Catholic Fire

Today, October 18, is the feast of St. Luke the Evangelist. It is believed that St. Luke was born a Greek and a gentile. A physician at Antioch, and a painter, St. Luke became a convert of Saint Paul and afterwards his fellow-laborer. Luke was the writer of the Gospel and its "companion volume," the Acts of the Apostles and has been identified with St. Paul's "Luke, the beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14). Saint Luke shared the shipwreck and perils of Saint Paul's voyage to Rome, and was with him in his last days. He later died a martyr's death in Achaia. After St. John, St. Luke's writings (both his Gospel and Acts of the Apostles) are my favorite part of the New Testament. Although Luke was not an eye witness, he was a historian who carefully researched his material and obtained details from eye witnesses. As a physician, Luke emphasizes the miracles and the merciful love of Jesus, which heals his children and welcomes all into his arms --...

Today is the feast of St. Angela Merici, the foundress of the Ursulines, the the first teaching congregation of women in the Church. It was a new, almost revolutionary foundation for its time, as it focused primarily on the education of women. Her foundation led to the emancipation of women not only in the Church, but in society as well. Women were educated so as to transform society by educating their own family in the faith and living out that faith in their lives.  Angela was born to a family of minor nobility on March 21, 1474 at Desenzano, Lake Garda, Italy and died on January 27, 1540 in Brescia. She worked diligently on her father’s farm and was also taught by her family the habits of prayer and fasting — which she continued to practice her entire life. Her parents died when she was only ten years old. Together, with her older sister, she moved to the nearby town of Salo, to live with her uncle. When her sister died quite suddenly without receiving the last sacram...

Today is the feast of St. Paula Montal Fornés (1799 - 1889), foundress of the Daughters of Mary, Sisters of Pious Schools. Paula was born in a small seaside village near Barcelona, Spain in 1799 to Ramon and Vicenta Fornes Montal. She was the oldest of five daughters and was only ten when her father died. To help support the family, Paula went to work as a seamstress and lace-maker and helped her mother raise her younger sisters. She also taught catechism in her parish and, in doing so, discovered her gift for teaching. Denied an education herself, Paula promised God that she would devote her life to the Christian education of girls and young women. Paula believed that women needed an education to prepare them for life. Women in society at that time were treated as subordinate to men, which Paula and her followers perceived as a factor in the breakdown of the family unit and other social maladies. They were determined to advance women and their status in society through educati...

The Pontifical Council for Culture studied the role women play in society and in the Church. For a year, several women took part in the research. Now the results will be starting point of a three-day discussion, as this Vatican council will celebrate its Plenary Assembly under the theme  "Women's Cultures: equality and difference.” CARD. GIANFRANCO RAVASI President, Pontifical Council for Culture "We won't discuss women's culture in itself, but rather the way women see it. Women have a specific way of understanding the world that has its own characteristics.” During the three-day meeting, the members of the council will try to track these characteristics. In particular, they will talk about the differences between men and women, and how they can help each other to avoid uniformity. ANNAMARIA TARANTOLA President RAI "Women don't have to imitate the "male model” of doing things. There are two models that together are important. That is, ...

Faith...is a gift that passes from generation to generation, through the beautiful work of mothers and grandmothers, the fine work of the women who play those roles... It occurs to me: why is it mainly women, who to pass on the faith? Simply because the one who brought us Jesus is a woman. It is the path chosen by Jesus. He wanted to have a mother: the gift of faith comes to us through women, as Jesus came to us through Mary. ~ Pope Francis in his homily at Monday morning Mass, January 26th at in the chapel of the Santa Marta residence in the Vatican.

At the age of 18, Javiera Ramirez found out she was pregnant. She felt like her life was falling apart. Having a baby wasn't in her plans and she didn't know where to turn. JAVIERA RAMIREZ Foundation Chile Unido "At 18, I was a wild child. I didn't have any responsibilities. I didn't want any. I just wanted to go out and have fun.” The first few months were anything but easy. She admits that at one point, it seemed like the only viable option was to have an abortion. JAVIERA RAMIREZ Foundation Chile Unido "That's the first thing you think about. It seems like an abortion will solve your problems. It's the first thought that pops into your head when you learn of an unwanted pregnancy. You think, I don't want this baby and the reaction is to reject it.” Things changed when she found  a pro-life foundation, named 'Chile Unido', or United Chile. There, she received psychological support and logistical help. Eventually, she decide...

