Monday, April 30, 2012

DOCTRINAL ASSESSMENT OF THE LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE OF WOMEN RELIGIOUS


Vatican Diary / The Holy Office puts the American sisters in the corner

The "liberal" leadership of the women religious of the United States has been effectively stripped of authority. By order of the pope. Here is the document from the congregation for the doctrine of the faith that explains how and why

by ***


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Read it here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350234?eng=y

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Have Your Mother’s Name In Fatima Procession

Have Your Mother’s Name And Yours
Carried In The Candle-Light
Procession In Fatima
Add your mother’s and your name to our banner in time.
http://www.americaneedsfatima.org/Orders/e0438-sign-up.html

HURRY!!
Cut-off Is Thursday, May 3, Midnight
(and tell your friends)
In Honor Of Our Lady Of Fatima’s First Apparition, And For Mother's Day, America Needs Fatima Is Carrying A Banner, during the vigil and anniversary celebrations on May 12th - 13th, in Fatima, Portugal, in the candle-light procession and other events, with your mother’s and your name on it.
That’s right, John, and if you add your mother’s and your name to our banner in time, we’ll carry it in the beautiful and blessed candle light procession there that night while praying for your mother and you.
If you’re having a tough time thinking of a Mother’s Day Gift for your mother (living or deceased), I think I’ve got a solution for you.
As you know, Fatima, as the home of Our Lady’s Fatima message, is part and parcel to us here at America Needs Fatima. And so, naturally, we’re going to have several representatives there on such an important vigil and anniversary as the 95th Anniversary, May 12th - 13th, of Our Lady’s first apparition there.
And happy coincidence!...it’s also Mother’s Day this year.
And I was trying to think of how we could mark both wonderful celebrations for you, John, our dear member.
And then, remembering this year’s Virtual March For Life banner, I thought ‘why not do the same in the Fatima Candle Light Procession in honor of Our Heavenly Mother and our earthly mothers?’
Here’s my idea:
You add your mother’s name to our banner here (Hurry! May 3rd deadline, Thursday night at midnight, EST)
We take it to Fatima, Portugal, and carry it in the candle light procession there the evening of May 12th, praying for your mother – we’ll follow up with an email of pictures, and maybe even a little video footage if I can arrange it in time
You pray a rosary at that time (see below) in honor of Our Heavenly Mother, Mother of God, and for your own earthly Mother (living or deceased), and for the apostolate of America Needs Fatima
How’s that?
Just enter your mother’s and your name on this page. And I’ll have it printed onto our banner and have it carried in the Fatima Candle Light Procession on Saturday, May 12th, as part of the celebrations in Fatima, Portugal.
And remember, for you to take FULL ADVANTAGE of this special significance of your mother’s name on the banner, remember to pray during the procession that Saturday.
Portugal is…
…5 hours ahead of EST – start praying at 3 PM your time
…6 hours ahead of CST – start praying at 2 PM your time
…7 hours ahead of MST – start praying at 1 PM your time
…8 hours ahead of PST – start praying at 12 PM your time
Yes! Please add my mother’s and my name to the banner
It will be an honor for us to do this for you, John, you who do so much to support Our Lady’s and America Needs Fatima’s cause in an America ever more needful of the triumph of Her Immaculate Heart.
This I pray for you, for your mother, and for the future of America.
God bless you!
Sincerely,
Robert E. Ritchie
America Needs Fatima
www.ANF.org

POPE BENEDICT XVI'S PRAYER INTENTIONS FOR MAY

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Vatican City, 30 April 2012 (VIS) - Pope Benedict's general prayer intention for May is: "That initiatives which defend and uphold the role of the family may be promoted within society".

His mission intention is: "That Mary, Queen of the World and Star of Evangelisation, may accompany all missionaries in proclaiming her Son Jesus".

 

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Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/30/2012

Sunset in Medjugorje 
(c)Mary Matasso 2011, used with permission
The sun, through which the Holy Spirit shows Himself in Medjugorje! 

April 30, 2012

St. Pius V

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to prayer, and may your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun. I am with you and I intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (April 25, 2012)

 

On Friday we had a botany lesson, in which we discovered heliotropism, the ability of a flower to turn towards the sun so that it can be fruitful, bearing seed and fruit. Our Lord wants to make us fruitful, so that we can nourish others with our faith, hope and love, and help them to find the joy of heaven. Theo-tropism is our ability to turn towards our God, in order to become fruitful under His gaze. What are the fruits that we will produce? The gifts of the Holy Spirit!

 

In prayer, our mechanism for turning towards the Lord, we open our hearts to be pollinated by the Holy Spirit. We become capable of the most wonderful things under the influence of the Holy Spirit! Here is a short prayer for those fruitful gifts (found in Spiritual Warfare Prayers. Valentine Publishing House. P.O. Box 27422, Denver CO 80227):

Spiritual_warfare_prayers_sm

 

I arise today through the power of the Lord Jesus Christ and ask to be filled with the Holy Spirit's gifts of peace, patience, love, joy, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, humility, forgiveness, goodness, fortitude, discipline, truth relinquishment, good self-image, prosperity, charity, obedience, a sound mind, order, fulfillment in Christ, acceptance of self, acceptance of others, trust, freedom from addictions, freedom of having to control, freedom from shame, wholeness, wellness, health, wisdom, knowledge, understand, and the light and life of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. (p.12)

 

What good fruit! What wonderful gifts! Our God wants us to be filled with goodness and joy! Thank you, Mother, for encouraging us to turn towards the Lord so that He can shine down His nourishing love upon us!

