The Catholic Monitor

Padre Pio's obedience must, of course, be read in the light of St. Thomas Aquinas's: "It is written: 'We ought to obey God rather than men.[Acts 5:29].' Now sometimes the things commanded by superiors [including popes] are against God. Therefore, superiors are not to be obeyed in all things." http://www.unitypublishing.com/Newsletter/PadrePioCrowds.htm -This was the last letter Padre Pio ever wrote. I am sure Padre Pio would say the same thing Lucia said, "He who is not with the Pope is not with God." Or Faustina who was told by Christ, "The devil can imitate humility but he cannot imitate obedience." -Padre Pio's holiness is so extraordinary that it might even be frightening. He is the Simon of Cyrene of this century. His stigmata are the proof, but also his very long days in the confessional. And then his nights dedicated to penance, prayer, struggles with the devil. This is his mysticism of expiation. I have considered P...

COURAGE Courage is an apostolate of the Roman Catholic Church whose purpose is to minister to those with same-sex attractions and their loved ones. Courage, founded by Fr. John Harvey, is the only such organization in the Catholic Church approved by the Vatican. www.couragerc.net Counselors for Homosexuality and Gender-Identity Disorder (G.I.D.)** Contact NARTH to find a professional counselor trained in reparative therapy. National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) http://www.narth.com/ Homosexuality and Hope: Statement of the Catholic Medical Association (11/2000) http://www.narth.com/docs/hope.html Causes, Treatment, Prevention of Homosexuality by Joseph Nicolosi at Focus on the Family Youth Conference http://www.bridges-across.org/ba/memphis/nicolosi.htm National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH) http://www.narth.com/ New! Encourage Encourage is a ministry within Courage dedicated to the spiritual needs of parents, siblings, ...

The rosary was given to save the world! The following text is taken from an interview with Sister Lucia , (one of the Fatima visionaries), by Father Fuentes in December 26, 1957 "Look, Father, the Most Holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given new efficacy in the recitation of the Holy Rosary. She has given this efficacy to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or above all spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, of our families, of the families in the world, or of the religious communities, or even of the life of peoples and nations that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot solve by the prayer of the Holy Rosary. With the Holy Rosary, we will save ourselves." Bishop Fulton J. Sheen : "If you wish to convert anyone to the fullness of the knowledge of Our Lord and to His Mystical Body, then teach him the Rosary. One of tw...

- Overcoming Militant Islamic Invaders 1571 - The Battle of Lepanto The victory at Lepanto is the most famous and important of the military victories through the Rosary. On October 7, 1571 the Turk's attempted to invade Christian Europe at Lepanto on the coast of Greece. The Pope asked Catholics to pray the Rosary with the intention that the Turk's attack would fail. The Christians were out numbered 3 to 1. Thanks to the Rosary prayers and against all odds, the Christians were victorious, sinking 200 Turkish ships and killing 50,000 of their men. The feast of Our Lady of the Rosary is now celebrated on October 7th every year in memory of this miraculous victory. This famed battle inspired G.K. Chesterton, a renowned author to write the poem entitled, "Lepanto" chronicling the exciting events of that day. You can also listen to the story of Lepanto in the brand new CD set Lepanto: Battle That Saved The West. Christopher Check tells the exhilarating story of Lepanto, f...

Stop for a moment of silence, ask God what He want you to do next. Make this a practice. By doing this you are doing more good than reading anything here or anywhere else on the Internet. Due to Netflix's Anti-Christian DVDs I switched to Pius Media (piusmedia.com). Is Netflix Anti-Christian? What is the Catholic Netflix? Is Netflix Anti-American or Pro-Canada? It has come to my delighted attention that there exists a fine establishment by the name of Pius Media (piusmedia.com) which offers Catholic and other good DVDs by mail. Apparently there is also Faith and Family Flix (faithandfamilyflix.com) which is a touch more expensive. 'Self-absorbed' Americans may ignore Canada price disparity Reed Hastings: For now we're focused on Canada. If we succeed in Canada, we will certainly look at other markets. But each market is unique, and what attracted us to Canada is great broadband, and a great love of movies and TV shows. THR: American services when they enter the Canadian...

Might aliens be involved with ghosts or demons? Stan Romanek and David J. Hufford wondered about that idea? Messages: The World's Most Documented Extraterrestrial Contact Story - Google Books Result Stan Romanek, J. Allan Danelek - 2009 - Body, Mind & Spirit - 259 pages: "So now was I some sort of 'ghost magnet'? If so, how could that happen? ... In any case, the ghost specialists spent some time trying to capture video." http://www.alienresistance.org/ce4testimony17.htm The Terror That Comes in the Night There is a book by David J. Hufford called The Terror that Comes in the Night. The sub-title of the book describes the contents: "An Experience-Centered Study of Supernatural Assault Traditions." Dr. Hufford is a sociologist and university professor. According to his research about one sixth of the population experiences the phenomenon described in his book yet almost no one talks about it. The experience Hufford describes is similar to what has ...

