7 Quick Takes Friday - March 23, 2013

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I had such an awesome day at the Phoenix Catholic Women's Conference last Saturday (March 16).

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And not just because I got to spend the day with my gorgeous goddaughter, Monica, and her beautiful mother, Luisa.

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And not just because I got to spend the day with Danya, Danya's mom, and Eli.

That's Eli the baby whisperer with Monica. You can see Danya's leg, and the gal in the pink sweater is Danya's mom.

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And not just because I had an awesome confession. It was one of those where you end up crying, and the priest gives you a super-easy penance even though you feel like you should be in sackcloth and ashes for the next fifty years.

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And not just because I remembered to bring along the crucifixes I bought for the kids' bedrooms and had them blessed by Bishop Navares.

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It was also because I had the great privilege to listen to some awesome speakers, such as Renee Bondi, Fr. Paul Sullivan, Christine Accurso, and Melanie Pritchard, and fellowship with 649 other faith-filled Catholic women!

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Christine Accurso, who is the director of the 1st Way Pregnancy Center here in Phoenix, shared a story that was wonderful. I think she said she'd had 5 miscarriages (+ 3 children on earth). She said that every morning she gave each of her saints in heaven a special prayer intention for the day - and I thought, "What a great idea!" So I've been asking Noel to pray for Pope Francis, and Chris to pray for all priests.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Pope Francis and the Dirty War

The hit pieces have begun, of course, with all sorts of accusations being hurled at Pope Francis.

One of the more prevalent attacks I've seen is the claim that then-Father Bergoglio was complicit in the 1976 kidnapping of two liberal Jesuit priests during Argentina's "Dirty War," in which over 30,000 people were killed.

However, according to CNN (hardly a friend of the Church):

"The best evidence that I know of that this was all a lie and a series of salacious attacks was that Amnesty International who investigated that said that was all untrue," said Jim Nicholson, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See. "These were unfair accusations of this fine priest." - source

Also, I've seen several media sources conveniently leave out the fact that Father Bergoglio actually worked secretly to save the lives of those priests, among many others.

Is our new Holy Father an impeccable, perfect man? No, because he is human. He has made errors and committed sins. But he is definitely not the monster that some would like to portray him to be.

If you see these lies being bandied about in comboxes or other social media, please ask the accusers to contact Amnesty International so they can get their facts straightened out.

Viva il Papa Francesco!

Habemus Papam!

The words of our new Holy Father, Pope Francis:

"And now let us begin this journey, the Bishop and people, this journey of the Church of Rome which presides in charity over all the Churches, a journey of brotherhood in love, of mutual trust. Let us always pray for one another. Let us pray for the whole world that there might be a great sense of brotherhood . My hope is that this journey of the Church that we begin today, together with help of my Cardinal Vicar, be fruitful for the evangelization of this beautiful city."

http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-francis-his-first-words

7 Quick Takes Friday - March 8, 2013

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Violet turned 3 on Tuesday! We had strawberry cupcakes to celebrate.

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All of the pictures of the birthday girl are on Collin's phone, but here is one taken last weekend when we had a small pizza party (for both her and William) at Peter Piper Pizza:

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Collin's grandparents were there too. Here's Grandpa William with Gabriel!

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 Gabriel's such a boy. He LOVES tossing a football around. (In this pic, he's handing it to Daddy so Daddy can "throw" it back to him.)

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Taxes are done, yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay! And we're even getting a refund. There was a snafu with my W-4 from when I switched jobs in July and we were fearful that might mean we owed money, but thanks to our four lovely little tax deductions running around, it wasn't a problem. :) Who says having a large family doesn't pay??

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The Conclave is starting Tuesday! I'm optimistic that my next Quick Takes will be rejoicing over the election of our new Pope. :) I've even downloaded the Conclave iPhone app!

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The most recent issue of Columbia magazine (Knights of Columbus publication) contained prayer cards for the election of the new Pope. I thought the prayer was lovely:

O Lord Jesus Christ, Supreme Pastor of Your Church,
we thank you for the ministry of Pope Benedict XVI
and the selfless care with which he has led us
as Successor of Peter, and Your Vicar on earth.

Good Shepherd, who founded Your Church
on the rock of Peter’s faith
and have never left Your flock untended,
look with love upon us now,
and sustain Your Church in faith, hope, and charity.

Grant, Lord Jesus, in Your boundless love for us,
a new Pope for Your Church
who will please You by his holiness
and lead us faithfully to You,
who are the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Amen.

Blessed John Paul II, pray for us!

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Does the Bible Condone Abortion?

I have an article at Catholic Stand today that debunks a common misconception among those on the "Christian Left."

7 Quick Takes Friday - March 1, 2013

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For those of you who aren't on Facebook, our Mystery Date was at the Arizona Broadway Theater. We had a marvelous dinner and then saw a terrific performance of "Hello, Dolly!" We had a lot of fun!

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William turned 5 on February 25!

He wanted to know why he couldn't start kindergarten the next day, and was very disappointed when I told him he had to wait until August.

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Miss Violet turns 3 on Tuesday! Ack! Slooooooooooow dooooooooooooooown!

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Speaking of Violet, she's having a lot of fun with Grandma Violet.

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How cute is he???

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Earlier this week, my sister shared the news that her twins (due in July) are boy/girl! Now she has two boys and two girls just like me. :) I'm so thrilled for her family!

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Please pray for an online friend. She went in for her 20 week ultrasound and the baby had no heartbeat. :( She delivered her son early this morning, and I just can't imagine her heartbreak.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!