Catholic Fire

“Mankind will not have peace until it turns to the Fount of My Mercy.” -- Words from our Lord to St. Maria Faustina Kowalska WASHINGTON, D.C., Oct. 3, 2016 – Today the world faces unprecedented global financial crises, record-breaking natural disasters, global terrorism and the greatest exodus of refugees to Europe since World War II. Our world is also under great threats from countries like Iran, North Korea and China. With the closing of Pope Francis’ Jubilee Year of Mercy, and to help combat these grave threats, a grassroots coalition of Catholic organizations worldwide is mobilizing for the 24th International Week of Prayer and Fasting (IWOPF), from Oct. 2 – 10, 2016. This year the Coalition is joining together with the National Shrine of the Divine Mercy and Priests for Life and other groups. They are uniting to pray and fast for the following goals: Conversion of peoples and nations To build a culture of life To defend the sanctity of marriage and family life For pe...

I have previously participated in the March for Life in Washington D.C. and found it to be an amazing and unforgettable experience. However, like many other pro-lifers I am unable to attend this year. Here are some suggestions for those who are unable to attend, but still want to be pro-active. 1. Pray for those who are participating in the March for Life.  Here is one prayer you might say: Father and maker of all, you adorn all creation with splendor and beauty, and fashion human lives in your image and likeness. Awaken in every heart reverence for the work of your hands, and renew among your people a readiness to nurture and sustain your precious gift of life. Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen. 2. Attend Mass, pray the Rosary or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, or go to Eucharistic Adoration and pray for an end to abortion. 3. Fast -- from food, electronic dev...

Today we commemorate the Feast of the Holy Innocents. All male children under the age of two in Bethlehem were massacred by King Herod the Great in an attempt to kill the child Jesus. We call these Holy Innocents, martyrs, because they died in the place of Christ. St. Augustine called them "buds, killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves." In modern times, we have our own "holy innocents" -- those children who are killed daily in the place that should be the safest and most protective environment of all for them -- their mother's wombs. On this day, we recall the more than 57 million children in our country alone (since 1973) and the vast number of children throughout the world who have been killed under the insane laws permitting abortion. Let us pray daily for an end to this tragedy. The Holy Innocents "Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by...

LIFE Life is an opportunity, benefit from it. Life is beauty, admire it. Life is bliss, taste it. Life is a dream, realize it. Life is a challenge, meet it. Life is a duty, complete it. Life is a game, play it. Life is costly, care for it. Life is wealth, keep it. Life is love, enjoy it. Life is mystery, know it. Life is a promise, fulfill it. Life is sorrow, overcome it. Life is a song, sing it. Life is a struggle, accept it. Life is tragedy, confront it. Life is an adventure, dare it. Life is luck, make it. Life is too precious, do not destroy it. Life is life, fight for it.

Lord God, I thank you today for the gift of my life, And for the lives of all my brothers and sisters. I know there is nothing that destroys more life than abortion, Yet I rejoice that you have conquered death by the Resurrection of Your Son. I am ready to do my part in ending abortion. Today I commit myself Never to be silent, Never to be passive, Never to be forgetful of the unborn. I commit myself to be active in the pro-life movement, And never to stop defending life Until all my brothers and sisters are protected, And our nation once again becomes A nation with liberty and justice Not just for some, but for all, Through Christ our Lord. Amen!  En Español: Oración para abolir el aborto Dios Padre, te agradezco por el obsequio de mi vida, por las vidas de todos mis hermanos y hermanas. Sé que no hay nada que destruya la vida más que el aborto, y me regocijo al saber que Tu has conquistado la muerte con la Resurrección de Tu Hijo. Estoy listo para...

Chris Picco with Baby Lennon (Photo credit: Ashley Picco Memorial Fund ) In a viral post, BuzzFeed features a musician father singing the Beatles’ “Blackbird” to his newborn son. Before the recording, the wife and mother of this little family had died after an emergency c-section. Chris Picco shared many precious moments in the four days he had with his tiny son, Lennon, before Lennon also died. Chris was able to “focus completely” on his son and honor the memory of his wife, Ashley, while he did this. Lennon – who had been born premature at only 24 weeks – died in his father’s arms. Chris wrote about the inestimable worth of Lennon’s life – before and after his birth. Read more.

