tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31268160265881117082024-03-05T21:14:40.208-05:00Among WomenPat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.comBlogger961125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-76253933761577312942012-08-27T10:10:00.000-04:002012-08-27T10:30:48.309-04:00Introducing My New Blog: "The Back Porch"... plus a sneak peek at my new book!Regular readers and listeners to the <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.com/">Among Women podcast</a> will know that I've been wrestling with finding the best web formats for the Among Women podcast, blog, and for <a href="http://patgohn.com/">my personal website.</a><br />
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I'm on hiatus for a few weeks, but I'm announcing the blog switch that will happen more formally after the Labor Day weekend. From now on, you'll be able to find me at...<br />
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<b><a href="http://www.patgohn.net/blog/">The Back Porch</a>*</b><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-psjN4S_IyoM/UDt6vjCPpII/AAAAAAAADhg/U933z2MH_pY/s1600/IMG_0893.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-psjN4S_IyoM/UDt6vjCPpII/AAAAAAAADhg/U933z2MH_pY/s320/IMG_0893.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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now found at </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jOpcYdUj6xY/UDt-4qw_jCI/AAAAAAAADig/GFI5fvxT-Tw/s1600/Pat+Gohn+logo+2+with+daisies.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="77" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jOpcYdUj6xY/UDt-4qw_jCI/AAAAAAAADig/GFI5fvxT-Tw/s320/Pat+Gohn+logo+2+with+daisies.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://PatGohn.com/">PatGohn.com</a></div>
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As a special bonus for visiting over there, you'll get <a href="http://www.patgohn.net/2012/08/27/a-first-look-at-blessed-beautiful-and-bodacious/">a sneak peek at the cover</a> for my forthcoming book, <i>Blessed, Beautiful, and Bodacious: Celebrating the Gift of Catholic Womanhood</i>, slated for release in 2013.<br />
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Honestly, I'm gonna miss it around here. Among Women as a podcasting ministry will continue, and the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Among-Women-Podcast/127128377364322">Among Women Facebook page</a> is still open... but I want to thank you for your faithful readership at this blog, and let you know how grateful I've been to have hosted you here...<br />
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So, please make the move with me, subscribe to the <a href="http://www.patgohn.net/blog/">new blog</a>... and come join me on the porch!<br />
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<i>*located down a country lane in New England...</i>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-36994197889104648522012-08-20T08:13:00.001-04:002012-08-20T08:13:55.215-04:00ON hiatus...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qukke_pD0Yg/UDImcmZz8sI/AAAAAAAADgk/EgGaOfOz694/s1600/small__374703042.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qukke_pD0Yg/UDImcmZz8sI/AAAAAAAADgk/EgGaOfOz694/s1600/small__374703042.jpg" /></a></div>
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Summertime, or what's left of it, is calling me... and so I must answer.<br />
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The <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.com/"><i>Among Women</i> podcast </a>will return the week after Labor Day, and the blog will likely show up around then too... although it will have a new look and new location. Details forthcoming about that change.<br />
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In the meanwhile, let us pray for one another.<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: xx-small;">photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lupi/374703042/">Henney Buggy</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com/">photo pin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/">cc</a></span>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-28733396883235427802012-08-18T08:00:00.000-04:002012-08-18T19:22:44.446-04:00Among Women ReadHER 8.18.12...all the stuff we love: women saints, the rosary, Mary, and more!<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Sorry for the late post, folks. I left this in draft mode. Silly me.</span></i></div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3hX8JoRS2uE/UC8YSrFP83I/AAAAAAAADfs/fc9y8q4NWGM/s1600/Picture+3_4.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3hX8JoRS2uE/UC8YSrFP83I/AAAAAAAADfs/fc9y8q4NWGM/s1600/Picture+3_4.png" /></a></div>
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<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Among Women Read</i>HER<i> </i></span></b><br />
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>8.18.12</i></span></b></div>
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<a href="http://www.osv.com/tabid/7621/itemid/9761/Saints-and-Scholars.aspx">Saints and Scholars --Meet some brilliant, bold and holy women</a><br />
<i><b>By Emily Stimpson at Our Sunday Visitor</b></i><br />
<i>Among Women fans will love this article about some awesome women saints.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/kathrynlopez/2012/08/bill-buckley-on-keeping-the-faith/">Bill Buckley on Keeping the Faith</a><br />
<b><i>By Kathryn Jean Lopez at K-Lo at Large</i></b><br />
<i>A good read from the late Buckley on Lourdes and the mystery of faith, among other tasty tidbits.</i><br />
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<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/14/10-rosary-tips-for-rosary-strugglers/comment-page-1/#comment-62562">10 Rosary Tips for Rosary Strugglers</a><br />
<i><b>By Rhonda Ortiz at Catholic Mom</b></i><br />
<i>Oh! This is g-r-e-a-t!</i><br />
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<a href="http://cause-of-our-joy.blogspot.com/2012/08/violin-for-sale.html">Violin for Sale</a><br />
<b><i>By Leticia Velasquez at Cause of our Joy</i></b><br />
<i>For the right person, this could be a find. (Leticia has been my guest on Among Women in the past year. Hear her talk about her book <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/01/19/aw-121-each-life-is-a-masterpiece/">on this show.</a>)</i><br />
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<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/15/creativity-what-are-you-creating/">Creativity: What are You Creating?</a><br />
<i><b>By Jason Kotecki at Catholic Mom</b></i><br />
<i>Go make some fun!</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.faithandfamilylive.com/blog/after_the_assumption?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%253A+faithandfamilylive+%5BFaith+%26+Family+Live%21%5D#When:13:56:30Z">After the Assumption</a><br />
<i><b>By Rebecca Teti at Faith and Family Live</b></i><br />
<i>A retrospective of highlights from different articles on the Assumption this week, including the Pope Benedict's homily.</i><br />
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<i>Speaking of the Assumption...</i><br />
<i>So, you remember that <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/06/blessed-beautiful-and-bodacious.html">I've written a book</a>, now, don't you? One of my favorite homilies of ALL TIME on Mary <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050815_assunzione-maria_en.html">from Pope Benedict XVI is the Homily he gave in 2005 on the Assumption</a>... and yes, I actually quote a small segment of it in <a href="http://www.patgohn.net/writing/book/">my book</a>... but the reason I bring this up--not the book but Benedict-- is that while we are in the Octave of the Assumption, <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050815_assunzione-maria_en.html">you really should read this homily</a>. It will give you food for thought for a while. Mary loves us so very much. So, run along now. <a href="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/homilies/2005/documents/hf_ben-xvi_hom_20050815_assunzione-maria_en.html">Go read.</a></i><br />
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<i>Of course, two recent Among Women podcasts give you good stuff on the <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/03/among-women-141-assumptions-adversity-and-grace/">Assumption</a> on AW 141 and AW 143 on the <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/16/aw143-growing-in-friendship-with-jesus-and-his-queen/">Queenship of Mary</a>, the feast coming up on August 22.</i><br />
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<i>UPDATE: Sorry for the incorrect link on Jason Kotecki's article, it is now corrected!</i><br />
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<br />Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-5067901948953852552012-08-17T07:30:00.000-04:002012-08-17T07:30:02.725-04:00The F.U.N. Quotient... if you are musician, you'll love this!<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57488379/joy-in-the-congo-a-musical-miracle/?tag=contentMain;cbsCarousel">Joy in the Congo</a> - an amazing story of the dedication of Congolese musicians to learn and share classical music. (13 minutes of video on CBS' <i>60 Minutes</i>.)<br />
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<embed allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" background="#333333" flashvars="si=254&&contentValue=50129372&shareUrl=http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7417924n&tag=contentBody;storyMediaBox" height="279" salign="lt" scale="noscale" src="http://cnettv.cnet.com/av/video/cbsnews/atlantis2/cbsnews_player_embed.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="400"></embed>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-24973445025574455922012-08-17T06:00:00.000-04:002012-08-17T06:00:08.676-04:00Among Women Podcast #143: Growing in Friendship with Jesus and His Queen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0-pRylrA27w/UC3PutKiHuI/AAAAAAAADew/vH-A84w7nbQ/s1600/IMG_0580.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0-pRylrA27w/UC3PutKiHuI/AAAAAAAADew/vH-A84w7nbQ/s320/IMG_0580.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Mary's crowned statue in the plaza in Lourdes, FR</span></div>
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<i><a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/16/aw143-growing-in-friendship-with-jesus-and-his-queen/">Among Women 143</a></i> features a theological look at the Queenship of Mary as a date (Aug 22) on the liturgical calendar and as a spiritual principle in our lives. Plus you'll enjoy a conversation with author/blogger/film producer Sr. Helena Burns FSP describing her latest book, <i>He Speaks to You,</i> and the forthcoming movie she's producing, <i>James Alberione, Media Apostle</i>. All that and more, plus a reminder about Among Women's hiatus until after Labor Day.Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-24038409232976713792012-08-16T13:25:00.001-04:002012-08-16T13:25:50.625-04:00Remembering St. Pius X... the saintly pope that my childhood school and church were named after... <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfmOYQ9t8xkJzjFR9yUvEPcqQVJCrYwyI6VeOi6_XkDWypWpi9Sg-e41Aekqu_fSKF-ogB425_oeQ5j2VnpgmGqr6Y3hc2RLtZuBC1roiFh-e4fXCQU6CUUiZjMIernC9AN6_vVzHJFVw/s1600/Picture+1_3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivfmOYQ9t8xkJzjFR9yUvEPcqQVJCrYwyI6VeOi6_XkDWypWpi9Sg-e41Aekqu_fSKF-ogB425_oeQ5j2VnpgmGqr6Y3hc2RLtZuBC1roiFh-e4fXCQU6CUUiZjMIernC9AN6_vVzHJFVw/s1600/Picture+1_3.png" /></a></div>
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My latest over at <i><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Remember-Pius-Pat-Gohn-08-16-2012.html">Patheos </a></i>talks about "the Pope of the Eucharist"... St Pius X...<br />
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Here's a sample...<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I was a little girl in a white dress, with white Mary Jane
shoes, (and yes, white gloves!) making her First Holy Communion at St. Pius X
Church in Plainview, New York. It was the late 60s and I was in the second
grade. For seven years I walked the halls of that parochial school, past St.
