By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The lesbian parents of an 11 year-old boy are allowing him to undergo sex change therapy because they claim the child has always wanted to be a girl.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Same-sex marriage has already forced the Church out of the adoption business in many U.S. states where the unions are sanctioned, but it is now threatening to force the Church out of the marriage business too, says Archbishop Barry Hickey of the Archdiocese of Perth, Australia, who says he'll stop performing marriages altogether if forced to conduct the unions.
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"Take great care to avoid the two pitfalls that most people fall into during the Rosary. The first is the danger of not asking for any graces at all. So, whenever you say your Rosary, be sure to ask for some special grace or virtue, or strength to overcome some sin."
(See tomorrow's Grace Line for the second pitfall.)
St. Louis de Montfort
For Reflection:
What special grace or virtue will I ask to obtain when I say my Rosary today? Is there a sin I need the strength to overcome? What is it? I will tuck this intention into my prayer as well.
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"From my youthful years this prayer has held an important place in my spiritual life. The Rosary has accompanied me in moments of joy and in moments of difficulty. To it I have entrusted any number of concerns: in it I have always found comfort."
Pope John Paul II
For Reflection:
What position does the Rosary hold in my spiritual life? Am I in a moment of joy or difficulty? Am I willing to entrust this moment to this prayer?
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Queen of the Holy Rosary
Queen of the Holy Rosary!
Thee as our Queen we greet,
And lay our lowly, loving prayers
Like roses at thy feet.
Would that these blossoms of our souls
Were far more fair and sweet.
Queen of the Joyful Mysteries!
Glad news God's envoy bore.
The Baptist's mother thou didst tend;
Angels thy Babe adore,
Whom with two doves thou ransomest;
Lost, He is found once more.
Queen of the Dolorous Mysteries!
Christ 'mid the olives bled,
Scourged at the pillar, crowned with thorns,
Beneath His Cross He sped
Up the steep hill; and there once more
Thine arms embraced Him--dead!
Queen of the Glorious Mysteries!
Christ from the tomb has flown,
Has mounted to the highest heaven
And sent His Spirit down
And soon He raises thee on high
To wear thy heavenly crown.
Queen of the Holy Rosary!
We, too, have joys and woes.
May they, like thine, to triumph lead!
May labor earn repose,
And may life's sorrows and life's joys
In heavenly glory close.
Cyril Robert
For Reflection:
As I contemplate this poem, how have I seen the mysteries of Christ's life reflected in my own?
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
Only months after becoming the sixth state in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage, the state of New York is once again pushing the cultural envelope by considering a proposal to allow Medicaid to cover transgender surgery and hormone replacement therapy.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
The Census Bureau admitted this week that it had "artificially inflated" the number of same-sex couples in the U.S. by about 40 percent and has issued a revised number they say is more accurate.
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By Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
An international pro-life group has discovered that 11 of the 15 members of the Committee on Preventive Services for Woman of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), the group that advised the Department of Health and Human Services HHS to force all private health insurers to pay for FDA-approved contraception, are either tied to major pro-abortion groups or to politicians who support that ideology.
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"Deign, O Immaculate Virgin, Mother most pure, to accept the loving cry of praise which we send up to thee from the depths of our hearts. Though they can but add little to thy glory, O Queen of Angels, thou dost not despise, in thy love, the praises of the humble and the poor.
Cast down upon us a glance of mercy, O most glorious Queen: graciously receive our petitions. Through thy immaculate purity of body and mind, which rendered thee so pleasing to God, inspire us with a love of innocence and purity.
Teach us to guard carefully the gifts of grace, striving ever after sanctity, so that, being made like unto the image of thy beauty, we may be worthy to become the sharers of thy eternal happiness. Amen."
St. Paschasius
For Reflection:
Dear Mother, I make this prayer with heartfelt sincerity. Please bring everything in me into conformity with your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Commentary by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Journalist
A high school health teacher in California deducted 25 points from a student's grade because he caused an "interruption of class time" by saying "bless you" to a fellow student.
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