This week: World Youth Day in reality and as portrayed by the mainstream media. A fallen SEAL and his dog. Abortion honors for Debbie Wasserman Schultz. Rick Perry signs the pro-life pledge. Susan G. Komen, still more than meets the eye. A simple explanation of the economic crisis. Puppy dreams.

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A wonderful sampling of World Youth Day attendees:

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Mainstream media bias at World Youth Day was to be expected. When they cover a pro-life march with hundreds of thousands of pro-lifers, they will find the handful of protesters and cover that. When they cover 1.5 million happy, energetic Catholics they do likewise. Father Barron nails it:

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On August 6th, 30 Americans and 8 Afghans died when their helicopter crashed under enemy fire. Navy SEAL Jon Tumilson was among them. At his funeral service in Rockford, Iowa 1,500 mourners paid their respects. Among them was Hawkeye, Jon’s dog who laid quietly at his master’s feet one last time.

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Black and white. First, the black: Hailed by president of Planned Parenthood as a heroine for her relentless support of abortion, Debbie Wasserman Schultz – Obama’s pick to chair the Democratic party – headlined at a recent PP rally.

Now the white: Rick Perry joins Michele Bachmann, Newt Gingrich, Ron Paul, Tim Pawlenty and Rick Santorum in signing the Susan B. Anthony List Pro-Life Leadership Presidential Pledge. Read the pledge if you are unfamiliar with it.

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Pink is a color too! Last year Susan G. Komen took a break from racing for the cure to redistribute funds that could have been used for breast cancer research. Instead, they re-gifted over a half million dollars to Planned Parenthood, with whom their founder has deep ties. Do not believe their cover story that PP performs mammograms, they do not. Killing millions of women in the womb is not a cure for breast cancer. Our bishops have also commented on Komen.

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A simple, straight-forward explanation of the US economic crisis:

Further explanation and a really good “What if the U.S. Government were an American Family?” comparison is at Man vs. Debt.

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Puppy dreams, just because…

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: People who understand their obligation to the poor taking action at the local market. The miracle of life. A great campus ministry promo. Another take on the corrected translation of the liturgy. Editing God. MSM bias is not just against the Church and conservatives. Surprise, you are getting married in an hour or so!

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You are in line at the grocery store. It’s moving slow, some sort of problem with a person ahead of you. They are using EBT (food stamps) and there is not enough credit to cover their total. They struggle with what to exclude, such as baby food. What do you do?

(This video is no longer available.)

This gives me so much hope!

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Great new promo for St. Mary’s Catholic Center at Texas A&M:

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The Life Teen folks have produced another informative video on the corrected translation of Mass:

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Our Father who is in heaven, uphold the holiness of your name. Bring in your kingdom so that your will is done on earth as it’s done in heaven. Give us the bread we need for today. Forgive us for the ways we have wronged you, just as we also forgive those who have wronged us. And don’t lead us into temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Some people simply can not leave scripture as revealed to us by God himself alone. God is out of step with modern man, has gender “inclusiveness” issues and is politically incorrect. Fortunately, as Mark Shea notes, there are “some scholars from the Protestant Churches Nobody Goes to Anymore and a few tired Catholic scholars of the Woodstock Generation have come out with the new Yet Another Version of the Bible.”

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The bias and complete lack of objectivity from the MSM (mainstream media) could not be more obvious:

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I am conflicted about this wedding:

On the plus side, it is incredibly romantic and a beautiful, loving gift to the bride. On the down side, the importance and presence of God is minimized. For Catholics, it does not have to be an either / or. Your comments are always welcome!

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: Fr. Muir gives the background on the corrected translation of Mass. A young girl makes a big impact. How congress has suffered in the downturn. 50 people are asked 1 question. Time magazine lobs a grenade at the Catholic Church, just because they can. Fowl, mindless act of criminality in Cornwall. A cat smarter than us.

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The Life Teen folks have produced an informative video on the corrected translation of Mass. Father John Muir narrates. This English translation will be used everywhere beginning this Advent.