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2012

 

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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Father Mark Kirby: Why Is It Important To Pray The Family Rosary?

Persevere In Praying The Rosary For Conversions And For Healing!

By: Father Mark Kirby

From:  Vultus.stblogs.org

When Praying for Healing

It happens sometimes that the healing of a family member — in spite of persistent and fervent prayer — is impeded because of an unspoken resistance to the prayer or because of indifference to it within the family itself. In asking for the physical, emotional, or spiritual healing of a family member, it is crucial, first of all, that two or three family members — especially married couples — pray together. For this I recommend, above all, the Holy Rosary.

When one’s family life is itself fragile or shattered, one should seek out close friends with whom to pray. Again, the Rosary is, I think, the most efficacious prayer. By means of the Rosary, Blessed Bartolo Longo, a layman, rebuilt family life and renewed society in the poverty, ignorance, and desolation of 19th century Pompei. Veritable miracles of grace, all attributed to the Rosary, confirmed Blessed Longo’s initiatives and continue to the present day.

The Prayer of Faith

It is possible to add after each decade some invocations drawn from the Gospels, such as: “Lord, the one whom Thou lovest is sick” (Jn 11:3); “If thou canst do any thing, help us, having compassion on us” (Mk 9:21); “I do believe, Lord: help my unbelief” (Mk 9:23); and, especially, the prayer of the centurion repeated in every Mass, “Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldst enter under my roof: but only say the word, and N. shall be healed” (Mt 8:8).

The Sacraments

It is also indispensable that those who are praying for the healing of a loved one go to Confession frequently. Everyone — not just the penitent — benefits from the grace of sacramental absolution by which the glorious wounds of Christ are applied to the wounds of our souls.

Married couples do well to receive Holy Communion together at the same Holy Mass, at least on Sundays. So often as spouses receive Holy Communion together, the grace of the Nuptial Mass with which they began their married life can be renewed within them. The renewal of this grace benefits the entire family circle. The supernatural context of all healing is the unity that is the fruit of participation in the Most Holy Eucharist.

(Please Pray The Rosary For Our Shepard’s and the conversion of your lost loved ones)

 

0saves
P.S. – Would you do Courageous Priest a favor and share this info with your friends on Facebook, Twitter or Email right now? We truly appreciate it. Or leave a comment, we would love to hear what you think.

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Transformation into Christ is the Journey and the Goal of All

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“I want to put My living heart into yours, and if you allow Me, I will take away your vices and bad dispositions. It will no longer be you who live, but I will live in you a life of intimacy through a Divine transformation on the part of the Holy Spirit living in you. Love with all your strength the Holy Spirit who rules by love. Sanctity is the fruit of constant acts of love.”

Our Lord to Venerable Concepcion Cabrera de Armida (like St. Faustina, our Lord carried on a detailed, intimate conversation with her for years)

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You can receive complimentary materials to make your Consecration to God through Mary’s Immaculate Heart ( important spiritual protection at this time in salvation history) at myconsecration.org... where you can also learn about Our Lady of Las Lajas.

You can learn more about our Lady of Fatima at www.wafusa.org.

God Bless you and your work,

Deacon Bob Tony

Deacon Bob Ellis Anthony Mullen
National Coordinator MyConsecration.org
World Apostolate of Fatima, USA 222 S. Manoa Road
A Pontifical Association of the Faithful Havertown, PA 19083
visit us at: www.wafusa.org visit us at: www.myconsecration.org

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From Mark Mallett: Removing the Restrainer

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THE past month has been one of palpable sorrow as the Lord continues to warn that there is So Little Time Left. The times are sorrowful because mankind is about to reap what God has begged us not to sow. It is sorrowful because many souls do not realize that they are on the precipice of eternal separation from Him. It is sorrowful because the hour of the Church’s own passion has come when a Judas will rise up against her. It is sorrowful because Jesus is not only being neglected and forgotten throughout the world, but abused and mocked once again. Hence, the Time of times has come when all lawlessness will break forth across the globe.

Before I go on, ponder for a moment the truth-filled words of a saint:

Do not fear what may happen tomorrow. The same loving Father who cares for you today will care for you tomorrow and everyday. Either he will shield you from suffering or He will give you unfailing strength to bear it. Be at peace then and put aside all anxious thoughts and imaginings. —St. Francis de Sales, 17th century bishop

Indeed, this blog is not here to scare or frighten, but to confirm and prepare you so that, like the five wise virgins, the light of your faith will not be snuffed out, but glow ever brighter when the light of God in the world is fully dimmed, and darkness fully unrestrained.