Pope Francis spoke out once again about the importance of the "feminine genius.” This time, before a large delegation from the Italian Women's Center, a women's association, which closed their yearly national gathering at the Vatican. During his speech, the Pope reminded them that society and the labor force need a feminine touch. He added that he also wants women to have a more "capillary and incisive” role in the Church. POPE FRANCIS "Over the span of these decades, alongside other cultural and social transformations, the identity and role of the woman in the family, in society and in the Church, has seen notable changes, and over all, the participation and responsibility of women has continued to grow.” The Pope also said that the role of women in family life is "indispensable.” Especially because of their sensibility towards the weakest and defenseless family members. He closed off saying that discernment and prayer are the path to balance wo...

(Vatican Radio) In his first Apostolic Exhortation, Evangelii Gaudium, Pope Francis recognizes the “indispensable contribution” of women to society and underlines the “need to create still broader opportunities for a more incisive female presence in the Church”. “This presents a great challenge to pastors and theologians, who are in a position to recognize more fully what this entails with regard to the possible role of women in decision-making in different areas of the Church and Church life,” said Donna Orsuto, a professor of theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome, citing the exhortation. “My hope is that it would become normative that women would be consulted, that women would be involved, that their gifts would be put at the service of the Church,” she commented. She underlined important distinctions the Pope makes in the exhortation in understanding women’s service in the Church in relation to the priesthood. First, she said, the Pope clearly states tha...

Helen Alvare, law professor at George Mason University and co-founder of Women Speak For Themselves, writes in USA Today that Obamacare hurts women. Alvare says that the White House, while posing as the protector of “women and families,” in fact degrades women: The White House stance assumes that women care far more about free access to contraceptives, or their sex lives, than about religious freedom, or allowing businesses to have a conscience. This view of women is degrading. It treats women as one-dimensional victims needing the protection of government-as-big-brother. Alvare points out that many of the businesses affected by Obamacare’s over-reaching and expensive health care mandates are owned…by women. In fact, more than 10 million women in the U.S. own businesses. According to Alvare, ” Crushing businesses with fines-particularly businesses with women owners-hurts women, rather than helping them.” Continue reading. Read “Obamacare attacks religion, but hurts women” ...

The paragraphs of the “Evangelii Gaudium” that are dedicated to women’s role in the Church, reject the idea of women priests but ask for the sacred order to be treated as a service not as power ANDREA TORNIELLI VATICAN CITY Some paragraphs of the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium are helpful in shedding light on what the Pope means when he speaks about valuing women’s role in the Church. But it also shows how that the extravagant and highly clericalist idea of consecrating women bishops is light years away from Francis’ vision of things. Francis goes further than stressing his rejection of the consecration of female bishops, which John Paul II reiterated in his Apostolic Letter “Ordinatio sacerdotalis” of May 1994 (one of the briefer and denser documents of his pontificate): he adds some reflections on service and power. Most importantly, Francis writes that “the Church acknowledges the indispensable contribution which women make to society through the sensitivi...

Pope Francis lays flowers at the foot of the statue of Our Lady of Lujan on May 8, 2013. Credit: Stephen Driscoll/CNA. Vatican City, Nov 26, 2013 / 06:02 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Pope Francis reaffirmed Catholic teaching on male priesthood in his first apostolic exhortation, while calling for a broader application of the “feminine genius” in Church life. “The reservation of the priesthood to males, as a sign of Christ the Spouse who gives himself in the Eucharist, is not a question open to discussion,” he said, “but it can prove especially divisive if sacramental power is too closely identified with power in general.” The Pope's words came in his new document, “The Joy of the Gospel,” released Nov. 26.  Also known as “Evangelii Gaudium,” the apostolic exhortation follows the 2012 bishops' synod on the new evangelization, which was held as part of the Year of Faith. “Demands that the legitimate rights of women be respected, based on the firm conviction that men and women...

