Archive for June, 2015

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: How Families Deal With Illness

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by on Jun 15, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, The Shepherd's Voice
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On June 10th, the Pope’s Wednesday general audience continued his catecheses on the family, focusing on the theme of sickness and suffering. Man experiences his own fragility primarily in the family, first as a child and, then, as an elderly person.While family sickness presents obvious challenges, it can also be a source of quiet strength […]

Sts. Vitus, Crescentia, and Modestus, Martyrs
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Sts. Vitus, Crescentia, and Modestus, Martyrs

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by on Jun 15, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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VITUS was a child nobly born, who had the happiness to instructed in the Faith, and inspired with the most perfect sentiments of his religion, by his Christian nurse, named Crescentia, and her faithful husband, Modestus. His father, Hylas, was incensed when he discovered the child’s invincible aversion to idolatry; and finding him not to […]

Don't Fear the Reaping: The Parable of the Mustard Seed
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Don’t Fear the Reaping: The Parable of the Mustard Seed

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by on Jun 14, 2015 in Catechesis, Columnists, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Mk 4:26-34 It is the smallest of all seeds and becomes the largest of plants In his teachings Jesus frequently used parables. The word “parable” is derived from an ancient Greek word that means “comparison.” Parables are like brain-teasers: they compare differing realities and use one example to shed light on the deeper meaning of […]

St. Basil the Great
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St. Basil the Great

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by on Jun 14, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. BASIL was born in Asia Minor. Two of his brothers became bishops, and, together with his mother and sister, are honored as Saints. He studied with great success at Athens, where he formed with St. Gregory Nazianzen the most tender friendship. He then taught oratory; but dreading the honors of the world, he gave […]

Obamacare Subsidies and Justice Anthony Kennedy
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Obamacare Subsidies and Justice Anthony Kennedy

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by on Jun 13, 2015 in Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice
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There are two things wrong with Kennedy’s speculations.

Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor
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Saint Anthony of Padua, Priest and Doctor

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by on Jun 13, 2015 in Saint of the Day, Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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IN 1221 St. Francis held a general chapter at Assisi; when the others dispersed, there lingered behind, unknown and neglected, a poor Portuguese friar, resolved to ask for and to refuse nothing. Nine months later, Fra Antonio rose under obedience to preach to the religious assembled at Forli, when, as the discourse proceeded, “the Hammer […]

Poem: "WonderLove"
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Poem: “WonderLove”

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by on Jun 12, 2015 in Poetry
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WonderLove When I softly sing a lullaby alone to you, I wonder if in heaven you can hear. When I whisper that I love you love you now, I wonder if you’ll ever want me near. When I try to touch your tiny cheeks and hands, I wonder if in heaven you can feel. When […]

The Arts: Talent and Discipline
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The Arts: Talent and Discipline

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by on Jun 12, 2015 in Art & Architecture, Featured, Music
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The arts can nourish the human heart and soul and help to build character. Whether dance, music, theater, visual or literary arts, students must approach their chosen art-form with commitment, focus and discipline. Talent and Discipline What about talent? Talent is a gift, the source of inspiration and insight and is crucial to achieve excellence. But it’s […]

UN Report Calls for LGBT Rights, Leaves out Same-Sex Marriage
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UN Report Calls for LGBT Rights, Leaves out Same-Sex Marriage

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by on Jun 12, 2015 in Featured, The Homosexual Agenda
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A UN report seeking to break new ground for “LGBT rights” left same-sex “marriage” out of a long list of special new rights on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. The UN human rights office published its latest collection of UN expert opinions about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) rights last week […]

CL3 - hbratton notxt
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St. John of St. Fagondez

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by on Jun 12, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. JOHN was born in 1419 at St. Fagondez, Spain. At an early age he held several benefices in the diocese of Burgos, till the reproaches of his conscience forced him to resign them all except one chapel, where he said Mass daily, preached, and catechized. After this he studied theology at Salamanca, and then […]

Wounds
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Wounds

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by on Jun 11, 2015 in Featured, Live in Christ, Those in Need
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Having my phone fixed a few weeks ago, I had some spare time to walk around by myself in a shopping center I usually don’t patronize. I used to really enjoy shopping. It was a frequent pastime for me and my mom. Now, without her, the bloom is off the rose. Sometimes it’s only a […]

St. Barnabas, Apostle
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St. Barnabas, Apostle

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by on Jun 11, 2015 in Saint of the Day, Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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WE read that in the first days of the Church, “the multitude of believers had but one heart and one soul; neither did any one say that aught of the things which he possessed was his own.” Of this fervent company, one only is singled out by name, Joseph, a rich Levite, from Cyprus. “He […]

Answering Some Vital Questions
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Answering Some Vital Questions

