New Envoy Will Defend Religious Freedom Overseas

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

An end to the debt limit crisis isn’t the only battle being fought in the U.S. House these days. Lawmakers are also taking on the fight to protect religious minorities around the world by creating a new diplomatic post that will be charged with defending religious freedom overseas.

Read the rest…

“Just a Simple Girl” Launches National Day of Prayer for Marriage

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Acting on an inspiration that came to her during Adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, a 25 year-old Minnesota woman has launched the first national day of prayer for marriage which will take place one month from today – on August 29, 2011.

Read the rest…

Patience

“There are many who excuse themselves, saying that if they were in other circumstances they would be much more patient. This is a grave mistake, for it assumes that virtue is a matter of geography, and not of moral effort. It makes little difference where we are; it all depends on what we are thinking about.”
Fulton J. Sheen

For Reflection:
What is the connection between my thoughts and my actions? How can my thoughts help me to acquire patience regardless of my exterior circumstances? Where ought my thoughts be fixed if I am to grow in virtue?
 

Tuning Forks are For Pianos, Not People

PM writes: “I have MS and have been to many physicians. A local chiropractor has a new therapy using tuning forks and life energy. I am a Catholic and am suspicious of some of these ‘cures’ that have been postulated. These tuning forks are said to redirect the energy in the body. Do you think this is for real?”

Read the rest…

Gay Activists Target Family-Themed Dollywood

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

Acting under the direction of a gay activist group, a lesbian couple from Nashville, Tennessee have logged an official complaint with Dolly Parton’s family theme park after one of the women, who was wearing a “Marriage is so gay” t-shirt, was asked to turn it inside out to avoid offending guests.

Read the rest…

Patience

“For a stalk to grow or a flower to open there must be time that cannot be forced; nine months must go by for the birth of a human child; to write a book or compose music often years must be dedicated to patient research. To find the mystery there must be patience, interior purification, silence, waiting.
Pope John Paul II

For Reflection:
According to this quote, how does God use patience as an instrument to work His greatest wonders? How does this help me to appreciate the time between a prayer and its answer? A desire and its manifestation? A vision and its realization?

Atheists Sue to Prevent Placement of Cross at World Trade Center Memorial

By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said today a federal lawsuit filed by an atheist group challenging the placement of a cross at the World Trade Center Memorial and Museum in New York City is deeply flawed and without merit.

Read the rest…