In January this year I sat in my kitchen early one morning, bleary-eyed after a fractured night’s sleep. (And I’m using the term “sleep” quite loosely.)  The former night’s guilty parties, ages 2 and 5, lounged – in varied stages of consciousness themselves – on the couch, while I clutched a mug of coffee and scrolled through the day’s news stories.  Suddenly I was wide awake, as I came upon the headlines of several Catholic sites: “Pope says Motherhood is Martyrdom.”  Whoa.

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Nine years ago I went for a walk with Alice von Hildebrand.  The lovely Catholic philosopher and theologian had come into Phoenix to give a talk on God’s love, and desiring to enjoy the weather and the views around Camelback mountain, she found me a willing companion.  Our conversation turned to my uncle, who had recently died after a terribly painful battle with stomach cancer.  I had described his life to her, and then she stopped me, looked into my eyes, and said in her beautiful accent, “You’ve got to write that.”  Firmly.  And I knew I should, not just because when Alice von Hildebrand tells you to do something, you probably should, but also because deep down I knew it was true.  So…it took me nine years, but here goes, and intentionally in time for the feast of St. Joseph the Worker, May  1st.

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Brian Patrick sits down with Bishop Denis Madden (Archdiocese of Baltimore), Bishop Wolfgang D. Herz-Lane (Delaware-Maryland Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church), Rabbi Scott Nagel (Temple Oheb Shalom), Bishop Eugene Sutton (Episcopal Diocese of Maryland), and Rev. S. Todd Yeary (Douglas Memorial Community Church) to discuss the underlying issues behind the recent street violence.

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Dear Friends,

We are forwarding this request that was shared with us by a faithful friend. Please join us in praying.

"Imagine what might happen if every Catholic in the world would pray a Rosary on the same day! We have an example in October of 1573, when Europe was saved from the invasion of the mighty Turkish fleet, by the praying of the Rosary by all Christians!

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Dear Friends,

We are sharing the urgent prayer request below from EWTN's Facebook page:

Urgent prayer request from Sister Monica, Daughter of Charity in Paris: "Members of the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul in Syria were kidnapped, along with their wives and children. The children were isolated and put into cages. Adults who do not deny their faith will be decapitated, and their children burned alive in the cages. Let us remain fervently united in prayer, and have as our intention the welfare of all brothers and sisters in our Christian faith who are being held hostage. Mother Mary, please console them, and protect them all from harm! O Mary, conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to thee." EWTN Prayer Warriors, please share this with everyone you know.

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Commentary by Mandy Howard

It felt righteous. I was speaking God’s Truth and I was standing up for the life of the most defenseless. “Abortion is murder,” I said with strength and courage, “murder is not the same as natural death!”

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On the evening of February 9, 2015, St. Rita Catholic Church in Alexandria, Louisiana gathered 110 women who have committed to the journey of a Lenten Women of Grace® study program. These women are inspired by the life of St. Rita, a woman who well interpreted the "feminine genius" espoused in the study, by living it intensely in day-to-day life and particularly in her gift of spiritual motherhood. The Women of Grace study program is their path to a deeper understanding of their God-given, unique feminine gifts, and the discovery of their particular role in bringing Jesus Christ to the world.

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"Those whose hearts are pure are the temples of the Holy Spirit."                                                                                    - Saint Lucy

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In 1995, I was nearing graduation as a student at the Franciscan University with a degree in theology when I learned about the tragic impact of the radical feminist movement in Beijing, China. My father was a lobbyist at the UN conference on Women in Beijing and I remember sitting on the floor of my dorm room as he told me with great concern about their move to redefine gender. I knew this was wrong, very wrong, and I wanted to find out more about what the Church, in her wisdom, had taught about authentic femininity.

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