Pius’ silent statue with his triple-tiered tiara, as was papal customary of the
time. Though I saw his visage almost every day, I never really knew his
history, or that he was the early 20<sup>th</sup> century pope who lowered the
age norms for First Communicants, something benefitting me directly and so many
modern generations who come to the Lord’s table at a young age.<br /> <o:p> </o:p>St Pius X taught: “Holy Communion is the safest and shortest
way to Heaven.”<br /> <o:p> </o:p>Long before he became the first pope elevated in the 20<sup>th</sup>
century, with the name Pius X, or Pio X, as the Italians call him, a young
Father Giuseppe Sarto exerted a lively and holy influence in his parish. His
pastor wrote of his zeal during his first assignment.<o:p><br /></o:p><blockquote class="tr_bq">
They
have sent me as curate a young priest, with orders to mould him to the <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>duties
of pastor; in fact, however, the contrary is true. He is so zealous, so full of
good
sense, and other precious gifts that it is I who can learn much from him. <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Some
day or other he will wear the mitre, of that I am sure. After that—who knows?
(<a href="http://www.ewtn.com/library/mary/piusx.htm"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">Lives of
Saints</span></i></a><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt;">, published by John
J. Crawley & Co.)</span></i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
There's more, <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Remember-Pius-Pat-Gohn-08-16-2012.html">here.</a><br />
Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-10667553577024673832012-08-15T17:05:00.000-04:002012-08-15T17:05:01.145-04:00Got Mary? Podcasts on the Assumption and articles too!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZNDZmnFa4E/UCwK9XV4UTI/AAAAAAAADdA/h22ITbw5SV4/s1600/Photo+10_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lZNDZmnFa4E/UCwK9XV4UTI/AAAAAAAADdA/h22ITbw5SV4/s320/Photo+10_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
As we live the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, I thought I'd offer a little recap and review of articles I've written and podcasts on Mary's Assumption for your consumption.<br />
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<b><i>Among Women Podcasts:</i></b><br />
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<a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/03/among-women-141-assumptions-adversity-and-grace/">AW 141: Assumptions, Adversity, and Grace</a> with Woodeene Koenig-Bricker </blockquote>
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<a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2011/08/09/aw-106-a-pilgrimage-to-marys-house/">AW 106: A Pilgrimage to Mary's House</a>, with Sarah Vabulas and readings from Christian Classics on the Assumption. </blockquote>
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<a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2010/08/12/aw-67-what-i-love-about-mary/">AW 67: What I Love About Mary</a>, Among Women Listeners share their Mary-love in this Special Edition.</blockquote>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">From last year at Patheos: </i></b></span><a href="http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Dumping-My-Assumptions-about-Mary-Pat-Gohn-08-11-2011.html">Dumping My Assumptions About Mary</a></div>
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And, finally, here's a reprise of an older article that once ran at Catholic Exchange... </div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mary in the Catechism: The
Four Marian Dogmas </i></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The more I get to know her Mary as my Mother, the
more I love her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>True love of
someone is based on knowledge of him or her. With that in mind, this might be a
good opportunity to refresh our knowledge of the person of Mary, as recorded
doctrinally in the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Catechism of the
Catholic Church.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">All four of the Marian dogmas divinely reveal something of Mary’s
personhood. Each truth helps us understand her role in salvation history. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The dogmas, in the order that they were declared as truth by the Church,
are: Mary as the Mother of God, Mary as a Perpetual Virgin (“ever-virgin”),
Mary’s Immaculate Conception, and the Assumption of Mary, body and soul, into
heaven.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Growing up Catholic, I never doubted the validity of these dogmas. That
is to say, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">until </i>I met well-meaning
Christians who just couldn’t buy what the Church was selling about Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In other words, I began to have my
doubts about her too.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Sometimes those kinds of challenges are what we need to set us in the
right direction. For me, I thought since the Church held most of these ideas
for thousands of years, it might be worthy of some investigation. (And this was
years before we had the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Catechism</i> in
the form we have it today.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
needed to get to the truth of what was taught about Mary, the real person
behind the serene-looking statue.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mary as Mother of God<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">One of the first attacks made on Mary by the naysayers I encountered was
that, indeed, Mary was the mother of Jesus… but certainly not the Mother of
God.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little did I know that this
was exactly the heresy the Church was trying to combat way back in the fifth
century (431 AD) at the Council of Ephesus, when it declared Mary, the “<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Theotokos</i>”, or “God-bearer”, hence,
“Mother of God.”<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Council of Ephesus, while correcting this heresy, was confirming what
was already revealed in the New Testament writings, which reveal Mary as the
Mother of God. Luke 1: 31, 35 give us Gabriel’s words to Mary at the
Annunciation:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear
a son, and you shall call his name Jesus… <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">therefore
the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. </b>[Emphasis mine.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Other scripture passages reveal Mary as
the mother of Jesus, who, we know to be the God-Man. (See <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Mt</i>. 2:13, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Jn</i>. 2:1, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Acts</i> 1:14.) And St. Paul vividly
describes Mary’s role in the Incarnation in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Galatians
</i>4:4: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">But when the time had fully come, <b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">God sent forth his Son, born of woman</b>…”
[Emphasis mine.]<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Even before Ephesus, Tradition
formulated the words of the creed that declared:</span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"> “[Jesus] was conceived by the power of
the Holy Spirit, and born of the Virgin Mary.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">When the Council of Ephesus decreed
Mary as the Mother of God, it reaffirmed the two natures of Christ found in one
Person: that Jesus is both human and divine. (Later known as the “hypostatic
union.”) Anything outside of that unity makes Jesus into two persons, one human
and one divine, which is heresy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So we see in this instance, how a Marian doctrine actually <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flows from and protects the truth</i> about
her Son!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">You can read more about this in CCC 466
and 495, but it all summed up rather nicely in CCC 509:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Mary is truly "Mother of
God" since she is the mother of the eternal Son of God made man, who is
God himself.</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">You may recall this overarching </span>guideline regarding “all things
Mary” from CCC 487 and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://woman.catholicexchange.com/2009/05/15/1454/">Part 1 of Mary in the
Catechism</a></i>:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on
what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn
its faith in Christ.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mary, Ever-Virgin<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The dogma about
Mary’s perpetual virginity maintains that Mary was ever a virgin, before,
during, and after the birth of Christ.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>It is often here that Mary’s critics take exception, given our modern
understanding of biology and human reproduction. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A virgin before birth.</span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The prophet <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Isaiah </i>7:14 foretold it: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“Therefore, the Lord himself shall give
you a sign. Behold a virgin will conceive, and bear a son, and his name shall
be Emmanuel.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And the New Testament (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke</i> 1: 26-27) confirms it: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“The angel Gabriel was sent from God…
to a virgin betrothed… and the virgin’s name was Mary.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">And then there is the dialogue between
Mary and the angel at the annunciation that leads to the miraculous
“overshadowing” of Mary by the power of God. (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Luke</i> 1:35.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: .5in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Tradition also
reaffirms this in the Apostles’ Creed: “Born of the Virgin Mary.”</span><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A virgin during the birth</span></b><span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">. </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CCC 499
reiterates, what the Second Vatican Council had previous taught:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The deepening of faith in the virginal motherhood led the
Church to confess Mary's real and perpetual virginity even in the act of giving
birth to the Son of God made man. In fact, Christ's birth "did not
diminish his mother's virginal integrity but sanctified it.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Put another way,
the birth of Jesus was a miraculous birth, just as his conception
miraculous.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “integrity” of
Mary’s sinless body was never violated by this birth. This idea was held from
the time of the early Church Fathers. Later, the Council of Trent (16<sup>th</sup>
century) used this analogy to describe Christ’s birth: The newborn Christ came
forth from the womb of Mary “as rays of the sun penetrate the substance of
glass without breaking or injuring it in the least.” <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">It also follows
that Mary’s childbirth would be exempt from pain, since she was a sinless
creature (see “Immaculate Conception” below), and laboring in childbirth is a
result of Original Sin (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Gen</i>. 3:16).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">A virgin after the birth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></b><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Many
people take issue with the idea of Mary’s perpetual virginity, given New
Testament accounts that mention the supposed “siblings” of Jesus (</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Cf. <i>Mk</i> 3:31-35; 6:3; <i>1 Cor</i> 9:5; <i>Gal</i> 1:19)</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">. The <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Catechism</i>
replies in paragraph 500:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Arial; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Against this doctrine the objection is sometimes raised
that the Bible mentions brothers and sisters of Jesus. The Church has always
understood these passages as not referring to other children of the Virgin
Mary. In fact James and Joseph, "brothers of Jesus", are the sons of
another Mary, a disciple of Christ, whom St. Matthew significantly calls
"the other Mary" They are close relations of Jesus, according to an
Old Testament expression.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Then, there are
the words of Jesus from the cross giving Mary into the care of John (</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">John
19:26-27). If Jesus had siblings, especially brothers, would not Mary’s care be
entrusted to them?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, John
takes Mary in.</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I admit this one
was a tough one for me to fully believe, at first. I could understand that
Jesus was Mary’s only son, but I was not so sure about the lack of marital relations
between Joseph and Mary. Wouldn’t a holy marriage be consummated? Not
necessarily, so I learned. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">I admit my
sensibilities, formed in part by modern culture, had trouble understanding this
idea of a holy marriage without the marital act. I needed more information. And
I found it, in learning the importance of mutual understanding and consent in a
marriage.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our modern catechism
teaches that marriage is first based on an exchange of consent, and then, only
then, it may be consummated physically. (See CCC 1639-1640.) But the consent is
the heart of the marriage bond, not the consummation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">While the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Catechism</i> does not go into detail on
this exact point of Mary and Joseph’s marriage, I offer this helpful
explanation from Dr. Mark Miravalle’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Introduction
to Mary, </i>reflecting on their marital union<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">:<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, some
would argue that if the marriage between Mary and Joseph was never consummated,
then it would not have been a true marriage or would have been unnatural.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the essence of the marriage
bond between husband and wife is their complete and unconditional gift of self
and union of the heart, of which the physical union is a concrete sign.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If for a good and holy reason husband
and wife should choose to refrain from relations, either for a time or permanently
(under exceptional circumstances), this would not invalidate a marriage or
affect its true bond, which is rooted not in the physical but in the spiritual
union of the spouses.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">There are numerous
examples in Scripture where God asks married couples to renounce [or abstain
from] relations. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">[See Ex 19:15; 1
Sam 21:15; 1 Cor 7:5.]… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">These scriptural
examples show that when men and women are near what God has sanctified, it can
be also appropriate for them to respond by giving themselves directly and
undividedly to God. If in these cases it was fitting that men and women should
remain abstinent, it can hardly be surprising that present before the great
miracle of the Incarnation, Mary and Joseph chose to remain permanently
virginal as well.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CCC 506 alludes to Mary’s faith and undivided
heart here:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Mary is a virgin because her virginity is <i>the sign of her
faith</i> unadulterated by any doubt, and of her undivided gift of herself to
God's will. It is her faith that enables her to become the mother of the Savior:
[St. Augustine taught:] "Mary is more blessed because she embraces faith
in Christ than because she conceives the flesh of Christ."<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Immaculate Conception<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The dogma of the
Immaculate Conception was finally promulgated in 1854… but the seeds of it are
found much earlier in a careful reading of scripture. When the Angel addresses
Mary at the Annunciation, he does not address her by her name. Instead, he uses
the title “Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you.” This title might as well
be her name, for it describes Mary’s true nature; her person is full of grace.