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by on Jun 10, 2015 in Featured, Live in Christ, Music, On the Job
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Where do you go when it starts to rain? That and some related “musical questions” have been playing over and over in my mind for the last few months. They have made for some interesting soul-searching. For me, the self-examination began on the road. I have to take three business trips annually, all to Kansas […]

Reflections for Sunday, June 14, 2015
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Reflections for Sunday, June 14, 2015

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by on Jun 10, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading Ezekiel 17:22-24 2nd Reading: Corinthians 5:6-10 Responsorial: Psalm 92:2-3, 13-16 2 Gospel: Mark 4:26-34 Allowing Jesus to Teach Us the Mysteries of the Kingdom To his own disciples he explained everything in private. (Mark 4:34) Jesus spent a lot of time explaining things […]

Bruce Jenner: What Does Love Demand? Part 2
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Bruce Jenner: What Does Love Demand? Part 2

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by on Jun 09, 2015 in Featured, Men, The Homosexual Agenda, Those in Need, Women
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In Part 1, we talked about how a person knows he’s transgendered. This is important, because we must ask ourselves if as a society we’re going to accept and accommodate individuals’ subjective realities, as we’re increasingly being asked to do with the transgendered. Reprinted with permission from CatholicSistas.com. Bruce Jenner says he’s a woman named […]

Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium, The Joy of the Gospel
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Front Row With Francis: Marriage and Poverty

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by on Jun 09, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, The Shepherd's Voice
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Family bonds are the virtue of the family, and poverty is the family’s its most direct enemy. Yet it would be a serious error to mistake the problem with society’s material poverty as a solely material problem. “It is not just a matter of bread.” The family is a benefit to society even as it […]

St. Ephrem
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St. Ephrem

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by on Jun 09, 2015 in Saint of the Day
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ST. EPHREM is the light and glory of the Syriac Church in the 4th century. A mere youth, he entered on the religious life at Nisibis, his native place. Long years of retirement taught him the science of the Saints, and then God called him to Edessa, there to teach what he had learned so […]

St. Columba, or Columkille, Abbot
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St. Columba, or Columkille, Abbot

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by on Jun 09, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. COLUMBA, the apostle of the Picts, was born of a noble family, at Gartan, in the county of Tyrconnel, Ireland, in 521. From early childhood he gave himself to God. In all his labors—and they were many—his chief thought was heaven and how he should secure the way thither. The result was that he […]

Quantum Mechanics & the Real Presence--Which Reality Do We Believe?
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Quantum Mechanics & the Real Presence–Which Reality Do We Believe?

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by on Jun 08, 2015 in Catechesis, Featured, Science
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Of Miracles and Mysteries A little over 20 years ago, shortly after I had decided to enter the Church, I was being catechized by a very learned and wise priest (this was before the days of RCIA classes). As a physicist, I was struggling with the notion of transubstantiation — that by the action of […]

Bruce Jenner: What Does Love Demand? Part 1
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Bruce Jenner: What Does Love Demand? Part 1

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by on Jun 08, 2015 in Featured, Men, The Homosexual Agenda, Women
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I was 18 when I encountered my first transgender person: Kevin was a sweet young man with a petite frame, high-pitched voice, and feminine mannerisms who hung around the common area of my all-girls’ dorm to avoid harassment and bullying from peers in his all-male dorm across the street. Kevin called himself a “pre-op queen,” […]

St. Medard, Bishop
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St. Medard, Bishop

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by on Jun 08, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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ST. MEDARD, one of the most illustrious prelates of the Church of France in the sixth century, was born of a pious and noble family, at Salency, about the year 457. From his childhood he evinced the most tender compassion for the poor. On one occasion he gave his coat to a destitute blind man, […]

Luthers Today
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Luthers Today

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by on Jun 07, 2015 in Apologetics, Featured, History, The Homosexual Agenda
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From Germany yet again today rises the aroma of dissent. Whether this will ripen into schism or outright heresy will be clear after the conclusion of this fall’s Synod on the Family. Some modern-day princes of the German Church and numerous German bishops are, as did Martin Luther some centuries ago, attempting to heretically alter […]

Feast of Corpus Christi
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Feast of Corpus Christi

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by on Jun 07, 2015 in Saint of the Day
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Catholics don’t just go to church on Sunday, like other Christians.  They go to Mass.  Christmas, New Years, weddings, funerals.  It seems that we just can’t seem to do anything important without this ceremony which some regard as a sacrifice and others as a fellowship meal and still others as “the real presence.” So which […]

Corpus Christi
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Corpus Christi

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by on Jun 07, 2015 in Saint of the Day - Ex Form
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Till the thirteenth century the Church had not thought of establishing a special festival in honor of the Blessed Sacrament, being satisfied with celebrating on Holy Thursday the institution of this divine mystery. At that period, however, as heretics dared to attack the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist, and numerous miracles and […]