BLESSED SALT Rev. John H. Hampsch C.M.F. There is a renewed interest today in the ancient sacramental of blessed salt, especially by charismatics, in healing and deliverance situations, etc. To understand its proper use and its efficacy, it would be helpful to review the Scriptural symbolism and its history, since Vatican II urges us to participate “intelligently and actively” in the use of sacramentals, just as in the use of Sacraments. Salt in the ancient world was a precious commodity (even monopolized by the royalty in Egypt and Persia). Roman soldiers were partially paid with packets of salt (”sal” in Latin); this was the origin of our word “salary” and of phrases like “worth his salt,” etc. Being costly, it was an appropriate offering to God as a “covenant of salt” (Lev. 2: 13; II Chron. 13:5; Num. 18:19) used in sacrifices by the Isrealites (Ezek. 43:24) and for the accompanying sacrificial meal (Gen. 31:54). Belief in its preservative and healing properties led to its use to dr...

A Personal Relationship With Jesus Christ? Within various forms of Evangelical Christianity in the Western world the catchphrase “personal relationship with Jesus Christ” is heard over and over again. In sermons, in books and among various conversations overheard between ‘born-again’ Christians it is heard again and again about this ‘personal relationship with Jesus Christ’ and at what point in their life that that momentous event began. “What a Friend I have in Jesus” is a popular hymn sung in Churches across the country Sunday after Sunday. Now I’m not going to say that I don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus, because I do. Jesus Christ is as real to me as my wife and children are. I believe that He is with me always and I talk with Him regularly in prayer. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:15 that He would no longer call them servants, but that He considered them friends. I pretty much think that applies to me as well. I sometimes think of Christ as my Heavenly Big Brother...

By Fr. John Hampsch, C.M.F. Prayer for “Heal Our Land” Heavenly Father, the world seems to be collapsing around us. While families struggle to keep their homes and feed their children, floods and tornados ravage our land; abortion is accepted and same-sex marriage is legal. Government and business leaders have chosen to walk in the ways of darkness; wars and fighting are tearing countries apart. Crime and violence dominate many towns and cities. Fear and trepidation grip our hearts; we don’t know where to turn. We have fallen from your grace; we have drifted so far from your protection. Many don’t even know your name. What must we do to find favor with you, O Lord, what must we do? If we humble ourselves, will you hear our prayer? If we repent and turn away from sin, will you listen to our plea? If we fall prostrate before you, if we fast and seek your face, will you then answer our prayer? O Lord, we are weak and afraid. But you O Lord, are our strength, you will defend us in battle; ...

Mary and the Moslems What is Islam? Since the September 11 attacks, the attention of Westerners has been drawn to Islam, since we are being told that Osama Bin Laden committed these terrorist attacks in the name of Islamic fundamentalism. While it is true that the vast majority of Moslems condemn violence and these terrorist attacks, a minority of extremist Moslems claim that it is “Allah” who asked them to wage a holy war against “the infidel”. What is the real face of Islam? Does it preach peace or war? Even if the word “Islam” itself can be defined as “to make peace”, “to surrender”, the truth is that there is a dark side of Islam which, although only put into practice by a small number of extremists, indeed advocates violence. Over the centuries, Muslims have engaged in tremendous wars with Christians and Jews, and Christians are being persecuted and killed by Moslems in many countries today, like Indonesia and Sudan. Is there a way Christians and Moslems can co-exist together in p...

Archives of Sexual Behavior, VoL 6, No. 5, 1977 Gender Identity Change in a Transsexual: An Exorcism David H. Barlow, Ph.D., 1,3 Gene G. Abel, M.D., 2 and Edward B. Blanchard 2 Gender identity change in a conservatively diagnosed 21.year-old transsexual after faith healing was fortuitously observed, was objectively and independently measured, and is reported. This case, and other recent developments, suggests a reexamination of the possibilities of psychosocial intervention to modify atypical gender identity. INTRODUCTION The most effective treatment for the relief of suffering in transsexuals would seem to be sex-reassignment surgery (Green and Money, 1969). This radical and irreversible treatment for what is basically a psychological problem is indicated since the suffering of transsexuals is considerable and all efforts at treatment through psychotherapy have been ineffective (Pauly, t965; Benjamin, 1971; Green, 1974). Postsurgical reports from transsexuals have suggested a relief ...