Archive for November, 2016

The Rhoda Wise Miracle House of Canton, Ohio
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The Rhoda Wise Miracle House of Canton, Ohio

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For sports fans and road trippers a visit to Canton Ohio is sure to feature a stop in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, where much-loved teams are enshrined for their Super Bowl wins and their grid-iron greats.  Just an hour’s drive southeast of Cleveland, Canton also boasts one of the largest US Presidential tombs […]

Do Old Men Have Dreams?
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Do Old Men Have Dreams?

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“Do old men have dreams?” asked Jeanette as she watched her 88 year old father through the window of the cottage they rented for a week in the Rocky Mountains. Bill Richards was standing alone on the deck looking across a pristine aqua-marine lake after a rainstorm. It was dusk and a beautiful rainbow arched […]

Poem: "Giving Gifts to God"
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Poem: “Giving Gifts to God”

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Giving Gifts to God Babe of Bethlehem, Your Star still lights the way. You are the loveliest flower, Your Father’s good creation, A wondrous bouquet. Kings are approaching, Bearing gifts, While this New Day dawns. This day finds me by Your side, Reverently watching, As you nurse At Mother Mary’s breast. In the ordinary tasks […]

Bill Mazeroski's Famous Walk-Off Home Run, 1960 World Series, Game 7
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The Electoral Series

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Game by game, state by state.

Taking Our Thanksgiving Further
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Taking Our Thanksgiving Further

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I found myself traveling with nothing to read, so I wandered over to the airport kiosk to find something to occupy me for a few hours. Having a small mountain of unread books at home, I couldn’t justify another, so it had to be a magazine, and who can resist National Geographic? The cover was […]

Controversial Sterilization Device Should be Taken Off the Market
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Controversial Sterilization Device Should be Taken Off the Market

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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that it has approved a boxed warning for Bayer’s controversial Essure® sterilization device. A boxed warning is the strongest warning the FDA can require for drugs and devices and is intended to alert the user to potentially serious, even deadly, side effects that can result from […]

In Anticipation of Thanksgiving
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In Anticipation of Thanksgiving

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I was talking to my Dad one Sunday evening while I stood in the backyard flipping burgers on the grill. “How was your weekend?” Dad asked. “Fine,” I said.  “We didn’t do much; the lake yesterday in the morning then cooked out some steaks in the evening.  Today it was church in the morning, then […]

On the Nineveh Plane, German ISIS Fighters Left Their Mark
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On the Nineveh Plane, German ISIS Fighters Left Their Mark

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By Maria Lozano NEW YORK—In an eerie reminder of the ISIS has had in recruiting foreign fighters, provocative graffiti in German was found on the wall of a chapel during an inspection of the small town of Batnaya, on the Nineveh Plane. The small town, just 10 miles from Mosul, was recently recaptured from ISIS. […]

Poem: "On the Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in all Classes"
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Poem: “On the Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in all Classes”

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On the Disastrous Spread of Aestheticism in all Classes Impetuously I sprang from bed, Long before lunch was up, That I might drain the dizzy dew From the day’s first golden cup. In swift devouring ecstasy Each toil in turn was done; I had done lying on the lawn Three minutes after one. For me, […]

Trump’s School Choice Plan Could Impact Catholic Schools
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Trump’s School Choice Plan Could Impact Catholic Schools

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It’s no secret that Catholic schools have seen a continual decline in enrollment since the 1960s, and the threats to Catholic education perpetuated by the Obama administration certainly haven’t helped schools thrive. Trying to stave the flow of student attrition, Catholic schools are implementing new business and financing models, collapsing and consolidating school systems, and […]

The Contraception Crisis that Isn’t
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The Contraception Crisis that Isn’t

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The world’s most powerful family planning groups announced a “contraceptive crisis,” calling for more funding and “sounding the alarm over the unmet contraceptive needs of hundreds of millions of people.” A look at their latest report, however, shows the opposite: a glut of contraception in a world where unsatisfied demand has sharply fallen. The group, […]

The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
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The Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary

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RELIGIOUS parents never fail by devout prayer to consecrate their children to the divine service and love, both before and after their birth. Some amongst the Jews, not content with this general consecration of their children, offered them to God in their infancy, by the hands of the priests in the Temple, to be lodged […]

