This has led to all manner of atrocities like sex-selective abortion and even infanticide of infant girls in favor of boys. Steven W. Mosher talks about how this practice is coming to the United States, and how feminist groups are doing nothing about it. “Where are the feminists when you need them?” Mosher asks, alleging that American feminists’ dedication to permissive abortion laws makes them unwilling to oppose sex-selective abortion. “I challenge the National Organization of Women,” says Mosher, “and other feminist groups, to join us in the battle to ban this terrible form of sex discrimination that is killing so many unborn baby girls. Their continued silence only facilitates the killing.”