Therefore, stay awake, for you know neither the day nor the hour. (Matt 25:13)

Read more… » http://www.markmallett.com/blog/2012/04/removing-the-restrainer/#more-8457

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Mary TV daily Reflection

http://tinyfarmblog.com/category/csa/ sunflower
Open to the Sun!
(from http://tinyfarmblog.com/category/csa/ ) 
 

April 27, 2012

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to prayer, and may your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun. I am with you and I intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call." (April 25, 2012)

 

Our Lady has very often compared our response to God to the response of a flower to the warmth of the sun. It is a lovely comparison. But this time I decided to do a "google" search in order to see if I could understand why a flower turns towards the warmth of the sun. Flowers don't really think, so the process has to come from the flower's chemistry and physics and cell design. Right? (Now you botanists out there, be patient with me because I am not a scientist! And if you can help with a better explanation, send it to me!)

 

Here is what I found on the web:

 

Heliotropism is the term used to describe the tracking of the sun by the flower buds of sunflowers. Other plants also have flowers and/or leaves that track the sun. First, let's discuss how the plants are able to track the sun. There is a collection of specialized cells at the base of the flower bud or leaf called a pulvinus that carry the "motor" cells that enable the plant leaf or flower to track the sun. These cells enlarge or shrink according the turgor pressure from the water inside them. In response to blue wavelength light, potassium ion concentration increases in the "motor" cells on the shadow side of the pulvinus. With the increase of potassium ions the osmotic potential in the cells becomes more negative and the cells absorb more water and elongate, turning the face of the flower to the sun....It is thought that one reason the buds of the sunflower (and other flowers) track the sun is that insects are attracted to the warmth from the sun and their presence is necessary for pollination to occur.

(http://www.wildflower.org/expert/show.php?id=589)

 

OK! If I understand this, the flower is constructed so that when the blue wavelengths from the sun reach it, it creates an increase of potassium ions in the motor cells underneath the flower, and this increase changes the balance of water in the cells and so the cells take in more water, get bigger and cause the flower to tip towards the sun kind of like a little lever. Amazing! God created the flower that way. And it is for a reason.

 

The reason it looks like from this article is so that the flower can grow (photosynthesis) and also attract the bugs that come and germinate the flower so that seeds will develop. The bugs come because it is warm in the flower and without the bugs, no germination; and without germination, no seeds; and without seeds, no future plants. So, the whole purpose for the flower's movement towards the sun's rays is so that the flower will be fruitful!!!

 

I never thought of that. I always thought it was just a nice image for wanting to feel warm. But no, it is actually a very important process in God's plan for the flower. The flower needs to be fruitful. God said, "Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the earth." (Gen. 1:11) God wants the plants to multiply and grow and bear fruit. So this turning towards the sun is part of His plan to make the plant fruitful!

 

Now, let's apply this image to Our Lady's call to us. She said, "May your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun." Our Lady wants our hearts to respond to God, like the flower responds to the sun's rays. Why, because if we open our hearts and direct them to the healing rays of God's love, we will become fruitful! We will bring forth the fruit of righteousness. As Saint Paul prayed, "And so, from the day we heard of it, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, to lead a life worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God." (Col 1:9-10)

 

Our Lady wants us to bear good fruit, lots of it!! And she knows that we need to open our hearts to the incredible, life-giving light of God's presence so that we can become fruitful, like the flower. This is not just so we will "feel" God's warmth, although that is very important for us, it is actually so we will receive His grace in all the ways we need so that we can be fruitful plants in His vineyard.

 

Of course, the turning we must do is prayer (We might call it Theotropism- turning towards God!). When we pray, we turn our heart to God, and open it to Him so that He can shine upon it, warm it, heal it, feed it, and germinate it with His powerfully fruitful love. He will come to our hearts and insert His life, which will grow into righteousness and good works. He will germinate us! We will then be full of life, full of grace, in a similar way to Our Lady! We will be filled with life!

 

So, this nice little image is far more powerful than we may have imagined. It is packed with power. You might even say that it is dangerous! We could become pregnant with life if we do as she asks! We could become carriers of God's life, His fecundity, His multiplying joy! Are we brave enough to turn to the Sun?

 

Yes!! Indeed!

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2012

 

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Friday, April 27, 2012

After Seven Years, the Secret of Pope Ratzinger

Benedict XVI will be remembered more for his homilies than for his encyclicals. And for his audacious, unconventional actions. Like in Madrid, in front of a million young people and right in the middle of a violent storm...

by Sandro Magister

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ROME, April 27, 2012 – No one said it a week ago, during the flood of tributes for Benedict XVI's seventh anniversary as pope. But the element that has most revealed the profound meaning of his pontificate was a storm.

It was a scorching evening in Madrid, in August of 2011. In front of Pope Benedict, on the open ground, a million young people, average age 22, an unknown. All of a sudden a downpour of water, lightning, wind hurled itself on them all, with no shelter anywhere. Clusters of floodlights were tossed into the air, posters flew away, even the pope was drenched. But he stayed where he was in front of the explosive celebration of young men and women over the surprise performance from the heavens.