Feast of Christ the King
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Feast of Christ the King

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34th Sunday in Ordinary Time, From the dawn of civilization, kings have dreamed of possessing a world-wide dominion, a universal kingdom that would last forever.  Some have come close to conquering much of the known world: Alexander, Genghis Khan, Augustus Caesar, to name a few.  And some kingdoms have lasted a very long time, such […]

Poem: "Poetry of St. John of the Cross"
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Poem: “Poetry of St. John of the Cross”

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Iraq's Displaced Christians 'Will Go Back Home,' Once Their Safety is Assured
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Iraq’s Displaced Christians ‘Will Go Back Home,’ Once Their Safety is Assured

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By Maria Lozano NEW YORK—According to a leading Iraqi prelate, the country’s displaced Christians currently stranded in Kurdistan are unlikely to be able to return to their homes on the Nineveh Plane until Mosul is liberated and the region is completely pacified. In an interview with international Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need […]

Old, Lonely, and Poor
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Old, Lonely, and Poor

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When China’s Communist Party under Deng Xiaoping first introduced the one-child policy in 1979, party insiders had been convinced that China’s population growth was impeding its economic development. Decades under Chairman Mao Zedong’s Cultural Revolution had wrecked the nation’s economy and left policymakers in the Communist Party searching for new solutions. Some of the reforms […]

Reflections for Sunday, November 20, 2016: Christ the King
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Reflections for Sunday, November 20, 2016: Christ the King

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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion Mass Readings: 1st Reading: 2 Samuel 5:1-3 2nd Reading: Colossians 1:12-20 Responsorial: Psalm 122:1-5 Gospel: Luke 23:35-43 The Preeminence of Jesus Christ Our King Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom. (Luke 23:42) At the Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC, you will […]

How To Marry an Idiot
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How To Marry an Idiot

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It seems many people have marrying an idiot as their goal. The amount of couples getting divorced proves to me that many have already become experts. Sadly, there are still those hold-outs who insist on taking their vow of “till death do us part” seriously even when they get bored with one another or a […]

Dear America
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Dear America

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The presidency is bigger than the person who occupies the office. No outside enemy could have ever taken the Unites States by force. Rather, this enemy which is more clever and insidious, is attacking us from within. We are imploding as a country. Look around America, what do you see? It isn’t very pretty out […]

We Must Be Nice
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We Must Be Nice

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The new superintendent of my local independent school district unilaterally decreed a few months ago that any student with the chromosomes and the privy parts of one sex, but who “self-identifies” as one of the opposite sex, must now be given access to the bathrooms of the other sex or to single user bathrooms. Also, […]

Poem: "The Song That Never Sleeps"
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Poem: “The Song That Never Sleeps”

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The Song That Never Sleeps (For the birthday of Matthew Hill-Spur, who has inspired me with both the British rebel streak and steady sense of determination) *** We will remember The “failures” The “losers” The “rejects” Who dared to be more Then others allowed In the smallness of their minds Victory in failure Forever holds […]

Remembrance Day and Our Dying Christian Heritage
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Remembrance Day and Our Dying Christian Heritage

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School children rose from their desks to stand for two minutes silence in memory of soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in two World Wars. We children stood tight-lipped and gazed at the Red Ensign flag at the front of the classroom. Every creak, children shuffling and even slight noises from the school’s ventilation system […]

Divided America Flag
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Violence Erupts Around U.S. Amid Large Protests Over Trump Victory

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Backlash from Donald Trump’s historic election victory over Hillary Clinton began overnight Tuesday and continued into Thursday with anti-Trump protests turning into riots in several U.S. cities and hostile reaction spreading online, with liberal activist groups fueling the unrest. Clinton had told supporters in her concession speech on Wednesday to give Trump the chance to […]

Faith-Based Programs Help Families Cope with Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and Mental Illness
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Faith-Based Programs Help Families Cope with Alcoholism, Drug Addiction, and Mental Illness

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For some families coping with alcoholism, drug addiction, and mental illness, programs that rely strictly on science do not provide enough support and guidance. Many of these families find that faith-based programs offer the spiritual guidance and support network they need to move toward healing and wellbeing as a family unit. In fact, many researchers […]