Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSThe announcement that the Gates Foundation is contributing $375 million for family planning efforts in Africa has sparked the ire of a Nigerian pro-life leader who is irked by the idea of a billionaire telling African women what to do with their bodies.
July 19
“From our neighbor are life and death. If we do good to our neighbor, we do good to God; if we cause our neighbor to stumble, we sin against Christ.”
-St. Anthony the Great
An attempt by an unidentified man to bully a little girl out of selling lemonade because she didn’t have a license ended up backfiring by making her lemonade stand the most popular stop in town.
July 18
“We crush the head of the serpent when we scorn and trample underfoot the glory of the world, the praises and vanities and all the other pomps of pride.”
-St. Marie of the Incarnation
Victor Butler-Cole (www.familylaw.co.uk)The parents of Charlie Gard, the 11 month-old baby who is dying of a mitochondrial disease in a London hospital, were horrified to learn that the court appointed lawyer who has been representing their son in court is the chairman of the pro-euthanasia group, Compassion in Dying.
A Catholic nurse is campaigning to encourage hospitals to provide full disclosure to patients about alternative therapies, particularly practices such as Reiki which have spiritual aspects, by utilizing a spiritual consent form designed to inform patients of possible spiritual conflicts and protect institutions from potential legal liability.
(Belle Plaine Vet's Club Facebook page)Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
A new holy war has erupted in the small Minnesota town of Belle Plaine after The Satanic Temple was given permission to display a satanic monument in the “free speech” zone of a veteran’s memorial park; however, local Catholics are raising a good question – is it really in the public’s best interest to promote Satan?
Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDSAmerica’s young girls continue to be under pressure to relax their moral standards as yet another popular teen magazine, Seventeen, published a glowing review of a music video featuring same-sex attraction and adultery.
July 17
“It shall happen as God shall choose, for assuredly we depend not on our own power but on the power of God.”
- St. Perpetua
July 16
Feast of Our Lady of Mount Carmel
Alma Redemptoris Mater
Kindly Mother of our Redeemer; great portal of heaven ever open, the sea's far-shining star:
O succour thy people who though fallen strive to rise again. O thou who brought forth to all nature's wonder, nature's Lord, thine own Creator: Mother yet a Virgin ever more, who at Gabriel's speaking didst receive the Ave: Towards us sinners show thy pity.
Today's Reflection:
What special petition do I wish to entrust to Mary’s Immaculate Heart on this her feast day?
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