Notice that she is addressed as “full of grace”, even <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before </i>the Angel announces that she will be asked to be the Mother
of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Know anyone that
fits that description? Nope. She’s the only one. The rest of humanity is
fallen. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mary’s detractors
what to know what makes her so special?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>If she is human, she should be subject to all the pitfalls of humanity,
and just as sinful are the rest of us, right?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not quite. There’s more to Mary’s story, and it takes a very
careful reading for Scripture to parse it out. Not to mention 2000 years of
biblical interpretation and theological reflection.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">What’s sooooo
special about Mary is her Immaculate Conception. And it means this: Mary was
redeemed by the merits of her Son Jesus at Calvary – who is God – at her
conception, so she never received a fallen nature. The nature she received was
like that of Eve’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">before </i>the Fall.
And recall, that after the fall, the Immaculate Conception is implied,
theologians say, in this verse from Genesis 3:15, that speaks of a woman to
come:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-family: Times; mso-bidi-font-size: 16.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">I will put enmity between you and the woman, and
between your seed and her seed; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise
his heel.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is why we
have references to Mary as the “new Eve.” And why St. Jerome (4<sup>th</sup>
century) taught this about Mary: </span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">"Death
through Eve, life through Mary." CCC 508 states: <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">From among the descendants of Eve, God chose the Virgin
Mary to be the mother of his Son. "Full of grace", Mary is the most
excellent fruit of redemption: from the first instant of her conception, she
was totally preserved from the stain of original sin and she remained pure from
all personal sin throughout her life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mary, we might
say, is the first person redeemed, by an application of the grace of Christ’s
victory over sin and death on the Cross. And her sinless, loving heart, allowed
her the perfect response to God’s call on her life: “Yes!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Blessed Duns
Scotus (d. 1308) called it “preservative redemption.” Preservative redemption
addressed this question of Mary’s redemption taking place before her Son was
even born.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Huh? The short of it is
this:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>God, the Creator of time, is
also Lord over time, and can work outside of time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And God can apply his graces throughout history (time) as He
deems fit.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Therefore, God, in his
divine plan of salvation, willed that Mary would be saved first, in her
humanity, by the application of the graces won on the Cross for humanity by her
Son, Jesus… providing a perfectly pure temple for the Holy Spirit to later
“overshadow” and allow the Son of God to take on flesh in a sinless womb. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Whew! Got all
that?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">This is what the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Catechism</i> says in CCC 491 and 492:</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Through the centuries the Church has become ever more
aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God, was redeemed from the
moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception
confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:</span><span style="color: #000090; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of
her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue
of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from
all stain of original sin.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #000090; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The splendor of an entirely unique holiness by which Mary
is enriched from the first instant of her conception comes wholly from Christ:
she is redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son.
The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person in Christ with every
spiritual blessing in the heavenly places and chose her in Christ before the
foundation of the </span><span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">world, to be holy and blameless
before him in love.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mary’s Assumption<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">(If you are still reading this far, especially
after trying to understand the depth of the Immaculate Conception, the
Assumption is <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">almost </i>easy to
understand!)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">We start back to Genesis 3:15 (above)
where the enmity between the woman and the serpent represents the past (Eve)
and the future (Mary) who will share in the victory of her Son over the Devil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">As we know, the effects of Original Sin
were sin and death. Jesus, by his Cross and Resurrection has set us free from
both. And by his merits, we see this perfected in the person of Mary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>First, her Immaculate Conception shows
how Jesus conquered sin, and by his grace, preserved her from Original Sin.
Second, we see how Mary’s Assumption, is a particular grace awarded to Mary, so
she, who is sinless, does not undergo bodily corruption at the end of her
earthly life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">The Assumption of Mary is a natural
consequence of the Immaculate Conception. And, it is a unique privilege that
the Son affords his Mother.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CCC 966 teaches:</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">Finally the Immaculate Virgin, preserved free from all stain of
original sin, when the course of her earthly life was finished, was taken up
body and soul into heavenly glory, and exalted by the Lord as Queen over all
things, so that she might be the more fully conformed to her Son, the Lord of
lords and conqueror of sin and death. The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin is a
singular participation in her Son's Resurrection and an anticipation of the
resurrection of other Christians</span><span style="color: #001096; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Finally, Mary’s assumption serves as an
eschatological sign (pointing to things to come in the afterlife)… she reminds
us of the perfected Church we will become in heaven, as she is an icon of the
Church both now and in the future.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">CCC 972 states:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 13.0pt; margin-left: .5in; margin-right: .5in; margin-top: 0in; mso-layout-grid-align: none; mso-pagination: none; text-autospace: none;">
<span style="color: #001096; font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;">The Mother of Jesus, in the glory
which she possesses in body and soul in heaven, is the image and beginning of
the Church as it is to be perfected in the world to come. Likewise she shines
forth on earth until the day of the Lord shall come, a sign of certain hope and
comfort to the pilgrim People of God.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">Mariology
(the study of Mary) is a discreet field of study within theology. There is so
much more that could be said on all these dogma. Today’s lesson is but a taste.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">But I pray
that you will come to love Mary in a deeper way, as you see just how intimately
her life is bound to the life and grace of her Son, Jesus. Mary has no power in
and of herself, save what comes to through Jesus.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>By way of a final analogy… if Jesus is the sun, Mary is the
moon… always reflecting Him!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria;">©</span><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Cambria; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-font-family: Cambria; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">2009 Patricia W. Gohn</span><span style="font-family: Calibri; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-ascii-theme-font: major-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: Cambria; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: major-latin;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-31308434245619704992012-08-13T06:30:00.000-04:002012-08-13T06:30:03.051-04:00This makes me think... about taking more opportunities to invoke the Holy Spirit<b>Come, Holy Spirit,</b><br />
<b>fill my heart with Your holy gifts.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Let my weakness be penetrated with Your strength this very day that I may fulfill all the duties of my state conscientiously, that I may do what is right and just.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Let my charity be such as to offend no one, and hurt no one's feelings; so generous as to pardon sincerely any wrong done to me.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Assist me, O Holy Spirit,</b><br />
<b>in all my trials of life, enlighten me in my ignorance, advise me in my doubts, strengthen me in my weakness, help me in all my needs, protect me in temptations and console me in afflictions.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Graciously hear me, O Holy Spirit, </b><br />
<b>and pour Your light into my heart, my soul, and my mind.</b><br />
<b><br /></b><br />
<b>Assist me to live a holy life and to grow in goodness and grace.</b><br />
<br />
Amen.<br />
<br />
<br />Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-86453321889908551412012-08-11T08:00:00.000-04:002012-08-11T08:00:10.619-04:00Among Women ReadHER 8.11.12... Olympic Gold, Flannery O'Connor, NFP, and more<div style="text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GXupHXf3LX8/UCPRHN3vLoI/AAAAAAAADbM/aIY1wR1YqJo/s1600/815310_23124196.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GXupHXf3LX8/UCPRHN3vLoI/AAAAAAAADbM/aIY1wR1YqJo/s320/815310_23124196.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Among Women Read</i><b>HER</b><i> 8.11.12</i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<a href="http://catholiclane.com/what-i-learned-from-having-the-sikh-temple-shooting-practically-in-my-backyard/">What I Learned from Having the Sikh Temple Shooting Practically in My Backyard</a><br />