When the rain stopped, the pope set aside his written remarks and addressed just a few words to the young people. He invited them to look not at him, but at that Jesus who said he is living and present in the consecrated host on the altar. He knelt down in silent adoration. And the same happened in the clearing. Everyone knelt down on the wet ground. In complete silence. For a good half hour.

Read more here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350232?eng=y

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Thursday, April 26, 2012

Muslim Persecution of Christians:

Tribulation Times


April 26, 2012  

(Mat 5:11-12) Blessed are ye when they shall revile you, and persecute you, and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets that were before you. 

NEWS REPORTMuslim Persecution of Christians: March, 2012

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The war on Christianity and its adherents rages on in the Muslim world. In March alone, Saudi Arabia's highest Islamic law authority decreed that churches in the region must be destroyed; jihadis in Nigeria said they "are going to put into action new efforts to strike fear into the Christians of the power of Islam by kidnapping their women"; American teachers in the Middle East were murdered for being or talking about Christianity; churches were banned or bombed, and nuns terrorized by knife-wielding Muslim mobs. Christians continue to be attacked, arrested, imprisoned, and killed for allegedly "blaspheming" Islam's prophet Muhammad; former Muslims continue to be attacked, arrested, imprisoned, and killed for converting to Christianity.

Sudan: Sudanese aerial strikes were aimed at church buildings in various regions. Churches in the Nuba Mountains are holding worship services very early in the morning and late in the evening to avoid aerial bombardments intentionally targeting their churches. The Khartoum regime is "doing everything possible to make sure they get rid of Christianity from the Nuba Mountains—churches and church schools are the targets of both the Sudanese Armed Forces and its militias," said an aid worker.

Sudan: Over half a million people, mostly Christian and originally from South Sudan, have been stripped of citizenship in response to the South's secession, and forced to relocate: "Sudanese Christians who have barely a month to leave the north or risk being treated as foreigners are starting to move, but Christian leaders are concerned that the 8 April deadline set by Islamic-majority Sudan is unrealistic. 'We are very concerned. Moving is not easy ... people have children in school. They have homes ... It is almost impossible,' said a Catholic bishop."

ANALYSISSudan and South Sudan must step back from war



RELATED HEADLINES

Catholic Bishops Call Borders War 'Shameful'!
Sudan Security Arrests Three Darfur Catholic Officials
Muslim mob burns Catholic church in Sudan capital

Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Practice of Virtue

19. By wishing to do much, we often spoil everything, constraining our Lord to leave us to act alone and withdraw from us in sorrow.


Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

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EWTN PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK

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WEEKLY FEATURE
Jesus Living Through Mary – The Life of Saint Louis de Montfort
By Michelle Laque Johnson

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The spirituality of St. Louis Marie de Montfort profoundly influenced Pope John Paul II, Mother Teresa, and the Roman Catholic Church itself. Don't miss this week's dramatic film on the life of the man whose entire life was a quest for sanctity and service.

Get your video recorders ready: "Jesus Living Through Mary: The Life of Saint Louis De Montfort" airs 3:30 a.m. ET, Saturday, April 28 – exclusively on EWTN. This 90-minute meticulously researched film covers the saint's upbringing, his formation for the priesthood, spiritual purification by trial, canonization, and the movement to declare Montfort a Doctor of the Church.

This is one fascinating saint. Check him out on EWTN's "Saints and Other Holy People" website at http://bit.ly/I4emWE and be inspired.

In fact, Montfort's life should be required reading for those who feel they have labored in vain. Among his many works, the priest founded two congregations: The Sisters of Wisdom and the Company of Mary. When he died, they numbered only four sisters, two priests and a few brothers. However, by the beginning of the 20th Century, there were 5,000 Sisters of Wisdom in 44 houses in every country of the world, educating more than 60,000 children. How did that happen?

According to EWTN's website: "[T]he Company of Mary was governed for 39 years by Father Mulot. He had at first refused to join de Montfort in his missionary labours. 'I cannot become a missionary,' he said, 'for I have been paralyzed on one side for years; I have an affection of the lungs which scarcely allows me to breathe, and am indeed so ill that I have no rest day or night.'"

However, de Montfort told him, "As soon as you begin to preach you will be completely cured."

And so it was.

Purchase the film from EWTN Religious Catalogue at http://bit.ly/Jk4qdr or buy the book, "True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin," which influenced so many saints and Popes at http://bit.ly/I0JTGX. You can also get a more modern take on De Montfort's spirituality in two new books by Father Michael E. Gaitley, MIC. Purchase "Consoling the Heart of Jesus" at http://bit.ly/I0MO2u or you can purchase "33 Days to Morning Glory: A Do-It-Yourself Retreat in Preparation for Marian Consecration" at http://bit.ly/IM100A.

PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE WEEK

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Saint Oliver Plunkett - A Journey to Sainthood
This unique documentary made by a group of local Irish priests and enthusiastic lay people explores the life of Saint Oliver Plunkett, the one time Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of All Ireland, who was martyred during English persecution.
Fri. Apr. 27 at 1 PM ET
Sat. Apr. 28 at 5 AM ET

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What Every Catholic Needs to Know About the Bible
Matthew Arnold hosts an informative presentation on the history, nature, structure, and purpose of the Bible. He also refutes common misunderstandings about biblical theology. Featuring Dr. Brant Pitre, Michael Barber, Jesse Romero, and Dr. Scott Hahn.
Sun. Apr. 29 at 2 AM ET
Fri. May 4 at 10 PM ET
Sat. May 5 at 2 PM ET

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Feasts & Seasons Summertime – May, Month of Mary
From the lively warmth of her kitchen, British journalist Joanna Bogle explores ways to celebrate the Feast Days and Liturgical Seasons of the Catholic Church. Here she looks at the month of May, dedicated to Mary.
Tue. May 1 at 5 AM ET

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Madonna’s Blasphemous Logo

Outrageous!
Our Lady’s Miraculous Medal Symbol
Used As A Logo For Selling
Madonna’s Perfume
Send Your Instant E-PROTEST Message NOW http://campaigns.americaneedsfatima.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=391

Dear Friends
Pop icon Madonna has usurped the symbol on the back of the Miraculous Medal to ‘brand’ her latest mix of blasphemy and marketing: Truth or Dare perfume (links below).
Macy’s department stores are the exclusive distributors, and Coty, Inc. is the manufacturer.
Defend the honor of the Mother of God and her miraculous medal. Please send your protest to them now.
(Please read with caution. This is very disturbing.)
Madonna also shot and produced a commercial for the perfume, which was so immodest and suggestive that, according to the New York Post website “ABC viewed the ad [and] came back with a list of changes. They say they want her bra digitally made bigger, and to extend higher to cover more of her chest, and her corset longer to cover more of her bottom. ABC brass think Madonna’s sexy black-and-white ad can only run after 9 p.m.”
Thank you!
Sincerely,
Robert E. Ritchie
America Needs Fatima
www.ANF.org
P.S. If you want to speak with them directly, please be polite yet firm:
Macy’s
• National Media; Holly Thomas, Vice President; 646-429-5250
• Corporate Communications & External Affairs; Jim Sluzewski, Senior Vice President, 513-579-7764
COTY, Inc.
• Corporate Public Relations; Cysette Burset; Main Telephone: 212 479 4549

THE BISHOPS SPEAK FOR THE CHURCH

Donahue


April 26, 2012

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the reaction to Vatican efforts to reform the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR):

 Most Catholics identify with their parish, not their diocese; they have even less interest in Church matters beyond the diocesan level. This explains why they are non-plussed by Vatican efforts to reform the LCWR. Some liberal Catholics, as well as liberal non-Catholics, are predictably unhappy with the proceedings, and more than a few show clear signs of a nervous breakdown. What is most perplexing is the way non-Catholics have shoved their way into this internal matter.

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 [picture: Jim Wallis and friends]
 
Jim Wallis is perhaps the most prominent non-Catholic to stick his nose where it doesn’t belong. The former Marxist-turned-Protestant activist runs an organization and a magazine that is heavily funded by atheist billionaire George Soros. His reaction to the Vatican initiative was striking in one respect: he claims that the bishops do not speak for the Catholic Church. “Quite honestly,” he writes, “do most of us believe, or even most Catholics believe, that the bishops are the only ‘authentic teachers of faith and morals?’”
 
“In matters of faith and morals, the bishops speak in the name of Christ and the faithful are to accept their teaching and adhere to it with a religious assent.” This is not a statement from the first millennium—it is from a Vatican II document, Lumen Gentium.Now Mr. Wallis, not being a Catholic, is free to disagree with this proclamation. But he looks positively foolish when he suggests that some authority other than the bishops may actually speak for the Catholic Church. More important, it is none of his business how the Church crafts its strictures.
 
If writers for Sojourners insisted that they, not Jim Wallis, speak for the magazine he founded and edits, they would quickly be set straight. I am delighted to take this opportunity to set him straight.

Contact Sojourners: media@sojo.net


Contact our director of communications about Donohue’s remarks:
Jeff Field
Phone: 212-371-3191
E-mail: cl@catholicleague.org

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Wednesday, April 25, 2012

April 25, 2012 Medjugorje Message


Our Lady of Tijalina - Medjugorje
I intercede for all of you...

April 26, 2012

 

Dear Family of Mary,

 

Here is the April 25, 2012 message from Our Lady of Medjugorje:

 

"Dear children! Also today I am calling you to prayer, and may your heart, little children, open towards God as a flower opens towards the warmth of the sun. I am with you and I intercede for all of you. Thank you for having responded to my call."

 

In Jesus, Mary and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

 

PS. The next reflection will be for April 27 (Friday).


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Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/25/2012

Duetsfamily prayer
(c)MaryTV 2010
May prayer become a need for you...