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Rachel Beckwith wrote: “On June 12th 2011, I’m turning 9. I found out that millions of people don’t live to see their 5th birthday. And why? Because they didn’t have access to clean, safe water so I’m celebrating my birthday like never before. I’m asking from everyone I know to donate to my campaign instead of gifts for my birthday.” A birthday charity wish page was setup. Her goal was to raise $300, she fell a little short, but still raised $220.

On July 20, only 38 days after her birthday, Rachel and her family were in a terrible accident. Rachel would not survive, but her birthday wish lives on reaching almost $1,000,000. Her legacy will bring clean drinking water to over 47,000 people.

Thanks to Mary DeTurris Poust for spotting this story.

“Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me.”

Matthew 18:3-5

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Downgraded credit worthiness, record public debt, unemployment, foreclosures and general government dysfunction. Is this the change we can believe in? Well, at least those in congress are suffering too. Right?

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There is an interesting genre of videos on YouTube that ask 50 people 1 question, at locations around the world. Here, people in Galway, Ireland are asked about their biggest regret:

“I came so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” John 10:10

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Time magazine assistant managing editor Bill Saporito recently published a piece having nothing to do with the Church or protection of children. Yet, he opened it as follows:

Having Standard & Poor’s downgrade the creditworthiness of the U.S., and warn the country about further downgrades, is a little like having the Catholic Church lecture Scout leaders on the proper behavior toward boys.

Time Magazine

The absolute IRONY is that the Catholic Church in the US is today probably the best example of comprehensive, enforced policies for the protection of children. Children in the Boy Scouts, Saporito’s church (if he has one), and Saporito’s local public school would be much safer if they followed our programs. That of course, was not his point. His point was simply to smear the Church simply because he has the platform to do so.

Do you still subscribe to Time?

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Mindless criminality in England is not limited to people:

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Frida Kahio from Berlin wins 2 out of 3 times in a shell game:

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: A prayer that should not be repeated. No more “God the Father” or “Heavenly Father” in one inclusive Protestant denomination. Planned Parenthood’s success in attaining Margaret Sanger’s genocide against blacks. Ideology first – forget jobs, wars, unrestrained spending, debt our children will never dig out from – the administration goes after pro-lifers. How your taxes support abortions. Comboxes and the good works therein. Jen’s EWTN appearance.

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God is the creator of all things, but the level of specificity and commercialism in this prayer is over the top and more than a bit irreverent:

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The United Church of Christ no longer uses sexist terms like “God the Father” or “Heavenly Father.” In an inclusiveness frenzy run amok, they now refer to Him as the “Triune God.” I foresee yet another, more “inclusive” translation of the Holy Bible where much of Jesus speech is “corrected” for political correctness. Personally, I look upon any Bible adjustments for “inclusiveness” as direct assaults on the word of God. There is no limit to that slippery slope. More on the UCC insanity is here.

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Margaret Sanger’s (founder of Planned Parenthood) dream of a black genocide comes true. What is the #1 killer of blacks today – more than HIV, respiratory disease, homicide, diabetes, accidents, kidney disease, cancer or heart disease? More than ALL of these combined? Planned Parenthood. The National Black Pro-life Coalition, together with the Radiance Foundation, has released another hard-hitting video:

(This video is no longer available.)

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Dick Retta, a parishioner at St. Raphael Catholic Church is a dedicated pro-life sidewalk counselor. An elderly gentleman, Dick has been tireless in saving lives for over 14 years:

This administration’s Department of Justice has recently recognized the good work Dick has done. They have targeted him, filing suit against him personally for $10,000 for allegedly violating the rights of confused women to kill their babies. They have also identified 3 women he approached and are demanding he pay an additional $15,000 to these “victims.”

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Money you pay in taxes funds Planned Parenthood’s abortion business. Make no mistake about it:

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Russ Rentler recounts an interesting, yet frustrating, Facebook apologetics exchange he participated in. There are many excellent comments, including this one by Janet Schmick Mrazek:

Jesus is Lord and we should exalt him as all Catholics, who know and understand their faith do. But where would we be without His Church, the Church he gave to the Apostles, when He handed the keys to the Kingdom to Peter.