Pope Francis expressed his appreciation to those “who fight for their families, who pray and never grow weary”, these women who “by their attitude provide us with a true witness of faith and courage, and a  model of prayer”. The Holy Father said this at the Angelus on Sunday, 21 October, in St Peter's Square, drawing on the Gospel parable of the widow, “who by pleading with a dishonest judge succeeds in obtaining justice from him”. The Pope also spoke about World Mission Day, recalling the testimony of Afra Martinelli, who died recently when her house in Nigeria was attacked. Martinelli had lived in Nigeria for more than 30 years. “The method of the Christian mission”, he said, “is not proselytism but rather to sharing the flame that warms the soul”, and this murdered missionary “spread the flame of faith” and “fought the good fight”. Furthermore the Pontiff  expressed his solidarity with the people of the Philippines who were struck by the expressed. He also greeted the p...

( Vatican Radio ) Pope Francis on Saturday spoke about “the vocation and the mission” of women on Saturday when addressing participants of a study seminar organized by the Women’s Section of the Pontifical Council for the Laity on the 25th anniversary of Blessed Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem. The letter was the first in papal teaching dedicated entirely to the theme of the woman, and the study seminar in particular discussed the point which says that God entrusts man, the human being, to woman in a special way. “What does this ‘special entrusting’…of the human being to woman signify? It seems evident to me that my predecessor is referring to maternity,” said Pope Francis. “Many things can change and have changed in our cultural and social evolution, but the fact remains that it is the woman who conceives, carries in her womb and gives birth to the children of men,” the Pope continued. “And this is not simply a biological matter, but carries a wealth...

Dominican Father Wojciech Giertych, theologian of the papal household, weighs in on the debate over women's ordination to the priesthood.

~ Via rosaryfilms .

Priests for Life, in partnership with Anglicans for Life, coordinates the Silent No More Awareness Campaign, the largest mobilization of women and men who have lost children to abortion. Hear their stirring testimonies of pain and hope. ~ Via FrFrankPavone .

Colleen Carroll Campbell interviews Teresa Tomeo, author Dale O'Leary, author Genevieve Kineke, author Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle, and former law professor of Notre Dame, Elizabeth Kirk all whom were delegates at the Rome Congress dedicated to the 20th anniversary of John Paul the Second's Letter to Women "Mulieris Dignitatem." (1/3) Faith and Culture: 8/3/2008 Mulieris Dignitatem - Part 1 This video is split up into 3 parts. You can find the links to the other parts here.

I can't tell you how excited I am to have my little story published in the July/August issue of Canticle. Canticle is a wonderful magazine which contains the work of some very gifted women writers. You probably already know most of them. Here are some of the great stories you'll find there. Donna-Marie Cooper O'Boyle has a cover story on the International Women's Congress in Rome. Johnnette Benkovic contributed "Our Lady of Mount Carmel: Her Scapular, Her School." Elena Maria Vidal presents "Modest, Not Frumpy: Beauty and the Blessed" Gretchen Garrity , with "Faith Lessons from a Garden." Theresa Caviccio has a piece on St. Pauline Visintainer, Patroness of Diabetics. Sarah Reinhard reflects on "Laundry on the Line." Jean Heimann (that's me) offers "A Working Miracle." Ann Abbott writes "Bitterness in a World of Sugar" about the slave trade in the Dominican Republic. Columnist Suzanne Baars writes a...

"That special power of loving that belongs to a woman is seen most clearly when she becomes a mother. Motherhood is the gift of God to women...Yet we can destroy this gift of motherhood, especially by the evil of abortion .... No job, no plans, no possessions, no idea of 'freedom' can take the place of love." ~ Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Far too many Catholics think of the Church in terms of laxity or strictness, when in fact to do so is to miss the whole point. Morality is the fruit of love. Love of Christ, who said, “If you love me you will keep my commandments” (Cf. John 14:15). This was not a threat or some divine arm-twisting, but a statement of fact. Religious obedience is an act of great spiritual maturity and love. It is not that we love Him but that He first loved us (Cf. 1 John 4:19). He is our Bridegroom. I would be worried about any engaged couple that was caught up in worry about fidelity instead of being so dizzy—or sanely—in love that infidelity was unthinkable. In theological terms we speak of fear of the Lord as a virtue—which of course it is—but it is not a craven timorousness, nor is it simply “awe,” as some proposed in the 60s and 70s to soften the blow of the word “fear.” Proper fear of the Lord is the horror one feels at the thought of hurting, harming or even simply displeasing our beloved, be it...