Catholic Fire

Losing a sister is like losing an arm or leg. Both are irreplaceable. My sister, Maureen, took her last breath and passed on peacefully to eternal life, surrounded by family in her home, on Saturday, May 16, 2015, due to complications of an aggressive cancer, multiple myeloma. She was my youngest sister, the baby of the family, and someone I felt I needed to nurture and protect. However, she was a feisty and independent lady with a bit of rebelliousness in her blood. I remember when my mom, worked the night shift in a nursing home, she asked that we play quietly in our rooms while she slept during the day. Maureen often had difficulty playing quietly. It seemed that her play time frequently required noise. I don’t remember her doing anything quietly. Her music, singing, dancing, talking, arguing, and playing were all loud. She may have been the youngest, but she was bound and determined to get attention one way or another. During mom’s sleeping hours, I usually quietly read books...

“Our Lord has shown me the way that leads to love – it is the only way that leads to love – it is the way of childlike trust and surrender; the way a child that sleeps is afraid of nothing in its father’s arms.” -- St. Therese of Lisieux "We can only learn to know ourselves and do what we can - namely, surrender our will and fulfill God's will in us." – St. Teresa of Avila “Just surrender it to God!” I heard my wise friend saying as I recounted to her the events of the past week. “I am!” I retorted. “I am going to pray for you”, she replied. I like to think that I am immune to letting my feelings get out of control. I am an intelligent, rational human being after all, almost Spock-like at times. Of course, I know what I am supposed to do spiritually when things become chaotic and are totally out of my control in this life. The very first thing to do is to pray – to share my intimate feelings with God. After all, He knows me inside and out, and loves me uncond...

An inspiring video from Chris Stefanick :

When Therese Daoud arrived at Tel Aviv’s Ichilov Hospital with a huge cancerous tumor, doctors said her only chance of survival would be to amputate the leg. What happened during the following months has left the medical staff and the nation speechless. “If someone had told me the story of what happened to Therese, I would have said they are crazy and sent them to a mental hospital,” said Professor Yaakov Bickels, head of the Orthopedic- Oncology Department at the hospital. “But I was there. I saw it with my own eyes.” Read more.

This is such a sweet video, in which the pope tells the children suffering from cancer: “At this moment, Jesus comes to you and gives you a big hug." He greets and comforts each child and their families individually.

My family has started praying for a miracle for my sister-in-law, Betty, who has an aggressive cancer.  Please join us in praying for a miracle through the intercession of Venerable Father Emil Kapaun . Prayer for Intercession Father Emil Kapaun gave glory to God by following his call to the priesthood and thus serving the people of Kansas and those in the military. Father Kapaun, I ask your intercession not only for these needs which I mention now. . .but that I too may follow your example of service to God and my neighbor. For the gifts of courage in battle and perseverance of faith, we give you thanks O Lord. Recite one Our Father, one Hail Mary, and one Glory Be.

A study by Drs. Abbey B. Berenson and Mahbubur Rahman of The University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, has found women who use the injectable hormonal contraceptive DMPA (depot medroxyprogesterone acetate) experience a significant increase in body weight and fat, and the obesity may persist even after stopping DMPA use. The research , published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, involved 703 women who were beginning the use of either birth control pills or DMPA, and compared them to women who used a form of non-hormone contraception. Over the 3 year study period, DMPA users gained significantly more body fat than oral contraceptive (OC) and non-hormone (NH) contraception users, the researchers reported, adding that women of normal weight were found to gain much more body fat than women who were obese at the beginning of the study. Snip Mercedes Wilson, founder and president of the natural family planning (NFP) organization, Family for the Americas, observed tha...

I received the following prayer request from a friend: Please pray for my husband, Bob. Three months ago we found out he has a resilient melanoma through his bones at 55 years old. We have done chemotherapy to no avail, yet, and now we are to go to Loyola Medical Center for cancer.....VERY aggressive treatment. We meet them for the first time on Thursday to find out what is available for him. Please also pray for his wife, Nancy, and for their family. If you are praying, would you please comment in the box below or email me, so I can share this with them? Thank you!