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Please pray for Zak Dievendorf! -Kit Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2008 6:18 PM Subject: Urgent prayers needed! Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ. I know some of you have already heard but others of you are not aware of the journey my family began yesterday. After seeing an Ear Nose and Throat Dr, we were referred to the University Pediactric Emergency Room. After a CAT Scan, & MRI the Dr's determined my son Zak (13) has a brain tumor. It is located in the brain stem where they are unable to operate and or biopsy. Our son is of great...

May 16, 2008                                 Friday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jas 2:14-24, 26 What good is it, my brothers and sisters,if someone says he has faith but does not have works?Can that faith save him?If a brother or sister has nothing to wearand has no food for the day,and one of you says to them,“Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well,”but you do not give them the necessities of the body,what good is it?So also faith of itself,if it does not have works,...

MIANYANG, China (CNS) -- Sister Zhang Yimei expressed gratitude to God for protecting her younger brother, a priest, during the recent earthquake, but is concerned for the well-being of the family of another nun serving in her parish. "My brother, Father Francis Zhang Yiqiang, was preparing for the centenary of the former seminary in Bailu town and just happened to be out buying things for the celebration when the church building collapsed," she told the Asian church news agency UCA News. The siblings serve in different parts of the Chengdu Diocese, near the epicenter of the magnitude 7.9 earthquake that...

INDIANAPOLIS (BP)—Prayer is news at this year’s Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Indianapolis. A chaplains’ luncheon and a Missional Network discussion also may yield a few lines of ink. This year’s prayer emphasis at the Southern Baptist Convention has been boosted by the efforts of Indianapolis-area pastors who have caught a vision of what can happen when people spend more time praying. At last year’s meeting of the State Convention of Baptists in Indiana, a first-of-its-kind prayer room featured videos, maps and other visual aids along with Bible verses, specific requests and journals to facilitate prayer. The room was...

UNDATED (AP) — Coordinators of this Thursday's National Day of Prayer are taking hits from both sides.Jews on First and the Council on American Islamic Relations accuse the National Day of Prayer Task Force of turning the day into an evangelical event that excludes others. The Jewish and Muslim groups are calling for alternative gatherings that are more inclusive.Meanwhile, conservative Christian hosts on the VCY America Radio Network are criticizing the honorary chairman of this year's National Day of Prayer, Doctor Ravi Zacharias, for posting an official prayer that concludes “in God's holy name” instead of “in Jesus' name." They...

By President Thomas S. Monson.In April 1966, at the Church’s annual general conference, Elder Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a memorable address. He quoted an account written by Samuel T. Whitman titled “Forgotten Wedges.” I too wish to quote from Whitman’s account, followed by examples from my own life. Whitman wrote: “The ice storm [that winter] wasn’t generally destructive. True, a few wires came down, and there was a sudden jump in accidents along the highway. … Normally, the big walnut tree could easily have borne the weight that formed on its spreading...

May 15, 2008                            Thursday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jas 2:1-9 My brothers and sisters, show no partialityas you adhere to the faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ.For if a man with gold rings and fine clothes comes into your assembly,and a poor person with shabby clothes also comes in,and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothesand say, “Sit here, please,”while you say to the poor one, “Stand there,” or “Sit at my feet,”have you not made distinctions among yourselvesand become judges with evil designs? Listen, my...

DEAR ONES, IF any of you have suffered at all at the hands of Alcoholism in any form via any connection, then you may well know something of the traumas involved between and behind the hubby's words below. I believe that only The Grace of God AND great persistent dogged efforts on the part of all concerned can bring victory in such matters. PLEASE pray with me in behalf of this whole family . . . --that the wife will decide deeply and comprehensively to be done with such an addiction, affliction, oppression . . . --that her family members...

May 14, 2008                                     Feast of Saint Matthias, Apostle       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 1:15-17, 20-26 Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers and sisters(there was a group of about one hundred and twenty personsin the one place).He said, “My brothers and sisters,the Scripture had to be fulfilledwhich the Holy Spirit spoke beforehandthrough the mouth of David, concerning Judas,who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.Judas was numbered among usand was allotted a share in this ministry.For it is written in the Book of Psalms: Let...

