Mitt Romney Talks to Raymond Arroyo About Religious Liberty, the Role of Prayer in His Life

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WEEKLY FEATURED PROGRAM

EWTN Exclusive: Mitt Romney Talks to Raymond Arroyo About Religious Liberty, the Role of Prayer in His Life, And Breaks News
By Michelle Laque Johnson
GOP Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney sits down for an exclusive interview with EWTN News Director and Anchor Raymond Arroyo at 8 p.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 23 on EWTN's news and opinion program, "The World Over."
"During this interview, Gov. Romney breaks news about what we can expect at the Republican National Convention and reacts to charges by President Obama that he chose Paul Ryan as his running mate to lower his personal tax burden," Arroyo said. "He also talks about the hot issue of religious liberty, the role of prayer in his life, and how being a bishop in the Mormon Church prepared him for the presidency."
EWTN sent out a news release about this interview and received tons of calls from the media. You will not want to miss this already much-anticipated interview!
Strong Men, Strong Faith
Listen up men – and those who love them. This week, as part of our "EWTN On Location" Series, we're taking you to the "Strong Men, Strong Faith" Conference that was held earlier this year in Birmingham, Alabama -- and do we have a dynamic duo for you! (Airs 10 p.m. ET, Sunday, Aug. 26; 1 p.m. ET, Tuesday, Aug. 28; and 5 a.m. ET, Thursday, Aug. 30 – exclusively on EWTN.)
The one-hour Conference kicks off with NFL Quarterback Philip Rivers, who plays for the San Diego Chargers. His story is especially effective with young men who may be struggling with their faith – or teenage boys that don't want to go to Mass. He sprinkles in sports talk – such as why he went to North Carolina State and not Alabama or Auburn – with talk about how going to college meant he would be on his own for the first time so he could do what he wanted. But what he chose to do, in addition to playing football extremely well, was to attend to Mass – every Sunday. In January 2008, Rivers had a knee injury that would have taken him out of a championship game and a chance to play in the Super Bowl. He was scheduled for surgery on Jan. 20, which his mother told him was the Feast of St. Sebastian. He prayed; he doused his knee with holy oil; he played in the game. His team didn't win, but Rivers says he won spiritually, because he so strongly felt the Presence of the Holy Spirit that week. Rivers mesmerized the young as well as the old!
The second speaker at the Conference is for those men who need a dose of inspiration to kick up their faith! Deacon Alex Jones was a Pentecostal minister. He gave up everything – his ministry, his livelihood, his beloved church building, his friends, his reputation, and even some family members (who still don't talk to him) – to enter the Catholic Church. Why? How could he do that? After all, he had a family to support!
Deacon Jones says, to this day, he has a deep love for our Protestant brothers and sisters – and so should we. He shares a powerful story of conversion that happened in his former church. A man who "came to Jesus" just started running around the church and rolling on the floor like a madman. Deacon Jones stopped him and said, in essence, "You don't need to do that to be saved." The man said, "You don't understand." Deacon Jones said, "Help me to understand." The man told him he had been severely depressed his entire life; that depression had led him to become violent against his wife and family. He had hit bottom. Someone said to him, "You've tried everything else. Why don't you try Jesus?" The man decided he had nothing to lose. But before he came to the Church that night, he purchased a gun and five bullets. If it didn't "work," he was going to go home and kill his family and then take his own life. Fortunately, despite this man's sinfulness, God had mercy on him. After he was prayed over, for the first time in his life, the man was set free -- so free that, many years later, he actually became the pastor of that same church!
So Deacon Jones says that he loves our Protestant brothers and sisters. They have part of the truth in their churches and do great work. However, as he studied his faith, he became to see that the Baptists and the Methodists and the Lutherans and everyone in between all came into existence in the latter centuries; some as recently as 1901. Only one Church can trace its roots back to Christ. That Church is, of course, the Catholic Church. When Deacon Jones realized that, he said he knew with great clarity, that his life would never be the same. God had shown him that the Catholic Church was the only Church in which he could find the faith in all its fullness.
God would call Deacon Alex Jones to give up everything for him – just as He calls us. Deacon Jones admits that this call is sometimes extremely painful – as it was for him. Like Deacon Jones, we may have to take it on faith that somehow, God will make it okay. Deacon Jones says his story is proof that, God indeed makes it "okay." In the end, says the Deacon, we win. We win – and like the man above who was filled with despair – we are set free.
Take the journey. Watch "Strong Men, Strong Faith" this week on EWTN. Then, if you're inspired to know more, log onto to www.strongmenstrongfaith.org and find out how this "fellowship of men drawn to Christ" can help you become a better Catholic.
God bless you, Family!
New On Home Video This Week
CATHOLIC WAY BIBLE STUDY – THE GOSPELS: EWTN brings you the Gospels in a new and exciting format, exclusively developed by Catholic Way Bible Study. Each 30-minute episode was taped before a live audience at the Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington, Kentucky. This 2-disc set is a wonderful introduction to the CWBS method of learning the Word of God, whose popularity has spread from the Diocese of Lexington throughout many dioceses in the U.S., Europe, and the Philippines. Get it here: http://bit.ly/OVtImE.
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