1. My new book, Seven Saints for Seven Virtues , was officially released on the Feast of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary!  I have been told that it should be on the shelves of bookstores next week. Lisa Hendey has written a beautiful forward for the book, which has been endorsed by Pat Gohn and Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle. 2. The book blog tour is from Monday, October 13 - Wednesday, October 22.  Be sure to stop by Catholic Fire to check out the blog tour schedule! 3. Today Patrice Fagnant-MacArthur posted her review of Seven Saints for Seven Virtues at Catholic Mom.  Thank you, Patrice, for this wonderful review! 4. This past week has been filled with activity. On Respect Life Sunday , we prayed the rosary and held up signs to support the sanctity of human life in the public square, as part of the pro-life chain .   Afterwards, we attended an activity in our parish, which included a meal, entertainment, and Adoration. 5. On the Feast of the Holy Rosary...

St. Gerard Majella, women the world over have adopted you as their patron in the joys and fears of childbearing. Today, we invoke your intercession for the pro-life movement. Pray that all will look upon human life as a great gift from God to be accepted and loved, not as an unwanted burden to be destroyed. Assist from Heaven the efforts of those on earth who are enlisted in the Christlike crusade of promoting the dignity and value of all human life, particularly the unborn. This we ask through Christ, Our Lord. Amen.

On Trinity Sunday evening, Pope visited the community of Sant’ Egidio in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere... He spoke to the community, focusing on solidarity: solidarity in prayer; solidarity in action to aid the weakest and most vulnerable in society; and especially, solidarity across generations. Departing from his prepared remarks, the Holy Father said, “A people that does care for its elder members, one that does not take care of its young people, is a people without a future, a people without hope – for young people - children, young people - and seniors carry [the people] forward in history.” Pope Francis went on to say, “Children and young people [do so] with the vim and vigor natural to youth, to be sure [It. I bambini, i giovani con la loro forza biologica, è giusto]. The elders [do so] by offering memory. When a society loses its memory, though, it is finished.” Pope Francis went on to tie the crisis among the young and the elderly in society to the “throw-away ...

By Stefano Gennarini, J.D. NEW YORK, May 15 (C-FAM) The highest-ranking U.N. human rights official, Navi Pillay, looked down and fidgeted as Pope Francis delivered an unambiguous pro-life message to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and top U.N. officials. Unborn children are “our brothers and sisters,” Pope Francis told Pillay and her colleagues gathered in Rome for a coordination meeting. Pillay’s office facilitates the work of the U.N. committees that recently told the Vatican to change Church teaching on abortion. “Today, in concrete terms, an awareness of the dignity of each of our brothers and sisters whose life is sacred and inviolable from conception to natural death must lead us to share with complete freedom the goods which God’s providence has placed in our hands,” the Pope exhorted. The message comes at a critical time, when the United Nations is discussing a new development framework to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2015 and contribute to the e...

(Vatican Radio) Pope Francis on Friday reiterated human life is sacred and inviolable during a meeting with Italy’s Pro-Life Movement (Movimento per la Vita), adding every civil right is based on the “first and most fundamental right,” the right to life: which is not subordinate to any condition, neither qualitative, nor economic, much less ideological. The Holy Father said one of the most serious risks of the present age is the divorce between economics and morality, so that as the market gives us every technical innovation, it neglects more and more elementary ethical standards. “It is must be therefore reiterated the strongest opposition to any direct attack on life, especially innocent and defenseless life, and the unborn child in the womb is the most concrete example of innocence,” said Pope Francis. “Let us remember the words of the Second Vatican Council: From the moment of its conception, life must be guarded with the greatest care while abortion and infanticide are unsp...

Dozens of families and wailing children welcomed Pope Francis as he addressed Italy's Movement for Life at the Clementine Hall. In his remarks, the Pope once again brought up the "throw-away” culture, and the threat it poses to life, in all its stages. POPE FRANCIS "One of the greatest risks we are exposed to today, is the divorce between economy and morality; between the possibilities offered by a market, stocked with each technological advancement, and the elementary ethical norms of human nature, increasingly neglected. It is then necessary to reiterate our strongest opposition to each direct attack on life, especially the innocent and defenseless.” The Pope concluded that each Christian has the responsibility to protect life. He asked that they do it with attentiveness and proximity to women, so they don't feel neglected or alone.

