Woman of Grace: St. Scholastica (480 – 543)St. Gregory the Great recounts this story from the life of St. Benedict’s beloved twin sister, St. Scholastica, which shows how expressing our petitions to God with childlike faith and confidence sometimes yields immediate and amazing results.
After Benedict founded a monastery for men, Scholastica remained very close to her brother, founding a convent for women some miles away. Every year Scholastica went to visit Benedict at a little place just outside the monastery gate.
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“We must refer everything to God. It is the secret of being holy.”
Father Frederick Faber
For Reflection: This simple quote contains a deep and provocative message. Why do you think referring everything to God is the secret of being holy? How do we see Mary referring the pain of the third dolor of her heart to the will of God? How do you seek to live the reality of this quote? What current circumstance in your life is God asking you to refer to Him? Ponder it in your heart and journal your insights.
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Congratulations to EWTN for its courageous stand in suing the U. S. Government over the HHS Mandate requiring Catholic institutions to offer insurance coverage for contraception and abortion! As we so often emphasize through our television and radio programs and at our conferences and in our study groups, our day and time truly require heroic fortitude and perseverance. We MUST continue to preserve and protect all that is God-honoring in our culture and to reclaim that which has been lost. The Scripture passage from the Book of Esther says it all: "How do you not know that you have been born for such a time as this?" (4:14).
However, this will not be easily done. In many diverse ways we will all be called upon to exercise heroic virtue in the quest to rebuild a culture of life. It may, and will, cost us much. We need to prepare for trial and struggle. We need to embrace our holy duty to meet the challenge -- every challenge presented-- with faith and trust in the God who calls us to it. He will not abandon us nor will He leave us orphaned. But, He may well ask us to enter into the passion of His Son and to suffer with Him for the work to be accomplished. Remember, the blood of the martyrs is the seed of faith.
May we demonstrate by our faithful action and through thought and word that we are truly the sons and the daughters of the Most High God who understand the mission entrusted to us at this critical juncture in the history of man! And may the martyr saints and all of those who stood for truth in their day and time assist us by their prayers and holy example.
Mary, Help of All Christians, pray for us! Angels of God, assist us! Saints Triumphant and Suffering, pray for us! AMEN.
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Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) is refusing to allow the government to force it to either stop providing insurance to its employees or use donor funds to pay for insurance coverage of drugs and procedures that violate Church teaching, and has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Birmingham, Alabama to stop the imposition of the controversial mandate.
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Pope Benedict XVI has issued a powerful Lenten message for the world's Catholics in which he calls upon the faithful to remember the Christian tradition of "fraternal correction for eternal life" and not remain silent in the face of evil.
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One of the same-sex couples who originally challenged the Proposition 8 ballot initiative in California has filed for divorce.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSThe public needs to be warned that some of the polls circulating these days alleging majority support among Americans and Catholics for the HHS mandate are actually from left-leaning pollsters, while polls from neutral pollsters - which show much different results - are being dismissed by the media.
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During the time of Jesus, it was the custom for faithful Jews to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem for the celebration of the Passover. Nazareth, the home of the Holy Family, was approximately 60 miles away but the hilly topography added another 26 miles to the trip. Pilgrimages consisted of two groups – one comprised of men and the other of women. Children could travel with either. That is why it was not until evening that Mary and Joseph discovered Jesus was missing.
For Reflection: Read Luke 2: 43-52. Imagine the panic Mary and Joseph must have felt when they discovered Jesus was missing and how it mounted as they searched for Him for three days. How does Mary’s interaction with Jesus at verse 48 show her concern? What word does she use to describe it? C. S. Lewis says that “Faith is the art of holding on to things your reason has accepted, in spite of your changing moods.” How does this quote apply to Our Lady at this moment? How does she demonstrate faith in spite of lack of understanding?
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Woman of Grace: St. Josephine Bakhita (1869 – 1947)It is natural to express thanksgiving for being released from difficult trials and circumstances. But who would be grateful for those who cause such difficult trials or circumstances? This is the stuff of saints — the very stuff of which Saint Josephine Bakhita was made.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSPressure from the U.S. bishops and millions of concerned Americans about a health care mandate that infringes on religious freedom has Obama's re-election team calling for a cmopromise that many believe is just a political ploy to regain favor with Catholic voters.
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Woman of Grace: St. Scholastica (480 – 543)
