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St. Francis Adoring the Crucifix The Catholic Church calls those that have extra-ordinary revelation, "mystics."  I do not like this term, The mystical is shunned and looked down on in our society because some people look on the mystic as someone unbalanced, or if their revelations are believed, then they are looked upon as a person who has attained a friendship with God to which no one else can attain. There is nothing farther from the truth... TO READ MORE CLICK HERE.

19 folks killed nearly 3,000 other people on September 11, 2001 . They were waging Osama bin Laden's religious war against the United States. 14 years later, Osama bin Laden is dead, and a great many more folks have died in various 'holy wars.'... ...A third of a million people fled their homelands this year, heading for Europe. The survivors may or may not find shelter there. 1 ... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

In all history of God there have been three ages and we are in the  last  of the three ages. The first age was the  Age of the Prophets ,  ....to find out what the other two ages are... CLICK HERE!

About 3,000 folks died in attacks on New York City's World Trade Center and the Pentagon on this date, 13 years ago. The death toll would almost certainly have been higher, if passengers and surviving crew of United Airlines Flight 93 had not attacked their hijackers. They died, probably because the Al Qaeda pilot deliberately flew into the ground. Depending on their views, folks have commemorated the 9/11 attacks in many ways. Some have declared that the attacks were justified, because America is a big meany. They usually express the idea in more sophisticated terms, of course. Others say that Muslims are to blame: all Muslims. Still others take the more sweeping view that all religion is to blame. I think there is a tiny element of truth in 'all of the above.' Al Qaeda's leader at the time, Osama bin Laden, almost certainly had sincerely-held religious beliefs: and chose American targets in response to this country's profound lack of fidelity to his

" 1 First of all, then, I ask that supplications, prayers, petitions, and thanksgivings be offered for everyone, " for kings and for all in authority, that we may lead a quiet and tranquil life in all devotion and dignity. " ( 2 Timothy 1 - 2 ) A post on Google Plus ( August 25, 2014 ) let me know about Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna's challenge or request for a half-hour of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament at a particular time today. Video post Bishop Saad Sirop Hanna, on Facebook The time was 6:00 p.m. Iraq time. Here in Sauk Centre, Minnesota, that's 10:00 a.m. — and there's a Eucharistic adoration chapel about a half-mile north of my home.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

I am at war.  Although I may not look like it, trust me I am in a great war that never ceases around me.  I fight a battle everyday for the souls in purgatory and the lost souls that fall into hell everyday.  The loss of souls is one of the greatest tragedies in the universe.  Because God's justice is perfect, lost souls are in hell of their own volition.  There is nothing more heartbreaking to realize that this sentence is for all time.  Those that are falling into hell right now will still be suffering there 1 million years from now, and 100,000 x 100,000 million years and so on.. Stepping on the battlefield for lost souls  is one of the most treacherous things you can do in relation to the status of your own salvation.  The reason for this is that you can't do anything for God.  You aren't doing God any favors by your prayers, even if 1000 souls where to be released from Purgatory with your prayer, you didn't do it, God did.   You just asked that the battle be

Peace between warring nations comes with a hard-fought truce. Peace between the oppressor and those afraid to resist comes at the price of slavery. Peace pursued constantly through pleasure and consumption is a fantasy that leads to obsession with whatever it takes to live stress-free:   comfort foods, constant distraction of entertainment, addictions. We strive to live so that we don’t hurt anywhere. Our relationships work to our advantage. We have everything we want on our happiness checklist. For now. Are we depending on ideal circumstances for a transient peace? Peace on our terms? We ask God for peace. We ask him to take away our pain and struggles so that we can have peace. Yet in the middle of a health crisis, a faith crisis or a relationships crisis, where is God? We find him there with us. Like the soldier in battle or the cowering slave, we stay poised to discover the peace that defies our understanding—and our control. No one can take that peace away from us. Peac

This is the day Pope Francis asked Christians worldwide to fast and to pray for our brothers and sisters in Syria. It also is the feast day of Our Lady of Good Health (Vailankanni). Today, I traveled with our younger son and three of my CL friends from New Jersey to a Staten Island parish where we joined hundreds of others in fasting for Syria and feasting for Our Lady of Good Health. Keep Reading...

While thousands of faithful   gather in St. Peter's Square  this Saturday at 7 p.m., I'd like to host a virtual prayer for peace in Syria. That will be at 1 p.m. New York time. I'm not sure where I will be since I am still sorting out my Saturday plans, which include a cyclocross race in Trexlertown, Pa.. But I plan to participate in the fast from sundown Friday to sundown Saturday and to pray for peace at 1 p.m.  Will you join me? Keep Reading...

The young man was showing his friend something on his cell phone. "What are you looking at?" I asked him. "It's my brother. A picture of my brother learning to walk," he told me, looking up with a big smile.   Read more here....

I'd forgotten all about the movie "The Pianist," which was released in 2002 and won the Palme D'Or until several of my freshman students began talking to me about it. They had seen the parts of this movie in eighth grade, during a quarter-long study of the Holocaust and were deeply moved by it. I'd never seen the movie and wanted to be able to talk with them about it. This is a brutal, magnificent movie. It speaks of the human spirit and its struggle to survive. Based largely on the true story of classical pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman, it gives witness to the life of  gifted Polish pianist, a Jew, who managed to survive in Warsaw during World War II while hundreds of thousands of Jews were exterminated in death camps. Szpilman is portrayed by actor Adrien Brody, then 29, who won an Academy Award for his work. Read more »