"The lack of health, and disability are not good reasons to exclude, or worse, do away with a person.” That is the message the Pope sent members of the Pontifical Academy for Life, which gathered in Rome in February for its 20th anniversary. Dozens of experts talked about aging and disabilities. Pope Francis reminded them that "the tyranny of an economic logic” turns many people into victims, "starting with the elderly.” MONICA LOPEZ BARAHONA Academic Director, Centro de Estudios Biosanitarios (Spain) "The new idea in this case is to take back the culture of love, of love towards the elderly. To reclaim the value that old age has when it comes to experience gained, and experience that can be passed on.” In the more developed countries, populations are aging fast. In an effort to tackle the "throw-away culture,” experts said the key is in engaging, not excluding family members who cannot fend for themselves. ENCARNACION PEREZ BRET Hospital Centro d...

Dylan and Iver Benson enjoy a hug after his birth Saturday. Credit: Dylan Benson's blog, MisterBenson.com VICTORIA, British Columbia, February 11, 2014 (LifeSiteNews.com) – A Canadian father and husband is experiencing an impossible mix of emotions at the birth of his first child followed by the passing of his wife, who was declared ‘brain dead’ by doctors in December. Baby Iver Cohen Benson, who shot to international fame after his father Dylan requested that doctors keep his wife Robyn on life support to give his unborn son what he called a “chance of survival,” was born Saturday at a Victoria hospital. “On Saturday evening, my beautiful and amazing son, Iver Cohen Benson, was born. Iver is healthy and is the cutest and most precious person I have ever met,” Benson wrote on his blog. Doctors had declared Robyn Benson, 32, “brain dead” at the end of December, one day after suddenly suffering a massive blood leak to her brain. She was 22 weeks pregnant with the couple...

(Photo : Gospel Herald) Some 60,000 pro-life people lined the streets of San Francisco on Saturday for the West Coast Walk for Life — a way for pro-life Americans in the western United States to show their opposition to abortion. Starting in 2005, with 7,500 participants the Walk has grown in both attendance and diversity each year, until it is now the second largest pro-life event in the United States.  Continue reading. Best Photos here , here , here, and here. Here's full coverage video of the Walk for Life from EWTN:

Jeff Cavins shares wise words from the Scriptures and some great advice:

Today we commemorate the Holy Innocents. Children under the age of two in Bethlehem were massacred by Herod the Great in an attempt to kill the child Jesus. We call these Holy Innocents, martyrs, because they died in the place of Christ. St. Augustine called them "buds, killed by the frost of persecution the moment they showed themselves." In modern times, we have our own "holy innocents" -- those children who are killed daily in the place that should be the safest and most protective environment of all for them -- their mother's wombs. On this day, we recall the over 55 million children in our country alone (since 1973) and the vast number of children throughout the world who have been killed under the insane laws permitting abortion. Let us pray daily for an end to this tragedy. The Holy Innocents Today, dearest brethren, we celebrate the birthday of those children who were slaughtered, as the Gospel tells us, by that exceedingly cruel king, Herod. L...

(Vatican Radio) A Hungarian university hospital says a premature but healthy baby was delivered after doctors kept the child's brain-dead mother on life support for three months, a move it says will shake the foundations of human medicine. After a 31-year-old mother suffered a stroke when she was just 15 weeks pregnant, the hospital of the University of Debrecen in eastern Hungary sprang into action. In a statement to Vatican Radio, the university said its Medical and Health Science Center managed to save her foetus. The baby was delivered via cesarean section this summer at 27 weeks, weighing 1.4 kilograms, about three pounds or 1.8 ounces. It happened after the child's brain-dead mother was put on life support, following requests of a "grieving family", doctors said. The mother's organs — her heart, liver, kidneys and pancreas — were donated to four patients awaiting a life-saving transplant, two days after the delivery. The Reformed Church backed unive...