Blessed Mother in Kuwait by Veronica Hargrove

 When Veronica Hargrove's son was fighting overseas in Kuwait, praying the rosary for him took away her feeling of fear and helplessness.  And the Blessed Mother came through.

     As a little girl, I often noticed my father fingering a string of pretty beads.  I would wonder why he played with those beads so often.  When I was six years old, my dad explained the power of Mary’s intercession to her Son through the rosary. He taught me how to say this very special prayer.

     I have prayed it ever since.  Mary has not only helped me throughout my own life, but I believe she helped save my son’s life as well as the lives of his buddies during a difficult time.  

Catholic Book Bonanza--15 Prizes!

Are you a Catholic who loves to read? Join the club! This Christmas, Teresa Tomeo Communications, run by the Catholic radio and TV personality Teresa Tomeo, is giving away 15 books from some of her favorite authors AND a $50 Amazon gift card.

On the prize list are some of this year’s best selling books. Plus, one lucky winner can choose to buy whatever books – or holiday gifts – they want directly from Amazon with a $50 gift card.

We’re giving you lots of simple ways enter the contest, and the more entries you complete, the better your chance to win! Choose from the entry options below and complete as many as you’d like.

Gambling with Love

“Father, I’m ready to throw in the towel,” Brad stated. “How long am I suppose to take this?” -- A story that shows the power of  prayer to renew marriage.

Shuffling through the mail, Brad Kremmer pulled out several envelopes from credit card companies and ripped them open.  His muscles tightened as he skimmed over the new balances.  

“She’s lied again,” Brad realized.  His wife, Jennifer, had promised to stop gambling at the casino and going on out-of-control buying sprees.  She seemed to understand the seriousness of their mounting debts when she tearfully promised to quit.  Instead, she had gone through at least another two thousand dollars.

A Prayer for the Internet

The Internet has it all: the good, the bad, and the ugly.  Like everything in life, it is a battleground of good and evil, best navigated by staying near to God.

Defend Priests Against Bullies

‘Yeah, well your priests, like little boys.”

There it is. The slap in the face meant to silence a Catholic and degrade the priesthood.  You would think it had been enough already, but the priest/sex scandal card still gets played, often in comments under articles or on Facebook posts. It has shown up a few times in comments under my articles.

Too often, Catholics cringe and duck out. It was the goal all along of the one who spit out the vitriolic attack; to silence his opponent and chalk up one for the anti-Catholic team.  Should you end it and walk away?  As the saying goes, “Don’t fight with fools, they’ll beat you with experience every time.” But wait, priests act in the place of Jesus Christ. Will you not defend Christ?

Dying to Live and Living to Die

     
 Can a death sentence improve your life?  Do you live life to the fullest?  That includes eternity.  Yet, who among us lives as if death is coming?

     The default setting for most is to live merely—or at least mostly—for Earthly life.  In such a case, a death sentence can be a great blessing.  Suddenly, reality becomes real.

"God Hears a Mother's Prayers" by Susan Brinkmann

     Pedro Cumba’s first brush with death came in 1995 when a rival drug gang robbed him.   “They pushed me down the basement steps and made me lay face down on the floor,” Cumba said.  “He went to shoot me in the back of the head but the gun didn’t go off.”

    Pedro managed to get away, unharmed, but was not yet frightened away from the drug habit that would consume twenty of his forty-eight years of life.  His second brush with death would come soon after, when his home was broken into one night.  Cumba was doing drugs in the living room with his friends.  “I was whacked over the back of the head with a gun, tied up and thrown in a closet.”  One of the assailants put a pillow up to the closet door and started shooting but Cumba was able to wriggle himself into the corner of the closet and escaped all five bullets.

The Abortion Prayer Wars

Prayer is a lethal weapon. But in the hands of the enemy with sacrilegious intentions, it is useless. Although abortion workers continually say that prayer vigils outside abortion clinics are ineffective, they are attempting to use prayer to launch a counter-offensive. Unfortunately, they lack the knowledge of how such a weapon works.

Mary’s Moms—Taking it to the Next Level

“Hey Patti, I’m getting serious about praying for my family. I’m going to do a 40-day fast and daily rosary, do you want to join me?” My friend Shellie Rusch asked me this recently.  She has six kids and we have a spiritual sisterhood in many ways.

As a wife and mother of ten, I had eleven reasons to say yes. Well, twelve including me, and I certainly need all the help I can get.  It was a comforting idea, to get serious about the spiritual well being of our families and to pool our prayers and fasting together.   It wasn’t as if we had not always prayed for our families, but this would be different—something more; something big.  We had one intention: for the increased holiness of our families. In the end, holiness is all that matters so it was all we would ask for.

Ban on Beauty Pageants?

No beauty contests?  That’s un-American! Well, actually it is. The ban on beauty contests is the goal of some French politicians and it’s not a total ban.  Sadly.  However, American’s take note.  Please. Too many people don’t have a clue what true beauty is.  Hint: it’s not the part that turns to dust.