A heroic Spanish nun who fought for women's rights long before it was fashionable will be declared a saint on October 21, 2012 after the Vatican approved the miraculous healing of a three year-old Brazilian girl who was suffering from a brain condition.
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The sacraments, those masterpieces of divine ingenuity, were instituted not only to dower our souls with the riches of Heaven, but also to smooth for us the path of Christian righteousness so that we might run the way of God’s commandments with enlarged hearts and with a joy that earth knows not.”
For Reflection: Following this quote, Father Kane gives us four effects of the sacraments that help us live this lesson as perfectly as did Our Lady who did not need the Sacraments to aid her. He tells us they should:
- detach us from the world
- make us “labor for the meat which endureth unto life everlasting” (John 6:27)
- annihilate our natural selves
- make us ardent lovers of Christ crucified
How have I experienced these benefits through the Sacraments of the Church?
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Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of New York and president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sent a letter on Friday to all U.S. bishops of the United States reasserting the conviction of the Catholic Church that it will not yield to the Obama administration’s command to provide free birth control insurance to its employees, but not one of the major news outlets covered the story.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSThe travesty surrounding the testimony of a Georgetown law student who claims she'll go broke if the government doesn't mandate free birth control continues as a background check reveals she's actually a reproductive rights activist who enrolled at the Catholic university with every intention of challenging it's contraceptive-free insurance policy.
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Robert Moorman, who was sentenced to death for murdering and dismembering his own mother, receiving Communion just before being executed on Wednesday morning, and told the Deacon he would "repeat Jesus' name in my heart" as he was being put to death.
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“It is the most cogent proof of our overweening pride to think that God gives us His best gifts just because we hanker after them. Humility is the price of God’s most precious favors. ‘Every proud man is an abomination to the Lord’ (Prov. 16:5). ‘God resisteth the proud and giveth grace to the humble’ (James 4:6).”
For Reflection: Identify what you consider to be some of God’s special graces. How could “hankering after” them be damaging to spiritual growth? Humility is the virtue highlighted here. Today I will ask the Holy Spirit to illuminate my heart to the occasions God offers me to practice this virtue today, and I will assess my progress in my evening examination of conscience.
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“A life of strong, living faith is a life of unwavering submission to Divine Providence. Convinced of this truth, we will never permit the dictates of human prudence to enter into the equation of our conformity to the divine will.”
For Reflection: To live by faith alone is no easy virtue to acquire. How does Mary’s life characterize this virtue and what practical strategies does Scripture suggest she employed to help her do so? What strategies can I use in my everyday life to assist me?
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“Great souls who live for God alone are usually silent and solitary even in the midst of the maddening crowd’s ignoble strife. They are in the world, but not of the world. Fully dedicated to the service of God, they are dead to the world and dead to themselves.”
For Reflection: What does it mean to be “dead to the world and dead to themselves?” How is this exemplified by Our Lady? To what extent have I sought to live in this way? In what one way am I currently engaged in attaining the virtue of loving God above all else?
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Woman of Grace: St. Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955)It's only fitting that as we march forward in the battle for religious freedom, we have the opportunity to celebrate the Feast of St. Katharine Drexel, a pioneer of civil rights and activism.
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In a narrow 51-48 vote, liberal members of the U.S. Senate voted to table an amendment proposed by Missouri Senator Roy Blunt (R) that would have provided conscience protection for religious employers in the HHS contraception mandate.
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Woman of Grace: St. Katharine Drexel (1858 - 1955)