April 25, 2012

Saint Mark

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

"Dear children! Also today, with joy, I desire to give you my motherly blessing and to call you to prayer. May prayer become a need for you to grow more in holiness every day. Work more on your conversion because you are far away, little children. Thank you for having responded to my call." (March 25, 2012)

 

This simple message was given to us one month ago. Today we will receive another message from Our Lady. Before we receive the new message, maybe we could take one last look at last month's message, and pray it back to the Lord, for his help in understanding and living this message. Each message is precious, words from heaven! We want to receive all the graces they contain.

 

Here is a stab at praying through the message from March 25:

 

Dear Father in Heaven! We are so blessed to have Mary as our Mother. We need her motherly care so badly. Please let her be our Mother in every detail of our lives. We welcome her motherly guidance and care. And especially, we want to receive her motherly blessing. Please give us the grace to be open to her blessing. Don't let us be hard of heart. Soften our hearts so that her blessing will penetrate!

 

Dearest Father, our Mother has called us to prayer. She has called us to prayer for 30 years! She has never lost this focus. She wants us to live and breathe prayer. She wants us to realize how very much we need prayer. Unfortunately, we are slow to understand. We know that the whole purpose of prayer is for us to communicate in a personal way with You, dear Father. How could we not want to communicate with You, our Creator and Savior? How foolish can we be? Father, we need You. Father, we depend upon You. Father, You are our Life. Help us to experience You in prayer. Give us the grace to run to You in prayer. Give us the Holy Spirit, Your Spirit, to fill us with Your presence, Your Word, Your will. We long to communicate with You in prayer, Lord. Help us to grow in holiness.

 

Finally, dear Lord, our Mother tells us something difficult. She tells us we are far away...far away from conversion...far away from communion with You. This breaks our hearts. We know it is true, because she tells us so. Like St. Paul, we know that we have a long way to run to complete the race. But it is hard to hear these words. Father, do not let these words discourage us, but instead, may we be moved to convert with more fervor and love. Show us what is blocking us on the way of conversion. Help us to root out any negativity that is lodged in our hearts that is interfering with our turning to God. Show us any agreements we have made with the enemy that are keeping us captive, stopping us from freely turning to You. Help us to renounce those things that hinder us from truly converting, truly choosing only You as our Lord and Father. We want our hearts to be unified and whole, totally given over to You. That is what we desire, what conversion means for us. Lord, please, give us the grace to turn to you and renounce all that is not of You.

 

Father, we want to respond to Our Lady's call. We want to respond to her love, her motherly heart. Thank you, Father, for helping us to respond to our Mother's call!

 

Thank you, dear Mother, for the message you will give us today!!

 

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

©Mary TV 2012

 

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Spring Cleaning Behind These Stone Walls, And News from the Front by FR. GORDON J. MACRAE

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There is some spring cleaning going on behind These Stone Walls, and we have an update of sorts on the long, slow trek toward justice for Fr. MacRae. There are a few small ways you can help, and we describe them this week in "Spring Cleaning Behind Stone Walls, and News from the Front."

[excerpt]
. . . Right now, however, I have a far greater challenge to face than the temper tantrums of SNAP members long accustomed to having their distortions rule the day. It’s a greater challenge even than waiting for the legal system to catch up with justice. The most immediate and daunting challenge I face at this moment is one many of you have to take on as well. It’s called spring cleaning. As you know well, my world of the last nearly 18 years consists of an 8 by 12-foot cell which must be shared by two prisoners, one of whom wrote “The Duty of a Knight” two weeks ago. Well, it turns out that it isn’t the duty of a knight to do all the spring cleaning while I just sit here on my bucket (umm . . . I mean this big plastic one) and type. We need to do something prisoners are required to do periodically. We have to empty out this cell completely, and clean everything . . .

Read more here: http://www.thesestonewalls.com/gordon-macrae/spring-cleaning-behind-these-sto...

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Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Pope Benedict begins 8th year of service

Tribulation Times


April 25, 2012  

(Mat 9:37-38) Then he saith to his disciples, The harvest indeed is great, but the labourers are few. Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth labourers into his harvest. 

MOYNIHAN REPORTLetter #8: 7th Anniversary of Benedict’s Election

EXCERPT NEWS REPORTPope Benedict begins 8th year of service

Pope Benedict XVI began his eighth year as pope on Tuesday after spending the waning days of his seventh driving home his view of the Catholic Church, with a divisive crackdown on dissenters and an equally divisive opening to a fringe group of traditionalists.

The coming year may see more of the same as the Vatican gears up to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Second Vatican Council, the 1962-65 church meetings that reshaped the Catholic Church and are key to understanding this papacy and Benedict's recent moves to quell liberal dissent and promote a more conservative brand of Catholicism.

Tuesday marked the anniversary of the start of Benedict's pontificate, which officially began April 24, 2005, with an inaugural Mass in St. Peter's Square. The pope promised then not to impose his own will on the church but to rather listen "to the word and the will of the Lord, to be guided by him, so that he himself will lead the church at this hour of our history."

Seven years later, Benedict has certainly left a mark on the church, pressing a conservative interpretation of Vatican II's key teachings, appointing like-minded bishops and making his priority the revitalization of traditional Catholicism in a world, which he often laments, seems to think that it can do without God.