When I watched my husband go back to the Catholic Church after many years absence, it had a great effect on me. I was not Catholic at the time and just went along in support of my husband. To watch a grown man go back to a Church building (not his home parish) where he knew no one and have tears in his eyes before we even parked the car, had a big effect on me.

I knew then that my attachment to my church was not my faith, it was the people/community, family & the history of the building that I had me stay. He tried to tell me that he did not need to know anyone and that even if the preaching that day wasn’t the best, it did not matter because Jesus was there. Not being Catholic I did not understand and to be honest was a little offended at that comment. But yet, I was very moved by his strong belief and I knew that even though I professed to be a Christian and did know Jesus Christ and his Gospel message, I knew that I would never have tears in my eyes entering the parking lot of a non-Catholic church parking lot.

After 3 long years of reading, watching EWTN, alternating between attending Mass and my home church, I finally understood that it was the Eucharist that my husband missed, not the preaching or the people and I made the decision to become Catholic and finally be able to receive the true Body & Blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I became a Catholic in 1998 and I know that the Church has given me the biggest gift I could have ever received through the Eucharist.

You can pray to Jesus, ask for forgiveness of sins, hear good preaching, read good books, have good fellowship, have bible studies; and all of this is good and will bring you closer to Christ. It is only through Jesus Christ that we are saved. But it is only in the Catholic Church that we have the fullness of the faith. We have so much more than any other Christian Church. We have all the Sacraments which give us many graces and lead closer to our Saviour. We have the rich prayers (but still can pray to Jesus directly with personal prayers), we have the Saints as our friends and role models, we have the beautiful Churches that bring Glory to our Lord, we have Mary who always reminds us to follow the way of her Son. Most of these things have been dropped by the other churches.

Can Jesus save other Christians? Absolutely, He is God and can choose to save who he wants. But I choose to be in the Church where I can receive Him in the Eucharist and I can receive the all these graces, not just some of them. Most people who study Early Church History agree.

I will pray that this message will not offend, but will reflect the love that I found in the Catholic Church. If you want to know more, I suggest that you contact the Catholic Church in your area and attend RCIA classes to find out what the Catholic Church really is about. Most Churches start their classes in September. There are so many misconceptions out there, don’t believe everything you hear. Go to the source for your information. May God Bless you, Marjorie and I will pray for your understanding.

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Jenifer Fulwiler (who started and hosts 7 Quick Takes Friday) is an atheist convert to Catholicism. Her conversion story was on the EWTN show The Choices We Face on July 17th:

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!

This week: Christine Watkins tells her conversion story and overviews her book on converts. A new book on the Church and new media. A week in the life of a priest. Jerusalem in iMax 3D. The world’s oldest nun, still going strong. A whimsical Catholic nun commercial.

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Christine Watkins tells her conversion story:

Christine is the author of Full of Grace:

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The Internet has changed how we communicate. Our Holy Father has “set sail on the digital continent”, tweeting from his iPad. *We* are called to evangelize and one very effective way to do that is online. Brandon Vogt’s new book (available August 3^rd) compiles insights from many people I personally follow closely:

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The Archdiocese of Sydney has produced a very nice “week in the life of a priest” video. On balance, it probably represents a reasonable average and is up-beat. In my large parish (we just got our 4th priest!), the pace looks a bit faster. There are also tragedies like suicides, horrific accidents, and more that place great emotional demands on them. Pray for your priests!

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A new film (2013 release) entitled Jerusalem: Filmed in iMax 3D is in the works:

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This is the world’s oldest nun. A remarkable woman who entered her convent 84 years ago on the same day Pope Benedict was born. Sister Teresita is 103 years young:

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This is from a couple years ago, but it is just great:

Some random thoughts or bits of information are worthy of sharing but don’t warrant their own full post. This idea was started by Jennifer Fulwiler at Conversion Diary to address this blogging need. So, some Fridays I too participate when I have accumulated 7 worthy items. Thank you Jen for hosting this project!