<b><i>By Marge Fenelon at Catholic Lane</i></b><br />
<i>With Aurora's shootings still on folks' minds, Marge Fenelon reflects on this recent shooting at a Sikh place of worship in Wisconsin.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://www.boston.com/news/weather/2012/08/09/clear-skies-reveal-messy-scope-philippine-flood/kzXnWSYUZ5LIHjB18TKOOK/story.html">Clear Skies Reveal Messy Scope of Manila Flood</a><br />
<i><b>By Oliver Teves at The Boston Globe</b></i><br />
<i>This situation needs our prayer and our outreach. Two million people affected. </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/313468/baltimore-archbishop-catholic-voters-cant-vote-candidate-who-stands-intrinsic-evil-kat">Baltimore Bishop Lori: Catholic Voters Can't Vote for a Candidate Who Stands for An Intrinsic Evil</a><br />
<i><b>By Kathryn Jean Lopez, Editor at National Review Online</b></i><br />
<i>Stirring words from the Archbishop, sentiments from the Vatican, and more on the religious liberty fight here in the USA.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://www.integratedcatholiclife.org/2012/08/lorraine-murray-flannery-oconnor-and-the-hardest-lesson-of-all/">Flannery O'Connor and the Hardest Lesson of All</a><br />
<i><b>By Lorraine Murray at The Integrated Catholic Life</b></i><br />
<i>An author reflecting on author Flannery O'Connor's life of writing and suffering. (H/T <a href="http://begojohnson.com/">Maria Morera Johnson)</a></i><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christophers/2012/08/congratulations-and-mazel-tov-aly-raisman/">Congrats and Mazel Tov to Aly Raisman</a><br />
<b><i>By Tony Rossi at Christopher Close-Up</i></b><br />
<i>All I can say is this routine is poetry in motion. It is fluid, graceful, and it looks like this young woman is flying and being borne on air. Congrats to Aly Raisman from Massachusetts! If you haven't seen it, enjoy <a href="http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/gymnastics/highlights-aly-raismans-gold-medal-floor-exercise-routine.html?chrcontext=golden-moments">the video of this Gold Medal-winning routine</a>.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thecrescat/2012/08/faith-of-an-olympian.html">The Faith of an Olympian</a><br />
<i><b>By Katrina Fernandez at The Crescat</b></i><br />
<i>Cool photos of faith-filled Olympians... I especially loved the portrait of Our Lady whipped out from the Gold Medal Winner's shirt! </i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<a href="http://iusenfp.com/home/top-10-reasons-to-use-nfp/">Top 10 Reasons to Use NFP</a><br />
<i><b>Posted at IUSENFP</b></i><br />
<i>Very helpful reminders, especially if you are unaware of all the benefits of using Natural Family Planning methods. Speaking of this subject, Among Women has two shows in our archives on this: <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2010/02/23/among-women-podcast-46/">AW 46 on the Billings method,</a> and <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2010/01/26/among-women-podcast-42/">AW 42 on the Creighton method. </a> </i>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-690573365086179622012-08-10T09:00:00.000-04:002012-08-10T09:00:08.389-04:00Among Women Podcast #142 The Ministry of Christian Counseling<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oU1MBhUbw9Q/UCSl6LUaysI/AAAAAAAADcE/fWxMKBGrt5Y/s1600/1028000_87246363.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-oU1MBhUbw9Q/UCSl6LUaysI/AAAAAAAADcE/fWxMKBGrt5Y/s200/1028000_87246363.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>
This week,<i><a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/10/among-women-142-the-ministry-of-christian-counseling/"> Among Women 142</a></i> delves into the mission of Christian counseling, and offers tips on finding it when you need it. My guest is Dr. Jean Lee, CEO and founder of Gabriel Outreach in Arizona. Together we explore how the spiritual life impacts healing in the mental health field. Also profiled in this episode is the life of St. Mary of Edessa, a fourth century saint, and former prostitute, whose heart is rescued and transformed by the love and forgiveness extended to her by a loving uncle, and ultimately, by Christ. Listen to this week's <i>Among Women</i> podcast <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/10/among-women-142-the-ministry-of-christian-counseling/">here.</a><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">Technical note: I almost didn't post this podcast because of some random static that attacked the recording and could not be erased or diminished without erasing the entire program. So rather than canceling the show, I chose to post it anyway, hoping you would overlook the flaw and still enjoy the content. </span>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-28104626188158732662012-08-10T07:00:00.000-04:002012-08-10T07:00:10.068-04:00The F.U.N. Quotient... an Ode to Joy<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/xpcUxwpOQ_A?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/sJOrylxrB2Q?rel=0" width="560"></iframe>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-88188154499694172922012-08-09T09:50:00.002-04:002012-08-09T09:50:40.257-04:00I'm over at Catholic Mom, talking about fostering spiritual growth in the family...<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/08/spiritual-growth-within-a-catholic-family-part-one/">My latest at Catholic Mom</a> is somewhat a retrospective look back on 25 years of parenting. <a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/08/spiritual-growth-within-a-catholic-family-part-one/">Spiritual Growth Within a Catholic Family, Part One </a>gives the context for Catholic family life in the Gohn home. Part Two, coming next month, will talk about some of the family practices and attitudes that have worked to build up the spiritual life in each of our children.<br />
<br />
Here's a snippet from the current article:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The spiritual milestones of our children’s lives began with
their baptism. It slowly advanced with each of the sacraments that they made.
In between those sacramental milestones, there’s a world of spiritual territory
that we’ve traversed. And while we don’t make pencil marks on a door, or keep
report cards, my husband and I were privileged to watch souls take shape and
grow in our home. As parents, we spent a lot of time doing what we could to
influence that growth both directly and indirectly. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
But every now and then, we see a shining moment -- a
defining moment – when one of our children chooses Christ – growing as Catholic
Christians – by yielding more and more to Him. These are the moments you pray
for. Very few can be scheduled. Most are unpredictable, surprising, and happen
as the Holy Spirit wills. But almost all of them can be prepared for. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We’ve prepared our children as best as we can for such
times, often deliberately. Just as we’ve been called to be role models for
them, we’re called to educate them in three areas: daily life, academic life,
and spiritual life. We often know what to do with the first two areas, but the
spiritual life sometimes seems a little harder to articulate. This is the life
of grace, of sanctity, of holiness. It is training a child not only in the
basic knowledge of the faith, but calling them toward an interior life with
Christ.</blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p>The rest is<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/08/spiritual-growth-within-a-catholic-family-part-one/"> here. </a></o:p></div>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-24990803672373507202012-08-06T06:30:00.000-04:002012-08-06T06:30:03.293-04:00This makes me think.... about how far I need to go, but not being intimidated by that.<b>We need the living Christ, whom we can know only through our encounter with him. But encounter presumes actual presence -- the Real Presence, which in turn, requires the Sacrament and the Church that alone is authorized to give us the Sacrament, the church that Christ himself willed into existence and continues to support. The Eucharist, at each new celebration, must be recognized anew as the cord of our Christian life. But we cannot celebrate the Eucharist adequately if we are content to reduce it to a ritual of -- more or less -- a half-hour's duration. To receive Christ means to worship him. We welcome him properly and worthily at the solemn moment of receiving him, come to understand his nature, and in worshipping him learn to know him, come to understand his nature, and follow him. We need to learn once more how to rest peacefully in his gentle presence in our churches, where the Eucharist is likewise always present because Christ intercedes for us before the Father, because he always awaits us and speaks to us. We must learn again how to draw inwardly close to him, for it is only thus that we become worthy of the Eucharist. We cannot prepare ourselves to receive the Eucharist simply by thinking about how it should be done. We can prepare for it only when we try to comprehend the depths of its demands on us, of its greatness; when we do not reduce it to our level, but let ourselves be raised to its exalted level; when we become aware of the accumulated sound of the prayers offered during all the centuries in which generations of men have advanced and are still advancing toward Christ.</b><br />
<br />
--Pope Benedict XVI, writing as Cardinal Ratzinger in <i><a href="http://www.ignatius.com/Products/CWT-P/coworkers-of-the-truth.aspx">Co-Workers of the Truth</a></i>, p. 81-82.Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-3533902135256165652012-08-04T08:00:00.000-04:002012-08-04T08:00:02.700-04:00Among Women ReadHER 8.4.12<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOcesYW1rm8/UBns2Dij3mI/AAAAAAAADEI/TW7KEtYWipM/s1600/50643_2987.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ZOcesYW1rm8/UBns2Dij3mI/AAAAAAAADEI/TW7KEtYWipM/s320/50643_2987.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Among Women Read</i>HER</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>8.4.12</i></span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443343704577549390094138950.html">The Dark Knight Rises</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i><b>By Peggy Noonan from her column, Declarations, at the Wall Street Journal</b></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<i>Lots to think about on the state of culture, as it pertains to violence, entertainment, and parenting.</i></div>
<br />
<a href="http://www.incourage.me/2012/07/encouragement-for-wome.html">50 Encouraging Tweets for Women from (in)courage</a><br />
<b><i>Posted by (in)courage</i></b><br />
<i>A fun Christian site for women with some cool quotes from Twitterers.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/07/29/how-children-evangelize-us/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Catholicmomcom+%28CatholicMom.com%29">How Children Evangelize Us</a><br />