SEE ALSORatzinger expresses his disapproval of German translation of Gospels

VATICAN RADIOLombardi: “The eighth year of the Pope’s pontificate is going to be a busy one”

In the wake of recent celebrations of Pope Benedict XVI’s 85th birthday on April 16 and the 7th anniversary of his election to the pontificate, April 19, the director of the Holy See’s Press Office devoted his latest editorial to the year ahead. Holy See’s spokesman Fr. Federico Lombardi shared the Pope’s hope that the dialogue with the breakaway group of traditionalist Catholics known as Saint Pius X Fraternity will come to a resolution, that bridges the gap without creating any new ones. The Jesuit priest wished the Pope well as he travels to the northern Italian city of Milan to deliver a message of love and hope for families as they hold their World Meeting of Families in June. He also hoped that “dissenting groups will hear his invitation to be in communion with the Church and receive this invitation with respect and attention, and with an understanding of its significance.” Fr. Lombardi expressed hope that International Eucharistic Congress in Ireland in June will help in the healing, purification and renewal of the Church in Ireland following the devastating sexual abuse scandals there. The Jesuit priest also hoped that Pope Benedict’s visit to Lebanon in September may give him a chance to spread a message of peace amid the tragic conflicts in that region.

It is our hope that the Year of Faith will not only be filled with exemplary initiatives and beautiful celebrations, but that it will also promote a sense of renewal in the profound relationship between God, his Son Jesus Christ, and believers, against the ever decreasing awareness of the religious dimension of human life and mankind’s journey through history.

Il Sole 24 OrePope Benedict XVI’s Bright and Dramatic Path

L'Osservatore Romano
Joseph Ratzinger Theologian and Pope


Thoughts and Sayings of Saint Margaret Mary: The Practice of Virtue

18. Go courageously to God, along the way He has traced out for you, steadfastly embracing the means He offers you.


Prayer request?  Send an email to: PrayerRequest3@aol.com

This month's archive can be found at: http://www.catholicprophecy.info/news2.html.

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From Mark Mallett: DANGEROUS DECEPTION

 

THERE is a matter which I believe is unsettling many souls. I pray, with Christ’s help, that you will find not only peace, but a renewed confidence through this meditation.

 

A BLACK POPE

There is talk, not only in evangelical circles, but also among some Catholics that there may appear a “black pope”—a pontiff who co-operates with a diabolical new world religion thereby leading millions astray. (Some, in fact, believe we’ve had false popes in place since Vatican II.)

Perhaps this perception is based in part upon the alleged message given in 1846 to Melanie Calvat in La Salette, France. Part of it read:

Rome will lose the faith and become the seat of the Antichrist.

 

Read more… »

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Christians harnessing Facebook to share faith

Check out this website I found at christiantoday.com


Christians in the UK are turning increasingly to social media sites like Facebook to share their faith, new research has found.
In a survey on attitudes to online mission by Christian Vision and Premier Christian Media, 64% said they were using social networks like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to share their faith in an intentional way.
Of the 700 Christians surveyed, 84% agreed that the online space was a huge mission field.
More than two-thirds (71%) said they post links to Christian sites or content with missional values, while 73% said they intentionally post or link to content in order to share their faith.
Interestingly, the study found that interaction with social media was prolific across the age spectrum, rather than just among young people.
However, younger people are more likely to have non-Christian friends and are more active when it comes to sharing their faith online - 87% of 16 to 18-year-olds said they do so intentionally.
Of the total sample, 79% agreed that the best way to evangelise was through relationships.
Despite the enthusiasm for social networks, only 25% of respondents said their church encouraged online mission, while 78% said that churches should be more active in online mission.
The results suggest that although Christians are aware of the opportunities created by the internet, churches may need more encouragement and guidance to embrace the online channels open to them.
Training may not be the only answer, however, as only 40% at least somewhat agreed that they would be more willing to share their faith online if they knew of tools and training to help them.
The research was carried out to coincide with the launch of yesHEis.com, a new sharing platform to resource UK Christians in sharing their faith using the web.

That Christians are the religious group most under attack in the world is a point of fact.


Blessed Are the Persecuted. The Lesson of the Successor of Peter

Benedict XVI explains how to respond to the persecutions that are still hitting Christians today. In the same way as the apostles. Without fear, without revenge. With freedom, courage, prayer

by Sandro Magister


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And that anti-religious violence is not on the decline, but on the rise, is also a fact confirmed in the news day after day. With Christians in the crosshairs more than anyone else.

This has been established by, among others, the Pew Forum, with a survey on a worldwide scale previously reported on by www.chiesa:

> Religious Freedom. The Barometer Takes a Turn for the Worse

Persecution has accompanied Christianity from the beginning. But how did the first Christians respond to violence?

Benedict XVI answered this question at the general audience last Wednesday, reading and explaining an illuminating page from the Acts of the Apostles. And drawing from it a lesson for the Christians of today.

In the face of persecution – the pope said – the first Christian community of Jerusalem "does not try to analyze how to react, what strategies to use, how to defend itself, what measures to adopt."

