My Dear Sisters in Christ,
I am so eager to share with you about our most recent Women of Grace National Conference that was held in Sacramento, CA this past weekend, but I am about to head out the door to speak at St. Raphael's Catholic Church in St. Petersburg, FL. in just a few minutes, so --- I will blog about it later today. Suffice to say that it was an amazing conference! I'll be back with you later, so take a look.
Blessings in Jesus and Mary,
Johnnette
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Powerful new television ads encouraging Catholics to return to the Church are being run in major cities across the United States with astonishing results.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as Senator John McCain’s vice presidential running mate is being cited as the reason for a dramatic increase in the Senator’s popularity among Catholic voters who attend church weekly.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Seventeen centuries after his death, Cardinal Crescenzio Sepe of Naples has confirmed that the blood of martyred St. Januarius once again turned to liquid on his Sept. 19 feast day.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The world’s first license to created cloned human embryos for research has been granted by the Australian government to an in vitro fertilization (IVF) in Sydney.
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"Purgatory is where you will have the capacity to see how the world would have been (your family, your neighborhood, your community, your world) had you done what God called you to do," so said presenter, Mary Jo Anderson to the nearly 60 women who gathered yesterday for the first day of the Benedicta Leadership Institute for Women being held here in Sacramento, CA.
The Institute is an outgrowth of Women of Grace and seeks to identify, educate, develop and train Catholic women to be active leaders and mentors of the day in accord with their state in in life. Its hope is that Catholic women will infuse the institutions, organzations, and governmental agencies of our day and time with Catholic moral and social teachings so as to bring about the culture of life.
The presenters of this year's Institute are Catholic Journalist Mary Jo Anderson and Camille Pauley, President of Healing the Culture.com. Yesterday both speakers encouraged the women to enter the marketplace of ideas armed with Catholic truth and ready to help make converts out of secularists who seek to separate the society of man from a godly perspective and godly principles.
Today, Pauley has led the women through a workshop experience in which they can apply the principles they have learned to real life situations. This practical application helps the women develop communication skills and team approach efforts to resolve issues and problem-solve solutions.
Demographically, the participants range in age from early thirties to mid sixties.
Following are some quotes from yesterday's session that seemed particularly poignant to me. I hope they will give you pause for pondering and reflecting:
"Communities do not reflect the values of the people who live there. They reflect the values of the people who participate."
"Separation of Church and State originated from the French Revolution and literally meant the separation of the State (France) from the Catholic Church."
"Don't view the secularist as your enemy, but rather as a potential convert."
"It is not permissable for anyone to remain idle."
The Women of Grace National Conference opens later this afternoon with a liturgy celebrated at the downtown Cathedral by Bishop Soto.
Check my blog for further updates this weekend live from Conference headquarters.
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by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
Students across the nation will be gathering around the flagpoles of their schools before classes begin on Sept. 24 to pray for their schools, teachers and the country in order to exercise their First Amendment right to pray at their schools.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
The Family Research Council (FRC) released a study yesterday demonstrating that state parental involvement laws are very effective in reducing abortions among minors.
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by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
New Age “angels” are becoming the hottest new trend in Ireland with so-called “angel teachers” instructing the public on how to “spread the light of angels, ascension and the sacred mysteries of the Universe.” Publishers are already fighting over the rights to publish one best-selling book on the subject in the U.S.
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by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
New Age “angels” are becoming the hottest new trend in Ireland with so-called “angel teachers” instructing the public on how to “spread the light of angels, ascension and the sacred mysteries of the Universe.” Publishers are already fighting over the rights to publish one best-selling book on the subject in the U.S.
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