<i><b>By Gretchen Filz at CatholicMom</b></i><br />
<i>A great article on how "a little child shall lead them."</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://www.thepracticingcatholic.com/2012/07/29/5-steps-to-embracing-natural-family-planning/">5 Steps to Embracing NFP</a><br />
<i><b>By Renee McGuire at The Practicing Catholic</b></i><br />
<i>Good stuff here.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://www.thebostonpilot.com/article.asp?ID=14906">A Jury of My Peers</a><br />
<i><b>By Jaymie Stuart Wolfe at The Boston Pilot</b></i><br />
<i>Jaymie talks about her months seated on a grand jury. </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/08/02/what-guys-need-to-know-about-women/">What Guys Need to Know About Women</a><br />
<i><b>By Marge Fenelon at CatholicMom</b></i><br />
<i>An excellent explanation of the gifts femininity can bring to the workplace. <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/06/blessed-beautiful-and-bodacious.html">My book</a>, due out in 2013, talks about a women's gifts, among other themes.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2181017/Lou-Xiaoying-Story-Chinese-woman-saved-30-abandoned-babies-dumped-street-trash.html">Lou Xiaoying: Story of Chinese Woman Who Saved and Raised 30 Abandoned Babies in China</a><br />
<i><b>As Reported in The Daily Mail, London</b></i><br />
<i>This might just be woman of the year, or of the decade -- if they were voting in China.</i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<a href="http://info.humanevents.com/egl40/wmws/EGPB/1343938876151_742/w379626.php?custcode=EGPB&bid=258382498&porefererid_=258382498&pbid_=258382498&preflname_=&pemail=pat%2Egohn%40comcast%2Enet&preffname_=">Athletes Astound But "Fairness" Rule Leaves Us Dismayed</a><br />
<i><b>By Mary Beth Hicks at Family Events</b></i><br />
<i>Some folks think a US gymnast -- the reigning world champion -- ought to have been able to compete for an individual medal.</i><br />
<br />
<i><a href="http://www.9news.com/news/photo-gallery.aspx?storyid=280494">Regis Jesuit student and Olympian Missy Franklin, a gold medalist swimmer, backed by her fellow classmates. </a> </i><br />
<i><br /></i><br />
<i>Not an article, but an announcement of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Pillarsofcatholicism">a free online course called "Pillars of Catholicism"</a> being offered beginnning Aug 20 from John Paul University. You might wish to check it out.</i><br />
<i><br /></i>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-55701027791362868992012-08-03T07:00:00.000-04:002012-08-03T07:00:01.884-04:00The F.U.N. Quotient... country music edition meets the classical edition<i>Being a life-long guitarist, especially a fan of the rich dreadnaught sounds of Martin guitars, I've always had a fondness for country music... and this one's been a earworm of late... no Martins in this one, but a great Guild...</i><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/QjJyZfDCa88?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>And when I'm writing, or needing inspiration of any kind... I hit the classical playlist. One of my favs that I just found on YouTube:</i><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="300" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/SqBJFDbE2ZI?rel=0" width="400"></iframe><br />
<br />
<i>And finally, a kind of cross-over hit that, well, is just beautiful if you haven't heard it in a while:</i><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="225" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/Nl9WMIPzd6w?rel=0" width="400"></iframe>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-25562988286439863362012-08-03T01:05:00.002-04:002012-08-03T01:05:58.949-04:00Among Women Podcast #141: Assumptions, Adversity and Grace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzMsUiXZqBc/UBtb-n31TcI/AAAAAAAADZU/_GhM83t7WrU/s1600/IMG_0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="149" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jzMsUiXZqBc/UBtb-n31TcI/AAAAAAAADZU/_GhM83t7WrU/s200/IMG_0677.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_1530566313">Among Women </a></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><i><a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/03/among-women-141-assumptions-adversity-and-grace/">141</a></i> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">recaps my recent trip to France, as I attempted to discover some of my family's roots in the little village of Lembeye. Also, as we enter the month of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, I offer some perspectives on Our Lady's Assumption into heaven, a feast day we celebrate on August 15. </span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;">Joining me in conversation is author and blogger, Woodeene Koenig-Bricker. Together we examine the themes in her latest book, </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><em><span data-mce-style="color: #4a7039;" style="color: #4a7039;"><span data-mce-style="color: #4a7039;" style="color: #4a7039;"><a data-mce-href="http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Adversity-Grace-Lessons-Saints/dp/1593251602/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1343966679&sr=8-7&keywords=koenig+bricker" href="http://www.amazon.com/Facing-Adversity-Grace-Lessons-Saints/dp/1593251602/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1343966679&sr=8-7&keywords=koenig+bricker">Facing Adversity with Grace: Lessons from the Saints</a></span></span></em></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span data-mce-style="color: #4a7039;" style="color: #4a7039;"><span data-mce-style="color: #4a7039;" style="color: #4a7039;">You might enjoy m<a data-mce-href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/08/from-lourdes-to-lembeye-to-paris-more.html" href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/08/from-lourdes-to-lembeye-to-paris-more.html">y blog post</a></span></span> with photos of Lembeye, France. But find the podcast and all the pertinent links <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/08/03/among-women-141-assumptions-adversity-and-grace/">here.</a> </span></div>
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<em><span data-mce-style="color: #4a7039;" style="color: #4a7039;"><br /></span></em></div>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-45257600784849349272012-08-03T00:03:00.000-04:002012-08-03T00:03:20.452-04:00From Lourdes to Lembeye to Paris... more photos from my trip to FranceIf you've been keeping track, I never got to post photos from the rest of my trip to France. But if you missed the earlier post on <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-france-pilgrimage-photos-pour-vous.html">my pilgrimages to Rue de Bac and to Lourdes</a>, you can <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-france-pilgrimage-photos-pour-vous.html">go here</a>. On the podcast this week, I described a little bit about my journey to the homeland village of my paternal grandmother, Henrietta (ne Pelay) Wilhelm, and what it was like to be in Lembeye.<br />
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I also talked about Lembeye and <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Baptized-Claimed-Pat-Gohn-08-02-2012.html">the gift of a faith legacy in my recent column at Patheos</a>.<br />
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After <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.blogspot.com/2012/07/my-france-pilgrimage-photos-pour-vous.html">the pilgrimage to Lourdes</a>, (<a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/07/01/among-women-137-back-from-wherever-ive-been/">podcast on Lourdes</a>) we rented a car and decided to drive back to Paris over a period of days to see more of the countryside. What we did not know, until shortly before our trip is that my father's mother, who came immigrated to the United States as a girl, came from a small village, <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&oe=UTF-8&q=lembeye+france&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0xd5622541f7f5fad:0x406651748139b90,Lembeye,+France&gl=us&ei=1CcbUJLmKqez6wHdiYGYDA&ved=0CJYBELYD">Lembeye,</a> just about 20 miles from the mountainous Lourdes. So after we rented the car, Lembeye became our first stop.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsXKLzx4BFGmEhFKQP4HXEIVr12UiLyvi7ms-s8aEsiUI2A7McugS7iGpaMUXmBZdaks9a8vhqqRPe1JarxUWsq1Cgg_QsDjLx_fxESewVrzSHkimDSZvmYBXLOiJy7uNSmNBdIhsEWkn/s1600/IMG_0677.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxsXKLzx4BFGmEhFKQP4HXEIVr12UiLyvi7ms-s8aEsiUI2A7McugS7iGpaMUXmBZdaks9a8vhqqRPe1JarxUWsq1Cgg_QsDjLx_fxESewVrzSHkimDSZvmYBXLOiJy7uNSmNBdIhsEWkn/s320/IMG_0677.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The first sighting that we were getting close...</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lzc0FMheAJw/UBsC-uJr9QI/AAAAAAAADKM/0sb_bmpd2FQ/s1600/IMG_0721.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lzc0FMheAJw/UBsC-uJr9QI/AAAAAAAADKM/0sb_bmpd2FQ/s320/IMG_0721.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Lembeye is located in the south of France, in the rolling hills before you get to the Pyrannees.</div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oI7WJCiXr6w/UBsB9xPeWjI/AAAAAAAADFE/n_zHV-qEKEE/s1600/IMG_0680.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-oI7WJCiXr6w/UBsB9xPeWjI/AAAAAAAADFE/n_zHV-qEKEE/s320/IMG_0680.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The outskirts of town</div>
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We did not have anyone to visit in Lembeye. So we programmed the GPS to take us to the Catholic Church <a href="http://www.diocese-bayonne.org/spip.php?article409">in the town.</a>.. that we had researched online before the trip.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tNjjubMLYYY/UBsCCU6DPVI/AAAAAAAADFc/6pOyOdJxUvA/s1600/IMG_0683.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-tNjjubMLYYY/UBsCCU6DPVI/AAAAAAAADFc/6pOyOdJxUvA/s320/IMG_0683.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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So we rolled right up to the Church's front door.</div>
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Our Lady of the Assumption built in the 1800's...</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq0EmcFgG-g/UBsCSr1yiyI/AAAAAAAADGg/CklxJGqveK0/s1600/IMG_0691.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Rq0EmcFgG-g/UBsCSr1yiyI/AAAAAAAADGg/CklxJGqveK0/s320/IMG_0691.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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... and currently undergoing restoration, even though the congregation is still meeting there for Sunday Masses.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiuU41c-HvD6RdaKdrZYS8qgeJktP9Vm8qb77uFESeptjQekejEJGbGheeOSuH3bM3fuDlQVadcLcFJnXMvwZ-TyHG6V2FRAFAuMFyCTq7s5vOO0fnEzGTgdF8ohNFM-CrWtd4B6N9s5N/s1600/IMG_0699.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmiuU41c-HvD6RdaKdrZYS8qgeJktP9Vm8qb77uFESeptjQekejEJGbGheeOSuH3bM3fuDlQVadcLcFJnXMvwZ-TyHG6V2FRAFAuMFyCTq7s5vOO0fnEzGTgdF8ohNFM-CrWtd4B6N9s5N/s320/IMG_0699.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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We heard the echos of lots of pigeons living in that bell tower. I'm sure that's on the restoration "to do" list. </div>