Pilgrims sing the praises of Latin The Tridentine Mass is being revived by young Catholics while walking to Chartres Cathedral Greg Watts Religion may well be in decline among European youth but it is by no means dead. This weekend about 6,000 young Catholics will set off on a 75-mile walk from Paris to Chartres Cathedral — and as they walk they will all be praying and singing in Latin. Pope Benedict XVI’s decision last year in his apostolic letter, Summorum pontificum, to revive the Tridentine Latin Mass, was seen as a turning back of the clock by some liberal...

Pope Benedict XVI holds a rosary on the occasion of a Rosary prayer inside the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, in Rome, Saturday, May 3, 2008. Vatican City - A recording of Pope Benedict XVI reciting the Rosary in Latin is to go on sale as a four-CD box set, the Vatican announced Tuesday. "It was born as an answer to listeners and from several Catholic radio stations," Vatican Radio director, Father Federico Lombardi, said explaining the initiative. Benedict's predecessor, John Paul II, on several occasions recited the Rosary live on Vatican Radio, providing the faithful with "great consolation"...

Please join me in prayer for a dear man of faith who was recently diagnosed with ALS. He is married, 58 years old, and has 3 kids, 10, 13, and 15. Please pray for his and his family's patience, unwavering faith, as well as guidance for treatment. Also, if anyone out there has suggestions for those of us who care about this man, please let us know what we might do to help without being overbearing but lovingly helpful and encouraging. Thank you all.

CMR is happy to give its readers a preview of a remarkable shrine in Chicago, the Sanctuary of the Divine Mercy, now in its final planning stages. The Sanctuary grows from the vision of Fr. Anthony Bus, the pastor of St. Stanislaus Kostka Church in Chicago, who tells the story of the sanctuary in his book A Mother's Plea. The project's architect, James McCrery of Washington, DC, a specialist in classical architecture, drew the sketches shown here (click the pictures for larger images). The sanctuary is understood as a refuge in the heart of the city, with a large exterior...

May 13, 2008                             Tuesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jas 1:12-18 Blessed is he who perseveres in temptation,for when he has been proven he will receive the crown of life that he promised to those who love him.No one experiencing temptation should say,“I am being tempted by God”;for God is not subject to temptation to evil,and he himself tempts no one.Rather, each person is tempted when lured and enticed by his desire.Then desire conceives and brings forth sin,and when sin reaches maturity it gives...

Heavenly Father, you are a merciful God. When we consider our daily lives and how often we fall, slip or miss an opportunity to minister for You, Your unfailing LOVE lifts us up, brushes us off, and sets us back on the path. We come before You humbly, knowing our own weaknesses and failures, thanking you for the greatest sacrifice of all ~ the gift of Your one and only SON. As a parent and a mother, Father, I cannot fathom a LOVE so great as to give up Your only child to save the rest of mankind. Father God,...

May 12, 2008                                   Monday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Jas 1:1-11 James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ,to the twelve tribes in the dispersion, greetings. Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters,when you encounter various trials,for you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.And let perseverance be perfect,so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.But if any of you lacks wisdom,he should ask God who gives to all generously and ungrudgingly,and he will be given it.But he should ask in faith,...

CNA).- Vitorrio Messori, the most popular Italian Catholic writer has slammed so-called “adult” Catholics who want to minimize the role of the Virgin Mary, just days before the presentation of his new book “Hypothesis About Mary” in Spain. The best-selling author of books such as “Crossing the Threshold of Hope,” addresses who Mary is for believers in his new work, the credibility of apparitions in Lourdes and Fatima and Mary’s role in Christian belief.  The new book has yet to be translated into English.Messori confesses that years ago he was asked to write a book about Mary, but the proposal...

May 11, 2008                                             Solemnity -- Pentecost Sunday                                            Mass during the Day       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Acts 2:1-11 When the time for Pentecost was fulfilled,they were all in one place together.And suddenly there came from the skya noise like a strong driving wind,and it filled the entire house in which they were.Then there appeared to them tongues as of fire,which parted and came to rest on each one of them.And they were all filled with the Holy Spiritand began to speak in different tongues,as the Spirit...

Father Terry Rassmussen, pastor of St. Joseph in New Hope, finished reading, closed the Book of the Gospels, and stepped away from the ambo. From the congregation, Ginny Untiedt stepped forward. Clad in a white robe, Untiedt bowed as Father Rassmussen laid his hands on her head and blessed her. She looked up, walked to the ambo and began preaching for the last time.As many as 29 parishes in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis have used lay preachers at Mass during the past 25 years. In January, however, Archbishop Harry Flynn instructed pastors to discontinue the practice. He...

