Category: Featured

The Nature of Fasting
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The Nature of Fasting

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by on Mar 07, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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Reading:  Is 58:1-9; PS 51:3-4, 5-6AB, 18-19 The words of the first reading from Isaiah 58:1-9 are like brilliant beams of light, cutting through any false notions we might have about this season of repentance that we call Lent. Often we tend to think of Lent as a time to share in the suffering of Christ yet when we […]

Ode to Feminine Genius: What is This Homemaker Stuff, Anyway?
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Ode to Feminine Genius: What is This Homemaker Stuff, Anyway?

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by on Mar 06, 2014 in Featured, Marriage, Parenting, The Feminine Genius, Women
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When we first started hammering out details for this series, I got really excited. Then, I saw the word homemaker used repeatedly. Not really knowing much about the word, I looked up the definition and found: HOME·MAK·ER [hohm-mey-ker] noun 1. a person who manages the household of his or her own family, especially as a principal occupation 2. a person employed to manage a household and do household chores for others, as for the sick or elderly. Origin: 1885–90; home + maker Can be confused: homemaker, housewife (see usage note at housewife). Usage note 1. See housewife. HOUSE·WIFE [hous-wahyf or, usually, huhz-if for 2] noun, plural house·wives [hous-wahyvz] 1. Sometimes Offensive. a married woman who manages her own household, […]

Taking Up Our Cross
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Taking Up Our Cross

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by on Mar 06, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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A reflection  on the Responsorial Psalm for today (PS 1:1-2, 3, 4 AND 6) and the Gospel (LK 9:22-25) Jesus said to his disciples: “The Son of Man must suffer greatly and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.” Next to the […]

Doctor Prescribed Death-Advocates in High Gear in New England
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Doctor Prescribed Death-Advocates in High Gear in New England

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by on Mar 06, 2014 in Euthanasia & Assisted Suicide, Featured
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On Wednesday, the New Hampshire House of Representatives were slated to consider a batch of assisting suicide bills. New Hampshire, along with other New England states, has become a high priority target of the death advocates after Vermont legalized doctor-prescribed suicide last year. Connecticut also has an active bill. Additionally, Massachusetts, which narrowly defeated a […]

Reform of the Reform 2.0?
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Reform of the Reform 2.0?

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by on Mar 06, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ, MyChurchParish.com
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Over the past two weeks, the “reform of the reform” has found its way in the news, and in a lot of discussion within the Catholic commentariat.  It all started when Fr. Thomas Kocik, one of the leading lights of the reform of the reform, wrote an article stating that the current reform movement was […]

Ronald Reagan Lecture
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Obama Should Study the History of Reaganomics

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by on Mar 06, 2014 in Columnists, Featured, Government & Politics, The Economy
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Obama’s and Reagan’s policies for economic recovery were completely different.

Seven Lessons in Pope Francis’ Lenten Message
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Seven Lessons in Pope Francis’ Lenten Message

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Live in Christ
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Pope Francis has asked Catholics to meditate on poverty this Lenten season, by focusing his message for Lent on St. Paul’s words to the Corinthians, that Christ “became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich” (2 Cor.  8:9).   The Pope’s emphasis on poverty dates back to the earliest days of his Pontificate, when […]

<em>The War on Humans</em>
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The War on Humans

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Featured, On Books
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I believe that God uses people at certain junctures in history to speak to their generations when they’ve lost their moral way. God used Abraham Lincoln to set slaves free in America. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke for racial equality. Dr. Bernard Nathanson (and many others) exposed the corruption of the abortion industry. During […]

Reflections for Sunday, March 9, 2014
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Reflections for Sunday, March 9, 2014

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Sunday Reflections
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Meditation and Questions for Reflection or Group Discussion (Genesis 2:7-9; 3:1-7; Psalm 51:3-6, 12-13,17; Romans 5:12-19; Matthew 4:1-11) Overcoming Temptation by Standing Firm on Who You Are in Christ If you are the Son of God … (Matthew 4:3) Imagine if Jesus came up to you today, embraced you, and said, “You are my greatest […]

Praise the Lord and Pass the Forceps
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Praise the Lord and Pass the Forceps

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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Secular humanists like to sneer at religious folk for our stubborn insistence upon seeing God’s hand at work in the world. We call “providence” what the materialist sees as a random unfolding of events. We see a blessing where the nonbeliever sees nothing more than the mundane workings of physics or biology. This mentality has […]

Anxiety Disorders? Who Cares What People Say?
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Anxiety Disorders? Who Cares What People Say?