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In the right foreground, you see the town veterans memorial with names from the first and second world wars.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TzgZawwv598/UBsCQHV8zeI/AAAAAAAADGQ/nY6hqB60Lzo/s1600/IMG_0689.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-TzgZawwv598/UBsCQHV8zeI/AAAAAAAADGQ/nY6hqB60Lzo/s320/IMG_0689.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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Sadly, the poor weather gave us a poor exposure of this soldier on the monument.</div>
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On the sides of the monument are the names of the native sons who were lost.</div>
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And we found one that we believe may be a relative: "Victor Pelay".</div>
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Here I am before I go in to the church (It was raining so I'm dressed for the weather.) Note the very old statue of Our Lady above the threshold, welcoming guests.</div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L3QbXZZkw-c/UBsCT1faZ7I/AAAAAAAADGo/j4DDdJXfX5Q/s1600/IMG_0693.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-L3QbXZZkw-c/UBsCT1faZ7I/AAAAAAAADGo/j4DDdJXfX5Q/s320/IMG_0693.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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She need some restoration too. I wonder how long she has stood there?</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9mXO4hGreoM5wo50FR86SUJ_LhemsUwsbTys2VFfktaxtqi5MkwNVpI6T0-d7Rfrn1-z8j9u1BSa6I0A-weRPkdTK16JNjmfuQbhJWFGkyrUSWhU2StcwB-fFEa1DsaojkQAqpAHILa8/s1600/IMG_1761.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEig9mXO4hGreoM5wo50FR86SUJ_LhemsUwsbTys2VFfktaxtqi5MkwNVpI6T0-d7Rfrn1-z8j9u1BSa6I0A-weRPkdTK16JNjmfuQbhJWFGkyrUSWhU2StcwB-fFEa1DsaojkQAqpAHILa8/s320/IMG_1761.JPG" width="238" /></a><br />
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The church door was locked until a workman came by, so we got a peek inside. Sadly, a photo of the stained glass did not come out, plus it was very dark inside and no lights were on. But we were happy to say a little prayer there.</div>
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A mission statue from the late 1800's. We did see many crosses like these on the roads in and out to many villages and small towns in France.</div>
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Here are some more views of Lembeye...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjm3U9h9j-fiFJHW5E_J1xLnuCptus903pRNEvjZdvh0BMprhVCPViOXu9oCAoUiUuv1a__xOjpGRdOX2LuPHXZk6lg8EV3rKcbCIIiM45esVUuV_N6k6vh4mNOBQ-DYBLhTI70Nv6JVj/s1600/IMG_0707.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAjm3U9h9j-fiFJHW5E_J1xLnuCptus903pRNEvjZdvh0BMprhVCPViOXu9oCAoUiUuv1a__xOjpGRdOX2LuPHXZk6lg8EV3rKcbCIIiM45esVUuV_N6k6vh4mNOBQ-DYBLhTI70Nv6JVj/s320/IMG_0707.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LJj7Q6w61ig/UBsC4BANCXI/AAAAAAAADJ0/CKCJS0Gm9I8/s1600/IMG_0717.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LJj7Q6w61ig/UBsC4BANCXI/AAAAAAAADJ0/CKCJS0Gm9I8/s320/IMG_0717.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The tower</div>
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LOVED that the local pub was called CENTRAL PARK! </div>
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(being native NYer's we got a kick out of that!)</div>
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Yes, there was a chain on the gate of the cemetery. Yes it was not locked so we went in to see if we "knew" anybody. Crazy? Maybe. But since this was an impromptu "family tree" expedition, we had no other ideas as to how to explore for family. (Next time, we'll try to meet the <i>living</i> locals.)</div>
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And yes, we did find one tombstone that seemed to resemble a family name. We're still researching.</div>
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Moving on from Lembeye, we also enjoyed Bourdeaux, (and its wines!) </div>
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Plus a trip through the Loire Valley, is not complete without visiting some of its many Chateaux...</div>
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Yes, more rain! But lovely gardens are still lovely in the rain!</div>
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Bob and me... somewhat waterlogged!</div>
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We had dinner in Orleans... where the battle of Orleans was fought under the leadership of St. Joan of Arc, who is honored behind me.</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdKe-euut5U/UBsL8Pi9_DI/AAAAAAAADOs/tyhMbMqV3Gg/s1600/IMG_0799.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pdKe-euut5U/UBsL8Pi9_DI/AAAAAAAADOs/tyhMbMqV3Gg/s320/IMG_0799.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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At night, many cities in France illuminate their cathedrals with lights... so those shapes are projected onto the Cathedral de la Croix (where St. Joan would pray before battle.)</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A06mO9H79YQ/UBsMKVjLnyI/AAAAAAAADP8/392iZcVzSg0/s1600/IMG_0809.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A06mO9H79YQ/UBsMKVjLnyI/AAAAAAAADP8/392iZcVzSg0/s320/IMG_0809.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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Closer to Paris, we stayed in Chartres... a city I will gladly return to-- I just loved it! Maybe cuz it was a sunny day?? Chartres is one of the most beautiful cathedrals in France, so please see <a href="http://www.google.com/search?q=chartres+cathedral&hl=en&client=safari&rls=en&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=iSMbUMrKK8eX6wGNl4HIBg&ved=0CG8QsAQ&biw=1422&bih=707">some great Google images elsewhere</a> so you can really appreciate it. It is undergoing enormous restoration. Those white walls and columns show off the natural stone after centuries of candle soot and dirt and grime have been removed.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenzTKECVox_sRFfwuLAEc8w-Lm5vU5jlaAI8cr7eaJoS0ahWQzt169n2KG-9p0OdxH2lM614W0dZsc8kJaSwRLZSzx02aysqiC7oWHxf2zdsDPmn6W3vn4SzqHVpXlK4SU_mENLx6VurB/s1600/IMG_0824.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghyphenhyphenzTKECVox_sRFfwuLAEc8w-Lm5vU5jlaAI8cr7eaJoS0ahWQzt169n2KG-9p0OdxH2lM614W0dZsc8kJaSwRLZSzx02aysqiC7oWHxf2zdsDPmn6W3vn4SzqHVpXlK4SU_mENLx6VurB/s320/IMG_0824.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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That's me, before the famous Lady of the Pillar, praying for all the intentions I brought with me.</div>
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In this shot, you can see "before" restoration on the left, and "after" restoration on the right. I'd like to return to Chartres in about 5 years. </div>
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Exterior</div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tVpoNjzTRyQ/UBsN_VsQ-aI/AAAAAAAADYA/N50l-_6E5X0/s1600/IMG_0871.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tVpoNjzTRyQ/UBsN_VsQ-aI/AAAAAAAADYA/N50l-_6E5X0/s320/IMG_0871.JPG" width="238" /></a></div>
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One of the many magnificent doorways.</div>
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Chartres was build to house its most sacred relic -- the veil of Our Lady that allegedly was what she wore at the birth of the Christ. (Sadly, due to the major construction going on around the sanctuary area, we were not able to view the veil.) What Wikipedia can't tell you is that this Cathedral is known as Chartres because that is the city in which it is named... often nicknamed the Cathedral of Notre Dame of Chartres, or the cathedral of Our Lady... but its official name, that good Catholics would recognize is the Cathedral of the Assumption of Our Lady. So, just like Lembeye's little church built over a hundred years ago, Chartres, built over 800 years ago recognized Mary's Assumption into heaven, even before the doctrine was officially promulgated in 1950.</div>
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Leaving the pilgrimage-ish side of the tour... we leave you with these parting shots...</div>
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History buffs will recognize Versailles...</div>
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and its Hall of Mirrors...</div>
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and two suspicious looking tourists taking a self-portrait in its mirrored walls.</div>
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<br />Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-80419297575256421412012-08-02T07:30:00.000-04:002012-08-02T07:30:01.839-04:00If you've been baptized, thank the Church... and other thoughts regarding my recent trip to France.<a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Baptized-Claimed-Pat-Gohn-08-02-2012.html">My column this week at <i>Patheos</i></a> is about the roots of faith, especially how I experience them in my own life. God loves us. Baptism confirms that love. Someone cared enough to have us baptized. And some of us have a legacy of faith that stretches back generations.<br />
<br />
Here's an excerpt:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Jesus specifically asked his followers to make disciples of
all the nations, to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">baptize</i> the
people they met “in the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” To
this day, we members of the church share in his mission, to reveal God to the
very hearts that were made to receive him. Two thousand years later, that
practice continues. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I can trace my faith in Christ to the graces first imparted
at my baptism. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
If you were baptized, you have someone to thank for bringing
you, or leading you, to the font of life. Coming from a heritage of both French
and Irish Catholic Immigrants, I have a lot of people to thank, stretching back
generations. Their faith and love live on in me. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
On a recent pilgrimage to <a href="http://www.lourdes-france.org/index.php?goto_centre=ru&contexte=en&id=405&id_rubrique=405">Lourdes</a>,
France, my husband and I found it marvelous to worship and pray with the international
throngs of Catholic faithful at <a href="http://www.lourdes-radio.com/player_live/player_live_en/player-token_en.php">the
Grotto</a> -- where the Blessed Virgin Mary appeared to St Bernadette, and
where so many healings have taken place -- and in the shrine’s three basilicas.
