Catholic Fire

Today, I am praising and thanking the Lord for... His unconditional and everlasting love for me. all the ways He has blessed me -- especially His many spiritual blessings. I am praying for.... all our Bishops that they will be guided by the Holy Spirit in all their actions and decisions. I place them under the protection of Our Holy Mother, the Blessed Virgin Mary. all in the pro-life movement that they will move forward with haste to that great day of victory. all those who have died, especially those who have lost their lives to war or violence. for the sick, the weak, the poor -- especially the spiritually poor that they will be drawn ever close to the heart of the Lord and trust in Him to provide for all their needs. world peace, an end to terrorism, and for safety for all our military who are in harm's way. for the repose of the souls of the faithful departed, especially all those who will die today. for the priest who was martyred in Turkey. guidance, wisdom, and knowledge f...

"A persecution is coming and this (religious) tolerance will end soon. We have to prepare ourselves for that persecution." Fr. Thomas J. Euteneuer, STL, President of Human Life International.

Christians must lean on the Cross of Christ just as travelers lean on a staff when they begin a long journey. They must have the Passion of Christ deeply imbedded in their minds and hearts, because only from it can they derive peace, grace, and truth. ~ St. Anthony of Padua

The crosses were set in place. Father Pasio and Father Rodriguez took turns encouraging the victims. Their steadfast behavior was wonderful to see. The Father Bursar stood motionless, his eyes turned heavenward. Brother Martin gave thanks to God’s goodness by singing psalms. Again and again he repeated: “Into your hands, Lord, I entrust my life”. Brother Francis Branco also thanked God in a loud voice. Brother Gonsalvo in a very loud voice kept saying the Our Father and Hail Mary. Our brother, Paul Miki , saw himself standing now in the noblest pulpit he had ever filled. To his “congregation” he began by proclaiming himself a Japanese and a Jesuit. He was dying for the Gospel he preached. He gave thanks to God for this wonderful blessing and he ended his “sermon” with these words: “As I come to this supreme moment of my life, I am sure none of you would suppose I want to deceive you. And so I tell you plainly: there is no way to be saved except the Christian way. My religion teaches me...

More than 200 Catholic doctors have been urged to resign from the Australian Medical Association (AMA) over the abortion pill RU486. The call comes ahead of a debate on the drug in Federal Parliament later this week. The Guild of St Luke, which represents all Catholic doctors in Queensland, is also urging the doctors to resign from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) over its decision to support the controversial drug. Guild president Dr Terence Kent says the drug is "horrific". "The guild challenges and confronts the current recommendations in favor of RU486, which is truly the human pesticide, toxic to mother and child," he said. "The guild rejects the AMA statement on RU486. We strongly urge Catholic doctors and others of good faith to resign from the AMA or else do all in their power to change their unacceptable recommendation." One of the Australian Medical Association's objectives, as listed on their website, is to ...

On the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, a local newspaper refused to run any of the three following ads to be paid for by Will County Right to Life in Illinois. The newspaper's ad department stated they were too "graphic." Since when are ultrasounds "graphic"? In fact, these ultrasound photos are beautiful. Parents proudly display them on their refrigerators, for goodness sakes. What's wrong with these pictures? Why is the mainstream media censoring the truth about preborn babies? Via Jill Stanek and Pro-life Blogs .

"Love the Madonna and pray the Rosary, for her Rosary is the weapon against the evil of the world today." ~ St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina

Mark 1:29-39 In today's gospel, Jesus cures many people who are ill with various diseases and drives out demons which are harassing or possessing them. He heals the brokenhearted -- not only those who are suffering physical illnesses, but those who are spiritually and emotionally ill as well. In the first eleven chapters over Mark, Jesus demonstrates very vividly his power over: sickness, demons, and natural forces. What is His purpose in doing this? He desires to demonstrate to the world that He has special powers from God to nuture their faith. Not only does He himself possess these powers, but He has passed them on to us, as members of the Body of Christ. It is part of our Christian heritage -- a special gift that He desires us to use to increase the faith of those around us. He wants us to exercise that power or authority. Satan, the Prince of all evil in this world, prowls on this earth in order to destroy all goodness and beauty. His goals are to destroy peace and create chao...

The next time you do a search on the Internet, why not use a search engine that donates its revenue to prolife causes? You can do this by searching through prolifesearch.com .The charities receiving donations through this site include Priests for Life, Project Rachel and American Life League, among other worthy groups. It's powered by Google, so the searches are effective, AND it's equipped with the Safe Search filter, so it's family friendly. Whenever you click on a sponsored link, the search engine receives over 50% of the ad revenue paid to Google. Since October 7, when the site was launched, over $8800 has been donated to prolife charities. Every little bit helps! They also have a regularly-updated Featured Article. The current topic is encouraging family prayer. Via National Catholic Register (print only) and SFO Mom.

" . . . true wisdom views things from a higher standpoint, considering them as dependent on God, their supreme cause, and directed to God their last end; whereas stupidity, the opposite of wisdom, is the outlook of the fool, who considers all things from the lowest standpoint, reducing them to the basest possible level, a material, blind fatality or the transitory pleasures of this life." ~Fr. Reginald Garrigou-LaGrange, O.P., PROVIDENCE, p. 133.

"As gold is purified in the fire, our own crosses offered to Christ for the conversion of ourselves and the world will keep us from approaching the abortion bound mother or father with anger or bitterness." ~ Msgr. Philip Reilly, Founder of the Helpers of God's Precious Infants

You all know how much fun I have with Hillary pictures and jokes -- I can't help it, she makes me laugh out loud. Well, Amigo's Place has a wonderful photo and caption contest going on over there. Check out this hilarious post here -- it's guaranteed to brighten your day.

