How Do You Know if Your Pro-Life Work is Stopping Abortion? | LifeNews.com

If we are not careful, no matter what kind of ministry we are involved with, we can quickly become discouraged when we perceive little or no impact or progress in our work and the only results we see are not the ones we have in mind. This is as true in pro-life work as in any other.

“How do you know if you’re making a difference?” the man in the audience asked me during a question and answer session at a high school pro-life rally that I spoke at in 2011. This moment will forever be ingrained in my memory.

I was not so much surprised at his question,as we all consider it from time to time, no matter what our life’s work, as much as I was at his tone. The way that he posed his question made it sound as if he wondered the difference that someone like me, an abortion survivor, a pro-life speaker and advocate, can make in this world.

“I know that I’m making a difference every day. I can feel it in the depths of my soul. We may never know on this earth the difference that we make, but we have to have faith. From time to time, I’m given a glimpse at the difference I make.” The words that came out of my mouth in reply were heartfelt and true. And despite his tone, the one that made me think he was looking for more quantitative data than a qualitative response, he seemed appeased by my answer. But was I appeased? That was the real question…..

Read more here: How Do You Know if Your Pro-Life Work is Stopping Abortion? | LifeNews.com:

'via Blog this'

Church's namesake Tekakwitha to be canonized for sainthood

This holy woman has always intrigued me. She maintained her faith in the most trying of difficulties while so many today simply discard it out of pique, willful ignorance or laziness. Her story now should recieve far greater attention and her life should serve as an inspiration to us all.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha — the namesake of three churches in the Pass — will become the first Native American Saint in 2012.

On Dec. 19, Pope Benedict XVI approved the miracle needed for the canonization ceremony. Before that happens, the Cardinals must support the pope’s decision in Rome.

Father Joseph Nguyen, pastor of the Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha churches in Banning, Beaumont and the Morongo reservation, said elevating Kateri Tekakwitha to sainthood would mean a lot to him and his parishioners.

“It’s a joyful occasion for us to celebrate and we would change the name from Blessed to Saint Kateri Tekakwitha,” said Nguyen.

Read on here: Record Gazette > Archives > News > Church's namesake Tekakwitha to be canonized for sainthood:

'via Blog this'

Abortion Insanity | Catholic Lane

Studies sometimes seem designed to reach a predetermined conclusion The reality of this hit home in the exposure of some flawed environmental studies whis has caused a tremendous setback for the environmental movement. Here is another example.

"The 252 page systematic review “Induced Abortion and Mental Health” published in December 2011 by the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges is easily dismantled by appealing to its fundamental premise. You don’t have to be a medical doctor to know that if you ask the wrong question, your entire premise is flawed and time spent answering flawed questions is time wasted. People either do that ignorantly or dishonestly. It’s a faulty question to ask whether or not a woman suffers mental anguish after she kills her own child. Of course she does, a woman with her sanity and dignity intact doesn’t do that in the first place, and women who abort need help, not excuses."

Read on here: http://catholiclane.com/abortion-insanity/

The toll of “martyrs” in 2011 - Vatican Insider

The toll of “martyrs” in 2011 - Vatican Insider: "26 missionaries have been killed during the year. And they lose their lives especially in the world’s most Catholic region, South America

ALESSANDRO SPECIALE
ROME
That of the missionaries killed during this year that draws to a close, is a geography of blood that goes from Colombia to the Philippines,  from Nigeria to India.  Like every year, it is traced by  the agency Fides, a unit of the Vatican Congregation of Propaganda Fide, which maintains the sad count of the priests, religious and lay killed, who were “exposed to persecution, and sometimes martyrdom for spreading the Gospel” - as pointed out by Benedict XVI last December 26th."

'via Blog this'


Read on.

Top 10 Reasons for Hope

This beats any of those David Letterman lists.

Top 10 under-covered Vatican stories (plus a bonus feature) | National Catholic Reporter

Top 10 under-covered Vatican stories (plus a bonus feature) | National Catholic Reporter: "By now, it's an "All Things Catholic" tradition to run down the top under-covered Vatican stories of the year. The idea is not to flag the year's most celebrated events or personalities, because plenty of other news agencies do that. Rather, I try to lift up storylines that otherwise flew below radar but that were actually fairly important.
If I were compiling a list of the biggest Vatican stories of the year, for instance, the beatification of Pope John Paul II on May 1 would probably be near the top. Yet it doesn't make the cut as an "under-covered" event, because it's hard to believe anybody who picked up a newspaper in May 2011, or who watched TV that day, could have missed it. Similarly, a document from the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace on reform of the international economy, as well as the Vatican's diplomatic spat with Ireland, both were important stories, but they were hardly overlooked."

'via Blog this'

Read on.

Solemnity of the Blessed Virgin Mary