But Catholicism isn’t just a global faith, it is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">personal</i> faith -- the same faith that my parents offered to me when
I was baptized over a half century ago, and the same faith that I have brought
my children up in. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Prior to the trip to Lourdes, I learned that my paternal
grandmother’s home village was located in the south of France. Intrigued, my
husband and I rented a car and explored the little town of Lembeye, where my
immigrant grandmother began her life. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As beautiful as Lourdes was, (in terms of the grandeur of
being a world famous sacred destination) Lembeye was, on a personal level, just
as beautiful to me. There, I entered into the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">Eglise de l’Assomption à Lembeye</span></i><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;">, the Church of the Assumption at Lembeye, an old 19<sup>th</sup> century
church -- the only one in town – and likely the place where my grandmother was
baptized and received her first sacraments. I could not be sure, since I do not
have Nana’s baptismal certificate, but this little French church might very
well have been the source of my faith origins. Today I continue to reap the
benefits of the faith that has been handed on to me from earlier generations.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><o:p> Read <a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Baptized-Claimed-Pat-Gohn-08-02-2012.html">the rest.</a></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 13.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><a href="http://www.patheos.com/About-Patheos/Pat-Gohn.html">Subscribe to this column</a> via email or RSS.</span></div>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-67915187818286305322012-07-30T07:00:00.000-04:002012-07-30T07:00:10.995-04:00This makes me think... it should make you think too.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 18px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>In real life, democracy is built on two practical pillars: cooperation and conflict. It requires both. <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Cooperation,</em> because people have a natural hunger for solidarity that makes all community possible. And <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">conflict,</em> because people have competing visions of what is right and true. The more deeply they hold their convictions, the more naturally people seek to have those convictions shape society. </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What that means for Catholics is this: We have a duty to treat all persons with charity and justice. We have a duty to seek common ground where possible. But that’s never an excuse for compromising with grave evil. It’s never an excuse for being naive. And it’s never an excuse for standing idly by while our liberty to preach and serve God in the public square is whittled away. We need to work vigorously in law and politics to form our culture in a Christian understanding of human dignity and the purpose of human freedom. Otherwise, we should stop trying to fool ourselves that we really believe what we claim to believe.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>There’s more. To work as it was intended, America needs a special kind of citizenry: a mature, well-informed electorate of persons able to reason clearly and rule themselves prudently. If that’s true — and it is — then the greatest danger to American liberty in our day is not religious extremism. It’s something very different. It’s a culture of narcissism that cocoons us in dumbed-down, bigoted news, vulgarity, distraction and noise, while methodically excluding God from the human imagination. Kierkegaard once wrote that “the introspection of silence is the condition of all educated intercourse” and that “talkativeness is afraid of the silence which reveals its emptiness.” </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>Silence feeds the soul. Silence invites God to speak. And silence is <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">exactly</em> what American culture no longer allows. Securing the place of religious freedom in our society is therefore not just a matter of law and politics, but of prayer, interior renewal — and also education. </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>What I mean is this: We need to re-examine the spirit that has ruled the Catholic approach to American life for the past 60 years. In forming our priests, deacons, teachers and catechists — and especially the young people in our schools and religious-education programs — we need to be much more penetrating and critical in our attitudes toward the culture around us. We need to recover our distinctive Catholic identity and history. Then we need to act on them. </b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>America is becoming a very different country, and as Ross Douthat argues so well in his excellent book <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Bad Religion, </em>a renewed American Christianity needs to be ecumenical, but also <em style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">confessional. </em>Why? Because: “In an age of institutional weakness and doctrinal drift, American Christianity has much more to gain from a robust Catholicism and a robust Calvinism than it does from even the most fruitful Catholic-Calvinist theological dialogue.”</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><b>America is now mission territory. Our own failures helped to make it that way. We need to admit that. Then we need to re-engage the work of discipleship to change it.</b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">--Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM Cap., Archbishop of Philadelphia, Address to the Napa Institute, given July 26, 2012</span></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: transparent; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; font-size: 16px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: initial; outline-width: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;"><br /><br />Read <a href="http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/building-a-culture-of-religious-freedom/#ixzz21rqBWyvM">more</a>.</span></span>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-76430601901040190992012-07-28T08:00:00.000-04:002012-07-28T08:00:10.596-04:00Among Women ReadHER 7.28.12 Aurora, marriage, motherhood, and gutsy bishops<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i><b>Among Women Read</b></i><b>HER 7.28.12</b></span></div>
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<i>Some stories outside the headlines on the violent shootings in Aurora:</i><br />
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<a href="http://hotair.com/archives/2012/07/23/auroras-victims-learning-who-we-lost/">Learning Who We Lost: The Aurora Victims</a><br />
<i><b>Posted at Hot Air</b></i><br />
<i>Say a prayer.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.archden.org/repository/Documents/BishopConley/Addresses/Invocation%20at%20Prayer%20Vigil%20for%20Aurora%20Victims%207_22_2012.pdf">Denver's Bishop Conley's Remarks and Invocation at the Prayer Vigil for the Victims in Aurora</a><br />
<i><b>Posted as a PDF from the Archdiocese of Denver</b></i><br />
<i>Worth reading and praying.</i><br />
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<a href="http://bstrait.wordpress.com/2012/07/22/a-miracle-inside-the-the-aurora-shooting-one-victims-story/">A Miracle Inside the Aurora Story</a><br />
<i><b>By Brad Strait at Celtic Straits</b></i><br />
<i>Lotsa folks praying for this woman's recovery, and thanking God, perhaps, for the "gift" of her curious medical malady.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/Dark-Knight-Before-Dawn-Joseph-Susanka-07-27-2012.html">The Dark Knight Before the Dawn</a><br />
<i><b>By Joseph Susanka at Patheos</b></i><br />
<i>Joseph is an insightful film buff and Catholic writer. His column this week reflects on the film The Dark Knight, and the shootings in Aurora. He says: "</i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 19px;">Heroism and the confrontation of evil—a confrontation most often achieved through suffering—is the only way to truly grapple with the problem. To paraphrase Alfred, we must learn to get back up; to rise again, and press ever forward towards the light."</span><br />
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<i>Other interesting stuff: </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.mercatornet.com/family_edge/view/11006">Women say "I Do" to Husband's names</a><br />
<i><b>By Carolyn Moynihan at Mercator.net</b></i><br />
<i>I always watch what Moynihan is writing about. This is interesting. It was more optimistic that I would have thought.</i><br />
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<a href="http://sippinglemonade.com/before-you-get-here/">Before You Get Here</a><br />
<i><b>By Lauren Warner at Sipping Lemonade</b></i><br />
A mom writers a touching note to her daughter in the womb.<br />
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<a href="http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/06/30/the-busy-trap/?smid=fb-share">The 'Busy' Trap</a><br />
<i><b>By Tim Krieder at the New York Times' Opinionator</b></i><br />
<i>A bit long, but worth the read. Insightful, challenging. H/T to <a href="http://www.catholicdrinkie.com/">Sarah Vabulas</a>.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.megmeekermd.com/2012/07/the-joys-of-a-wonderfully-imperfect-life/">The Joys of a Wonderfully Imperfect Life</a><br />
<i><b>By Meg Meeker, MD from her blog</b></i><br />
<i>Very very good advice.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.archden.org/index.cfm/ID/8556?CFID=11890839&CFTOKEN=24251968">The War on (Little) Women and Other Insanities</a><br />
<i><b>By George Weigel at The Catholic Difference</b></i><br />
<i>Sex selection abortions, the Supreme Court, and more, in the US.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/thecrescat/2012/07/chicken-gate-an-exercise-in-media-induced-hysteria-and-fascism.html">Chicken-Gate - An Exercise in Media-Induced Hysteria and Fascism...</a><br />
<i><b>By Katrina Fernandez at The Crescat</b></i><br />
<i>Simply the shortest and most succinct blog post I could find on this story that, I think, originated here in Boston area with it's mayor getting his knickers in a twist about Chick Fil-A's president expressing his personal philosophy. Which leads me to ask: Is Chick Fil-A not serving customers based on their sexual orientation, or firing their employees with same-sex attraction? <b>That </b>would be news. But its not. Instead we have a Christian business owner and his company being smeared because of comments he made to a church organization, a right he has in freedom of speech. Lord have mercy on business leaders everywhere. I'm suddenly in the mood for sweet tea.</i><br />
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<i>And now <a href="http://dailycaller.com/2012/07/27/report-chick-fil-as-public-relations-director-dead-of-heart-attack/">this sad news</a> about the death of the PR spokesperson at Chick-Fil-A.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/building-a-culture-of-religious-freedom/">Building a Culture of Religious Freedom</a><br />
<i><b>Address by Archbishop of Philadelphia, +Charles Chaput, OFM, Cap (as found in the National Catholic Register)</b></i><br />