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y., has ordered an end to weekday Communion services outside the context of Mass by July 1. Citing guidelines for the distribution of Communion in the General Instruction of the Roman Missal, Bishop Murphy said in a May 9 pastoral letter that his decision would bring the diocese "into conformity with the liturgical norms of the church." The order applies to parishes, schools and social and charitable organizations which had adopted the practice of offering "celebrations of the word" with the distribution of Communion when no daily Mass was scheduled....

“The Atonement at Work,” Ensign, Mar 2008, 39–41 I knew the Lord had a plan for my son, but when he chose a path I wished he hadn’t, I wasn’t sure how he was going to come back. I joined The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1992 in the Netherlands. However, my husband didn’t join and wouldn’t allow our children, Alex and Petra, to be baptized (names have been changed). Even still, the three of us attended church and had regular family home evenings. . . .

They were not the most confident lot, this group of early followers of the One who was crucified and then raised from the dead. Even though they had seen Him defeat the final enemy, death, they were afraid as they gathered in that upper room. Right before He ascended He had promised that He would not leave them orphans but would send another comforter once He returned to the Father. He told them they would receive power from on high and be able to continue His work on earth until He returned. In that Cenacle, along with His mother, they...

May 10, 2008                                          Pentecost Sunday                                         At the Vigil Mass         Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Genesis 11:1-9 The whole world spoke the same language, using the same words.While the people were migrating in the east,they came upon a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there.They said to one another,“Come, let us mold bricks and harden them with fire.”They used bricks for stone, and bitumen for mortar.Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a cityand a tower with its top in the sky,and so...

May 10, 2008                             Saturday of the Seventh Week of Easter                                     Mass in the Morning       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 28:16-20, 30-31 When he entered Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself,with the soldier who was guarding him. Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews.When they had gathered he said to them, “My brothers,although I had done nothing against our peopleor our ancestral customs,I was handed over to the Romans as a prisoner from Jerusalem.After trying my...

Hebrews 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Dearest Prayer Warriors.... Please cover tiny Ariella with your prayers. Prayers for life, health, strength, God's power to manifest through her body developing what the medical field says it does not have. Alayna, Ariella's mom, is an unwed teen whose family and church has supported her. Alayna was told during the pregnancy that Ariella was Hydrancephalic. They held out no hope for Ariella. Church prayed for the whole family. Alayna insisted on carrying the baby to birth. Ariella was delivered on 4-21-2008. Alayna was told that Ariella may only live 1-2 days. The following Sunday Alayna and Ariella were in...

A picture of little Lujan Buenos Aires, May 5, 2008 / 02:16 pm (CNA).- The Catholic magazine “Cristo Hoy” in Argentina has published an article on a mother who entrusted her daughter to the intercession of Our Lady of Lujan once she was diagnosed with an incurable disease before she was born. The little girl, Lujan, is now three years-old and living a normal life.Marcela is an eye doctor and mother of three.  During the eighth month of her last pregnancy, doctors found her baby to be suffering from anencephaly, a condition in which the brain does not develop...

May 9, 2008                                 Friday of the Seventh Week of Easter       Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 25:13b-21 King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesareaon a visit to Festus.Since they spent several days there,Festus referred Paul’s case to the king, saying,“There is a man here left in custody by Felix.When I was in Jerusalem the chief priests and the elders of the Jewsbrought charges against him and demanded his condemnation.I answered them that it was not Roman practiceto hand over an accused person before he has faced his accusersand had the...

Marie, wife of my friend has breast cancer. She is quite a few years younger than me but we all know the dreaded disease can hit anyone. God bless you all!

From How Do I Start the First Saturdays?Why are there five First Saturdays and not seven, or nine? Lucia once asked this question of Our Lord and received as an answer: “My daughter, the motive is simple, there are five kinds of offences and blasphemies uttered against the Immaculate Heart of Mary: (1) blasphemies against the Immaculate Conception (2) blasphemies against Her Virginity (3) blasphemies against Her Divine Maternity (4) blasphemies in the hearts of those who openly seek to foster in the hearts of children indifference or even hatred for this Immaculate Mother (5) the offences of those who...

May 8, 2008 Thursday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 22:30; 23:6-11 Wishing to determine the truthabout why Paul was being accused by the Jews,the commander freed himand ordered the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin to convene.Then he brought Paul down and made him stand before them. Paul was aware that some were Sadducees and some Pharisees,so he called out before the Sanhedrin,“My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of Pharisees;I am on trial for hope in the resurrection of the dead.”When he said this,a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and Sadducees,and...