Put to the test, the community "does not become afraid and does not divide." It does not ask God for "payback," for revenge against the aggressors. "It does not ask for physical protection in the face of persecution."

This is what the first Christians do not do.

But in positive terms, how do the first Christians of Jerusalem behave when persecution hits them?

They take to prayer. To prayer in keeping with God's will.

In praying, they interpret their situation "in the light of Christ, which is the key to understanding persecution as well; the cross, which is always the key to the resurrection."

They understand that "just as happened to Jesus, so also the disciples encounter opposition, incomprehension, persecution."

And therefore, "precisely for this reason the request that the first Christian community of Jerusalem formulates to God in prayer is not that of being defended, of being spared from trial, from suffering, it is not a prayer for success, but only that of being able to proclaim with 'parresia,' meaning with frankness, with freedom, with courage, the Word of God."

In the account of the Acts of the Apostles, the Holy Spirit bursts into the place in which the Christians have gathered in prayer, and "drives the disciples of the Lord to go out fearlessly to carry the good news to the ends of the world."

This is what must also happen for the Christians of today: "As for the first Christian community, may prayer help us to interpret our personal and collective history in the most correct and faithful perspective, that of God."

"Thought illuminated by prayer" must also be the soul of the governance of the Church, as Benedict XVI explained at the general audience of March 10, 2010, dedicated to the saint he has studied and loves the most: Saint Bonaventure:

> How to Pilot the Church in the Storm

But here follows the lesson of Benedict XVI as he formulated it at the general audience of Wednesday, April 18, the eve of the seventh anniversary of his pontificate.

Read it here: http://chiesa.espresso.repubblica.it/articolo/1350227?eng=y

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Vortex Video: Maronite Rite Might!

Vortex

Dear Friend in Christ,

Here's a possible cure to what ails the Church in the West .. and it's already happening. Please take a few minutes to watch this episode of the Vortex and pass it to your family and friends.

GOD Bless you and your loved ones,

Michael Voris
~senior executive producer at RealCatholicTV.com


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Mary TV Daily Reflection 4/24/2012

woman on Podbrodo with Rosary
(c)MaryTV 2011
Pray with all your heart!

April 24, 2012

St. Fidelis of Sigmaringen

 

Dear Family of Mary!

 

For several years during the 80's, Jelena Vasilj helped facilitate a prayer group of young people in Medjugorje. She received locutions from Our Lady. She was then just a young girl. But she had an unusually open and lucid communication with Our Lady. Some of the messages she received for her prayer group can be found in a document of the messages posted at Medjugorje.org (http://www.medjugorje.org/messagesall.htm  ). Steve Shawl has done an excellent job of collecting all the messages from Medjugorje and organizing them in one document on this page.

 

Below is a prayer dictated to Jelena by Our Lady that I found in Steve's document. It is a plea to the Lord to make our hearts unified and whole, by rejecting sin and satan and instead entrusting our lives to God. It is a good prayer. It is a child's prayer, simple and powerful, right to the point. I think Our Lady is most comfortable with children. We are her children! Let's pray like children, with open, sincere hearts!

 

Petition to God

(Given by Our Lady to Jelena Vasilj, 6/22/1985)

 

Recite 3 Glory Be's

 

Oh God, our heart is in deep obscurity,

in spite of our union to Your Heart.

Our heart is struggling between You and satan;

do not permit it to be in this manner!

 

Every time that the heart is divided

between good and evil,

let it be enlightened by Your light

and let it be unified.

 

Never permit,

for there to be able to exist in us two loves,

that there can never co-exist in us two faiths,

and that there can never co-exist in us;

lying and sincerity,

love and hatred,

honesty and dishonesty,

humility and pride.

 

Help us on the contrary,

so that our hearts may be elevated toward You

just like that of a child.

May our heart be ravished with peace

and continue to always have the nostalgia of it.

 

May Your holy will and Your love

find a permanent place in us, that at least

sometimes we would really wish to be Your

children and when, Oh Lord,

we will desire to be Your children,

remember our past desires

and help us to receive You again.

 

We open our hearts to you

so that Your holy love will remain in us.

We open our souls to you,

so that they may be touched by Your holy mercy

which will help us to see clearly all our sins,

and will make us realize,

that which makes us impure is sin.

 

God, we want to be Your children,

humble and devout,

to the point of becoming your cherished and

sincere children,

such as only the Father

would be able to desire that we be.

Help us, Jesus our brother,

to obtain the goodness of the Father in our regard,

and to be good to Him.

 

Help us Jesus,

to understand well what God gives us,

although sometimes we fail to perform a good act,

as though it were for us an evil.

 

In Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!

Cathy Nolan

© Mary TV 2012

 

PS. Again, I would like to mention the National Conference on Medjugorje at Notre Dame. It takes place on May 11, 12, and 13. There are many beautiful opportunities for prayer during this conference, including a candle light procession to the famous Grotto at Notre Dame, two powerful masses, and several recitations of the Rosary. The music is beautiful as well. If you are interested, call 574-288-8777 for details. Email: maryconference@sbcglobal.net   or go to www.QueenofPeaceMinistries.com .

 

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