Reacting to pressure from Christian groups, NBC canceled an episode of " Will & Grace " that featured Britney Spears as a conservative who hosts a cooking segment called "Cruci-fixin's" on a Christian TV network. NBC last week was forced to pull its highly touted new show "The Book of Daniel" because of charges its portrayal of Jesus was blasphemous, Spears was to appear as a sidekick to the regular character Jack, who hosts his own talk show on the homosexual network Out TV, which is bought by a Christian TV network. The episode was to air April 13, just before Good Friday. The American Family Association said NBC canceled the segment after pressure from its affiliates and AFA. But the network said its own description of the segment was a mistake. In a memo to affiliates, NBC said "the information was mistakenly included in a press release describing an upcoming episode of 'Will and Grace' which, in fact, has yet to be written. The ...

Attorney General Phil Kline Wichita, KS – The Kansas Supreme Court issued a ruling today indicating that Attorney General Phill Kline can resubmit his request for medical records from two abortion clinics under investigation for non-reporting of child sex abuse and illegal abortions. The two abortion mills under investigation are Women’s Health Care Services (WHCS) in Wichita, KS owned and operated by late-term abortionist George R. Tiller, and Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri. The Court also ruled that if documents are to be turned over, “the clinics’ attorneys must be permitted to redact patient-identifying information from the files before they are delivered to the judge under seal.” “While we are happy that the Kansas Supreme Court has ruled that law enforcement may use the subpoena process to obtain medical records when investigating crimes, we are concerned that the clinics will misuse permission to redact information in order to cover for any crimes they may have ...

Today I am praising and thanking the Lord for... all the help I received in repairing my blog and making it readable from The Curt Jester. Bless him, Lord, for his "act of spiritual geekness." my new home, which I have started moving into. the opportunity to go on pilgrimage to Italy with the Community of St. John marking the 30th anniversary of its founding, which begins on February 11th. I am praying for... Barb's friend's brother and family. all those who are blogging for life. a special intention for Amy P. Jules' blogging buddy. justice for Christin Alysabeth Gilbert, who died on January 13, 2005, from complications to third trimester abortion procured at Women's Health Care Services in Wichita, Kansas. I will also pray for the repose of her soul and healing for her family. healing for Victor, Ed, and Bob, who are suffering from prostate cancer. the safety and success of the pilgrimage and for the good health all those who are going on the pilgrimage. th...

Spero News presents a beautiful and powerful conversion story. Here is just a sampling. Galina was born in Tashkent in Uzbekistan in an atheist family. She lost both her parents to illness at the age of 14 and then lived with an older sister, joining the Communist youth organisation, Komsomol. After an earthquake in 1966, which damaged Tashkent, Galina and her sister moved to Tomsk where she studied electronics at a technical university. After completing her degree, she was sent to work in Lwow in the Ukraine. One day in Lwow, Galina found herself walking past a large Catholic church with open doors. Something drew her to enter and for the first time she felt a strange peace. She just sat at the back of the church staring at the sanctuary not knowing the meaning of anything before her. This was the first of regular trips to the church over the next 17 years. She says at that time she did not pray, as she did not know how. The story is replete with modern day faith miracles that inspire...

A very religious lady wanted a pet. she had heard about a shop that specialized in religious pets, and decided to pop in. The shopkeeper said that they had a special dog that she might like. The dog was brought before her, and the shopkeeper said, "Watch this." He then pointed to the dog, and said, "Go get the bible." The dog did. "Ok, look for psalm 23." The dog flipped through the bible, and it was the exact passage. "Incredible!" said the lady, "I'll buy him." She got to know the dog a little, and one day her friend came over. The dog performed a few religious tricks, her friend wondered, "But does he know any normal dog tricks?" The lady had never tried, but she said, "Heel." The dog ran over to her, placed a paw on her head, and bowed its head in concentration.

St. Blaise was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia in the 4th century. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus and was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him at prayer. Agricola, the governor of Cappadocio, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His hunters discovered Blaise praying while seeking wild animals for the arena and arrested him as a Christian. Blaise was taken to prison, but on the way there he interceded to God on the behalf of a child who was choking to death on a fish bone. The child was cured, which led to the blessing of throats on Blaise's feast day. Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the water's surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn with wool combs (which led to his association with and patronage of those involved in the wo...

Maryland Province Jesuit Father Vincent Capuano has a provocative essay in the Adoremus Bulletin called "Bad Habits: Can we correct liturgical abuse in religious communities?" The topic has much broader impact than the title suggests. It's definitely worth a read. "In religious houses," says Capuano, "it is not uncommon to find a) healthy persons celebrating the entire Mass seated even during the parts when it is prescribed to stand or kneel b) healthy priests celebrating or concelebrating the Mass seated c) priests not concelebrating when they are present at Mass d) priests not vesting with a chasuble when they are the principal celebrants (and there are chasubles available) e) priests not vesting with an alb and stole when they are concelebrants f) priests making intentional changes in the prescribed prayersg) priests changing the Scripture reading for some other type of reading h) the practice of "shared" homilies, where any member of the asse...

Rome, Feb. 01 (CWNews.com) - In an unprecedented gesture, Pope Benedict XVI has written an introductory about his own encyclical, Deus Caritas Est, for the magazine Famiglia Cristiana. The Italian weekly has published a special edition, containing the entirety of the Pope's encyclical, with a cover date of February 5. "I am happy that Famiglia Cristiana is sending you the text of my encyclical, and giving me the opportunity to accompany it with a few words intended to help the reader approach it," the Pope writes. Famiglia Cristiana, through an agreement with the Vatican, has printed an extraordinary 100,000 copies of the special issue for distribution. It would be nice if one our Catholic American periodicals would obtain a copy of this so we could read it in English.