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Featured, Health & Fitness
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I do not like this article at The Huffington Post titled, “7 Things You Shouldn’t Say To Someone With Anxiety.” Here’s the list for all you list-watchers: 1. “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” 2. “Calm down.” 3. “Just do it.”  4. “Everything is going to be fine.” 5. “I’m stressed out too.” 6. “Have a drink — it’ll take your […]

Your Father Who Sees in Secret Will Repay You
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Your Father Who Sees in Secret Will Repay You

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by on Mar 05, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ
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“When you pray, go to your inner room, close the door, and pray to your Father in secret” (Matthew 6:6). Ash Wednesday allows us to practice what Jesus taught as we observe this first day of Lent. We fast and receive God’s blessing with ashes on our foreheads to express our sorrow for offending Him. Today’s […]

Last Minute Lent
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Last Minute Lent

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by on Mar 04, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ
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If you still haven’t decided what is beneficial and appropriate for you to fast for Lent, you’re not alone.  For most of us, the really inspired ideas are pretty rare. It’s easy to turn Lent into a diet, or a way to boast publicly of doing without something pleasurable. I don’t know if we need to identify […]

CL39 - hbratton notxt
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Once Upon a Time

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by on Mar 04, 2014 in Featured, On Books, On Media, Parenting
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Electronic devices are everywhere. We know about the negative effects of too much TV, but now kids are watching videos in the car and accessing games and social media on computers and mobile devices. There was a time when kids would snuggle up with a good book to read or have their parents read to […]

Stethoscope-Money
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The War Against Work and Wealth

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by on Mar 04, 2014 in Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice, The Economy
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Our standard of living depends on the production of wealth.

Obama Team Tries to Scrap Parts of Universal Human Rights Declaration
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Obama Team Tries to Scrap Parts of Universal Human Rights Declaration

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by on Mar 04, 2014 in Featured, The Homosexual Agenda
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Angry over not getting a same-sex-friendly definition of the family into a new UN document, the Obama Administration tried to delete language agreed upon by the founders of the UN and repeated in documents since then. Regularly contentious in recent decades, the family has been a diplomatic football with one side eager to recognize “diverse […]

Our Lenten Journey
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Our Lenten Journey

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by on Mar 04, 2014 in Catechesis, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith, Live in Christ
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As we begin our Lenten season tomorrow (our Eastern brethren began it yesterday), we Catholics are given the opportunity to once again discover the key to spiritual growth, and to once again correct our vices and imperfections we have accumulated since last Lent. In many Catholic circles today, Lent is viewed simply as “what food […]

Dollars and Cents
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Government Power is an Economic Inequality

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by on Mar 03, 2014 in Featured, Government & Politics, Law & Justice, The Economy
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The real concentration of wealth is no longer among men, but among institutions.

Six Ways to Pray Your Way Through Lent
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Six Ways to Pray Your Way Through Lent

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by on Mar 03, 2014 in Featured, Live in Christ
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Lent is coming soon, and many of us are already pondering what resolutions we’ll choose this year. No resolution can succeed without prayer, however, so here’s six ways to improve your prayer life this Lent. 1.  Make a daily prayer date with God. Best friends talk every day, so use the days of Lent to renew […]

It's Judgmental, Hateful, and Intolerant
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It’s Judgmental, Hateful, and Intolerant

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by on Mar 03, 2014 in Contraception & Abortion, Featured
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Over the years the supporters of abortion have used a variety of adjectives to describe those of us who work to ensure equal protection for every human being from creation to death. For example, when Walk for Life West Coast sponsored an exhibition including placement of signs that read “Abortion Hurts Women” the Silver Ribbon Campaign to Trust […]

Ukraine - Hope, Faith and Solidarity in Times of Great Change
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Ukraine – Hope, Faith and Solidarity in Times of Great Change

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by on Mar 03, 2014 in Featured, Those in Need
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An urgent appeal for prayer has come from one of Ukraine’s most senior Catholic bishops as momentous political change sweeps the country. Archbishop Mieczys?aw Mokrzycki, President of Ukraine’s Latin-rite Catholic Bishops’ Conference, highlighted the “great solidarity” of people worldwide, shown in prayer and practical aid. The archbishop’s comments, given in an interview with Catholic charity […]

Comfort Zone? Short Reflection on Two Beatitudes
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Comfort Zone? Short Reflection on Two Beatitudes

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by on Mar 03, 2014 in Featured, The Social Order
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God forbid that postmodern pressures inhibit us from promoting what is godly in the culture, nor deter us from opposing what is impious. Yes, going against the flow is proving stressful.  We live in tumultuous times, and some internal emotional turmoil (if not external persecution) will afflict any caring or sensitive Christian unwilling to remain […]

Paul in Arabia: From Messenger of Satan to Ambassador for Christ
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Paul in Arabia: From Messenger of Satan to Ambassador for Christ

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by on Mar 02, 2014 in Featured, History
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I went into Arabia (Gal 1:17b).  To Arabia, but to what part?  To Mount Sinai, to the Red Sea, and to the city of Petra, a tour of salvation history, for God through his grace equipped Paul to be the Ambassador for Christ. To prepare himself, Paul spent forty days and forty nights in the desert […]

Five Reasons I'm Giving Up Facebook for Lent
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Five Reasons I’m Giving Up Facebook for Lent

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by on Mar 01, 2014 in Business & Work, Featured, Learn & Live the Faith
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If you feel called to give up a Facebook for Lent this year, you aren’t alone. In social media parlance, the idea is “trending.” Before I explain my reasons for seriously curbing my Facebook use this season, let me first acknowledge that social media enables me to do my work as a writer with great […]