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"Never utter in your neighbor's absence what you would not say in their presence." St. Mary Magdalene of Pazzi For Reflection: How well do I heed this sage advice?

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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist

Less than two months after the horrifying shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona  prompted nationwide calls for civility in public discourse, mobs of angry union workers in Wisconsin have thrown all sense of decency to the wind and are turning to violence in revenge for the passage of a bill that will restrict their collective bargaining rights.

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It's a catchy title that is sure to make it fly off the shelves, but Christians beware! Author Rob Bell,  pastor of Mars Hill Bible Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan and a leader in the equally heretical Emerging Church movement, has filled this book with a false doctrine known as universalism which teaches that everyone goes to heaven because there's no such thing as hell.

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During these first few weeks of Lent, Holy Mother Church directs us to ponder the reality of our mortality and to make a serious appraisal of how we are living our lives in light of it. Today’s reading from Divine Intimacy (#95) by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD, brings spiritual perspective to this most important consideration. Following are a couple of nuggets that impacted me today in my time of prayer:

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist The head of the Anglican Church of Canada has confirmed that they will hold discussions this spring about whether or not to waive a 2,000 year-old requirement that only a baptized Christian can receive Communion.

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist Pope Benedict XVI is set to make history on Good Friday when he takes part in a question and answer session on Italian TV, a show that is expected to be rebroadcast by television stations around the world. 

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist A new study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which is considered one of the largest and most in-depth federal report on sexual behavior of its kind, has found that a growing number of teens and young adults are choosing to remain chaste.

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  "Which stands up better in a crisis - man or woman? The best way to arrive at a conclusion is to go to the greatest crises the world ever faced, namely the CRUCIFIXON OF OUR DIVINE LORD. When we come to this great drama of Calvary there is one fact that stands out very clearly: Men failed. On the other hand, there is not a single instance of a woman's failing him." Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen For Reflection: Am I willing to stand at the foot of the cross with Mary and the other holy women? What cross is mine today?

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Yesterday on our radio program, Women of Grace® Live, I recommended two resources for Lent _-- In Conversation with God, Volume 2 by Francis Fernandez; and Divine Intimacy by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalene, OCD. Today, I followed my own advice and prayerfully read the selections for Ash Wednesday. Both were excellent. But it was one line in Section 2 of In Conversation with God that grabbed me.

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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS Staff Journalist

The plight of Baby Joseph Maraachli, whose family wants to bring the terminally ill child home to die, remains in limbo as the family's new lawyer plans to appeal the case to Canada's highest court, and the hospital is refusing to release medical records to doctors in Michigan who are willing to help.

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