Last week, the West Coast Call to Action had its conference in San Jose. This blogs links to a video of the Closing Liturgy. Here’s a direct link to the video.Playing “spot the liturgical abuse� is not the point. Nor is snarking at the average age of the participants. (Just heading off the predictable commentary at the pass here. Let’s go deeper.)What I am just not grasping, despite my pretty strong powers of empathy, is the gestalt at work here.Why does everyone think the giant liturgical puppets are so awesome?This has got to be one of the oddest things...

May 7, 2008 Wednesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 20:28-38 At Miletus, Paul spoke to the presbyters of the Church of Ephesus:“Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flockof which the Holy Spirit has appointed you overseers,in which you tend the Church of Godthat he acquired with his own Blood.I know that after my departure savage wolves will come among you,and they will not spare the flock.And from your own group, men will come forward perverting the truthto draw the disciples away after them.So be vigilant and remember that for three years, night...

5.7.08 Join the Celebration Webcast Tonight Tonight from 6:30-8:00 PM Arizona time, we'll be having a time of celebration at Community Church of Joy in Glendale, AZ. This will be an exciting time to discuss the 4.26.08 experience, hear stories of what God has begun in the hearts of many across the nation, and begin to pray, "What next, Lord?" If you're in Arizona, please join us at CCOJ, Loop 101 & 75th Avenue! Otherwise you can join us via live webcast by clicking here. Interact with us! We will be answering your questions during the celebration, so please feel...

BEIRUT, Lebanon (CNS) -- Last September, Sondrine and Raymond Khamo lived with their parents in a two-floor house in Mosul, Iraq. Their uncle had been shot in the head when he was driving, and their mother, Haifa Khamo, was afraid to let her children go outside. Today, the family of four lives in a one-room dwelling in Beirut. The children's father, Basel, an accountant, recently found work as a stocker in a supermarket. There's not much left from his $200 monthly salary after he pays the $100 rent. Yet in Lebanon the family is able to practice their Chaldean Catholic...

May 6, 2008 Tuesday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 20:17-27 From Miletus Paul had the presbytersof the Church at Ephesus summoned.When they came to him, he addressed them,“You know how I lived among youthe whole time from the day I first came to the province of Asia.I served the Lord with all humilityand with the tears and trials that came to mebecause of the plots of the Jews,and I did not at all shrink from telling youwhat was for your benefit,or from teaching you in public or in your homes.I earnestly bore witness for...

Click the video for 15 minute overview for OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER. This is short excerpt from the hour long" His Show." You are invited to hear about the signs, wonders, miracles, decreasing crime, increasing prosperity, and dramatic church growth that results from this simple but powerful strategy. Learn how you can mobilize on going 24/7 prayer in your city by harnessing the momentum from the National and Global Days of Prayer.

May 5, 2008 Monday of the Seventh Week of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 19:1-8 While Apollos was in Corinth,Paul traveled through the interior of the countryand down to Ephesus where he found some disciples. He said to them,“Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?”They answered him,“We have never even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.”He said, “How were you baptized?”They replied, “With the baptism of John.”Paul then said, “John baptized with a baptism of repentance,telling the people to believe in the one who was to come after him,that is, in Jesus.”When they heard this,they...

Dear Father, we thank you and praise You for the grace and mercy You bestow on us each day. Thank You for life and health, in whatever measure You have given it to us. Father God we lift up the sidewalk counselors, prayer warriors and others who are doing battle on the frontlines against the Spirit of Death in the form of Planned Parenthood. Father, we thank and praise You that our voices are being heard, that others are lifting up their voices to join in this spiritual battle. Father God thank you that there were 1,000,000 praying the rosary...

May 4, 2008 Seventh Sunday of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Acts 1:12-14 After Jesus had been taken up to heaven the apostlesreturned to Jerusalemfrom the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem,a sabbath day’s journey away. When they entered the citythey went to the upper room where they were staying,Peter and John and James and Andrew,Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew,James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot,and Judas son of James.All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer,together with some women,and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Responsorial PsalmPs 27:1, 4, 7-8 R. (13) I...