<i>Read this one. Share it. Talk to your children about this. The new evangelization will fail if we fail to be distinctly Catholic and Christian in our thinking, discourse, and finally, love and example.</i>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-72705952854260306832012-07-27T07:00:00.000-04:002012-07-27T07:00:12.145-04:00The F.U.N. Quotient... Where's Waldo edition<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/EvWh6PMi9Ek?rel=0" width="400"></iframe>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-66882486803375201132012-07-27T06:00:00.000-04:002012-07-27T06:00:04.710-04:00Among Women Podcast #140 features Dawn Eden and her book offering hope and healing for sexual wounds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/07/27/among-women-140-saintly-perspectives-on-healing-sexual-wounds/">Among Women 140</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;">*</span> </i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">turns our attention to the tender subject of recovery and healing from the wounds of sexual abuse, especially those sustained in childhood. My guest this week is <a href="http://dawneden.blogspot.com/">Dawn Eden</a>, author of <i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/My-Peace-Give-You-Healing/dp/1594712905">My Peace I Give You: Healing Sexual Wounds with the Help of the Saints</a></i>. In this conversation, Dawn shares some of the spiritual richness she found after coming into the Catholic Church as a convert, and how the prayers, sacraments, and saints of the church offer solace and renewal for those who have suffered from sexual wounds. She also describes the stained glassed triptych to the left, in some depth.</span></span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/07/27/among-women-140-saintly-perspectives-on-healing-sexual-wounds/">This program </a>also features some excerpts from St. Faustina's Diary of Divine Mercy, and in particular, contains a lovely prayer of thanksgiving for the gift of grace found in the sacramental life. You'll also find<a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/07/27/among-women-140-saintly-perspectives-on-healing-sexual-wounds/"> numerous links and resources on the podcast page</a>, including a free drawing to enter for Dawn Eden's new book.</span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span data-mce-style="color: #ff0000;" style="color: red;">*Programming note: due to the sensitive nature of this topic, parental discretion is advised.</span> While no abuse is graphically described in this conversation, we wish to protect the innocence of children who may be in earshot of the program.</span></div>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-78745059485311230492012-07-25T14:47:00.000-04:002012-07-25T14:47:06.404-04:00I'm over at Amazing Catechists... doing my Pat-in-the-Cat thing, and talking about taking faith on vacation<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQssl562hpI/UBA-tvR0QhI/AAAAAAAADDM/MQPISJkaGTs/s1600/641528_22667868.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="284" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BQssl562hpI/UBA-tvR0QhI/AAAAAAAADDM/MQPISJkaGTs/s320/641528_22667868.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I've written about this subject before, in which I ask <b style="font-style: italic;">Does the Catechism Have Any Wisdom for My Summer Vacation?</b> Go check out <a href="http://bit.ly/OvKAKO">my column at Amazing Catechists.</a>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-25124795119444845372012-07-23T07:00:00.000-04:002012-07-23T07:00:00.776-04:00This makes me think... what the end of the Catechism says<br />
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<i>A few short summary lines of catechesis on The Lord's Prayer... </i></div>
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<b>2857</b> In the Our Father, the object of the first three petitions is the glory of the Father: the sanctification of his name, the coming of the kingdom, and the fulfillment of his will. The four others present our wants to him: they ask that our lives be nourished, healed of sin, and made victorious in the struggle of good over evil.</div>
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<a href="" name="2858" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2858</b> By asking "hallowed be thy name" we enter into God's plan, the sanctification of his name - revealed first to Moses and then in Jesus - by us and in us, in every nation and in each man.</div>
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<a href="" name="2859" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2859</b> By the second petition, the Church looks first to Christ's return and the final coming of the Reign of God. It also prays for the growth of the Kingdom of God in the "today" of our own lives.</div>
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<a href="" name="2860" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2860</b> In the third petition, we ask our Father to unite our will to that of his Son, so as to fulfill his plan of salvation in the life of the world.</div>
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<a href="" name="2861" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2861</b> In the fourth petition, by saying "give us," we express in communion with our brethren our filial trust in our heavenly Father. "Our daily bread" refers to the earthly nourishment necessary to everyone for subsistence, and also to the Bread of Life: the Word of God and the Body of Christ. It is received in God's "today," as the indispensable, (super-) essential nourishment of the feast of the coming Kingdom anticipated in the Eucharist.</div>
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<a href="" name="2862" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2862</b> The fifth petition begs God's mercy for our offences, mercy which can penetrate our hearts only if we have learned to forgive our enemies, with the example and help of Christ.</div>
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<a href="" name="2863" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2863</b> When we say "lead us not into temptation" we are asking God not to allow us to take the path that leads to sin. This petition implores the Spirit of discernment and strength; it requests the grace of vigilance and final perseverance.</div>
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<a href="" name="2864" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2864</b> In the last petition, "but deliver us from evil," Christians pray to God with the Church to show forth the victory, already won by Christ, over the "ruler of this world," Satan, the angel personally opposed to God and to his plan of salvation.</div>
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<a href="" name="2865" style="color: #94805c;"></a><b>2865</b> By the final "Amen," we express our "fiat" concerning the seven petitions: "So be it."</div>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3126816026588111708.post-21452947835727231212012-07-21T08:00:00.000-04:002012-07-21T08:04:01.599-04:00Among Women ReadHER 7.21.12... CUA & Wheaton's collab on HHS, "dating", Olympics, What Women Want<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3r2Evbp8mu8/UAgVtfXUAII/AAAAAAAADCY/hSHbop7dUj0/s1600/525434_12344137.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-3r2Evbp8mu8/UAgVtfXUAII/AAAAAAAADCY/hSHbop7dUj0/s320/525434_12344137.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;"><i>Among Women Read</i>HER 7.21.12</span></div>
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/theanchoress/2012/07/20/prayers-for-aurora/">Prayers for Aurora with the Office of the Dead</a><br />
<b><i>By Elizabeth Scalia at The Anchoress</i></b><br />
<i>Let us pray, pray, pray.</i><br />
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<u><a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303933704577533251292715324.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop">Philip Ryken and John Garvey: An Evangelic-Catholic Stand on Liberty</a></u><br />
<b><i>By Philip Ryken and John Garvey at the Wall Street Journal</i></b><br />
<i>The fight againt HHS mandate continues. In this article the President of Wheaton College (a major Evangelical institution) and the President of The Catholic University of America team up to file suit against the mandate. Stay tuned, and <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/">stay informed on this issue</a> - a must for every Catholic. </i><br />
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<i>You can <a href="http://www.becketfund.org/hhsinformationcentral/">track all the lawsuits here</a> (not just the Catholic ones.) </i><br />
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<i><a href="http://womenspeakforthemselves.com/">Women Speak for Themselves </a>is a cool initiative... please check it out.</i><br />
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<i>Finally, if you missed Archbishop Chaput's Homily in DC on July 4th, <a href="http://www.usccb.org/issues-and-action/religious-liberty/fortnight-for-freedom/upload/Fortnight-Closing-Mass-Archbishop-Chaput-Homily.pdf">go here and read it.</a></i><br />
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<a href="http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-129.cfm">Bishops Welcome Inclusion of Conscience Provisions in a House Appropriations Bill</a><br />
<b><i>Posted at the USCCB</i></b><br />
<i>Read it for some encouragement. There's still a long way to go to make this happen.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/Catholic/In-Defense-D-Word-Michael-Hannon-07-16-2012.html">In Defense of the 'D' Word</a><br />
<b><i>By Michael Hammond at the Catholic Portal at Patheos</i></b><br />
<i>I sent this to my sons; it's about dating. </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.ncregister.com/blog/simcha-fisher/abducted-by-art/">Abducted by Art</a><br />
<b><i>By Simcha Fisher at her blog at National Catholic Register</i></b><br />
<i>Some stirring commentary on art and comic strips and the state of weight and women. (On a related note, <a href="http://amongwomenpodcast.patgohn.net/2012/07/19/among-women-139-conversation-conversion-and-the-comics/">on AW 139</a> this week, we're talking to Ellen Austin about her comic strip creation, "Gracieland.") </i><br />
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<a href="http://www.patheos.com/blogs/christophers/2012/07/should-six-year-old-girls-be-trying-to-look-sexy/">Should a Six Year Old Girl Be Trying to Look Sexy?</a><br />
<i><b>By Tony Rossi at Christopher Close-up</b></i><br />
<i>A good question... especially for the parents reading this.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/feminism/fe0069.htm">What Women Want</a><br />
<i><b>By Barbara Kay at the National Post, reprinted by CERC</b></i><br />
<i>More commentary on the previous Atlantic Monthly article on the work/home balance for women.</i><br />
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<a href="http://catholicmom.com/2012/07/13/the-miracle-of-the-violet/">The Miracle of the Violet</a><br />
<i><b>By Maria Morera Johnson at CatholicMom.com</b></i><br />
<i>If you pay attention, the little things in life have much to teach us. Over and over again. (This article is also available in Spanish.)</i><br />
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<a href="http://cnmc.sqpn.com/2012/06/30/all-new-virtual-ticket/">SQPN Announces an All-New Virtual Ticket to the CNMC</a><br />
<i><b>Posted at CatholicNewMediaConference.com</b></i><br />
<i>Can't make it the CNMC in Dallas? This might be a great option to get all the talks, plus content from previous conferences delivered to you after the event.</i><br />
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<a href="http://www.catholicregister.org/home/item/14896-prayer-faith-guide-maryland-swimmer-in-quest-for-olympic-gold">Prayer, Faith Guide Maryland Swimmer in Quest for Olympic Gold</a><br />
<i><b>By Maureen Boyle in the Catholic Standard</b></i><br />
<i>Praying a Hail Mary before each race, and other thoughts.</i><br />
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<i>Get your catechism fix here... with the cutest catechist on the planet to date... son of author and blogger <a href="http://brandonvogt.com/">Brandon Vogt.</a></i><br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_4MC1Jk1zvA?rel=0" width="400"></iframe>Pat Gohnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02449860276137795051noreply@blogger.com1