Vatican City (Agenzia Fides) - The Easter Season which culminates with the Solemnity of Pentecost, is a privileged time for deepening our communion with the Holy Spirit, the Third Person of the Trinity who, as we profess in the Creed, is “Lord and giver of Life”! Divine Love is the “giver of life” and without Him it would be absurd for us Christians to speak of life in the spirit. Only with the Spirit of God can our life rise heavenwards and become life “for God” and “in God”. With the gift of the Spirit we are no longer...

May 3, 2008 Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 11 Cor 15:1-8 I am reminding you, brothers and sisters,of the Gospel I preached to you,which you indeed received and in which you also stand.Through it you are also being saved,if you hold fast to the word I preached to you,unless you believed in vain.For I handed on to you as of first importance what I also received:that Christ died for our sinsin accordance with the Scriptures;that he was buried;that he was raised on the third dayin accordance with the Scriptures;that he appeared to Cephas,...

Lord, have mercy on us. Christ have mercy on us. Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ graciously hear us. God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us. God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us. God the Holy Ghost, have mercy on us. Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us. Holy Mary, pray for us. Holy Mother of God, pray for us. Holy Virgin of virgins, pray for us. Mother of Christ, pray for us. Mother of divine grace, pray for us. Mother most pure, pray for us. Mother most chaste, pray...

Psalm 9: 1-2 I will praise You, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will tell of all Your marvelous works. I will be glad and rejoice in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.

  HOLY ROSARY WITH POPE BENEDICT XVI  (LIVE) 1 hr. From the Basilica of “Santa Maria Maggiore� in Rome, Holy Rosary presided over by His Holiness Benedict XVI. Sat  5/03/08  12:00PM ET & 9:00 AM PT LIVE Sat  5/03/08 3:30 PM ET & 12:30 PM PT Encore Sat  5/03/08 9:00 PM ET &  6 PM PT  Encore   The Holy Rosary The rosary probably began as a practice by the laity to imitate the monastic Divine Office (Breviary or Liturgy of the Hours), during the course of which the monks daily prayed the 150 Psalms. The laity, many of whom...

May 2, 2008 Memorial of Saint Athanasius, bishop and doctor of the Church Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 18:9-18 One night while Paul was in Corinth, the Lord said to him in a vision,“Do not be afraid.Go on speaking, and do not be silent, for I am with you.No one will attack and harm you,for I have many people in this city.”He settled there for a year and a halfand taught the word of God among them. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,the Jews rose up together against Pauland brought him to the tribunal, saying,“This man is inducing people...

May 1, 2008 The Ascension of the Lord Reading 1Responsorial PsalmReading 2Gospel Reading 1Acts 1:1-11 In the first book, Theophilus,I dealt with all that Jesus did and taughtuntil the day he was taken up,after giving instructions through the Holy Spiritto the apostles whom he had chosen.He presented himself alive to themby many proofs after he had suffered,appearing to them during forty daysand speaking about the kingdom of God.While meeting with the them,he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem,but to wait for “the promise of the Fatherabout which you have heard me speak;for John baptized with water,but in a few...

Dear sons and brothers and friends in Jesus Christ, ON THIS SOLEMNITY of the Ascension of our Lord, the Pope is happy to offer the Eucharistic Sacrifice with you and for you. I am happy to be with the students and staff of the Venerable English College in this year in which you are celebrating your fourth centenary. And today, in a special way, I feel spiritually close to you, to your parents and families, and to all the faithful of England and Wales – to all who are united in the faith of Peter and Paul, in the faith...

For Immediate Release April 30, 2008 The faith-based organization TEAM, located in the United States, announces that it has arranged for an aircraft operated by a medical non-governmental organization in Chad to fly to Bardai to receive Steve Godbold, who has been detained by rebel forces since October 10, 2007. TEAM also offers to allow a representative of the international media to accompany this flight to observe the process. On April 28, 2008 the President of the MDJT, Mr. Choua Dazi, stated in an interview published by Liberté sans frontières and posted at www.dabio.net that Mr. Godbold is “free” and...

April 30, 2008 Wednesday of the Sixth Week of Easter Reading 1Responsorial PsalmGospel Reading 1Acts 17:15, 22—18:1 After Paul’s escorts had taken him to Athens,they came away with instructions for Silas and Timothyto join him as soon as possible. Then Paul stood up at the Areopagus and said:“You Athenians, I see that in every respect you are very religious.For as I walked around looking carefully at your shrines,I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’What therefore you unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you.The God who made the world and all that is in it,the Lord of heaven and...