Easter Song: Hillsong - Alive in us - with subtitles/lyrics

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Ireland: The Late Late Show covering the book, "Medjugorje: what it means to me" on Good Friday night

The Late Late Show will be doing a piece on the book, "Medjugorje: what it means to me" on Good Friday. Damien Richardson (contributor who attended Cenacolo) and David Parkes will be interviewed by Ryan Tubridy. The author Louise Hall will be also speaking from the audience.

Update:Here is the link to the show:Late Late. The Medjugorje segment starts at 1 hour 31 minutes into the show and can be viewed up to April 18, 2013. You require Real Player on your computer. It can be downloaded HERE .

The Power of the Rosary

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Sr. Lucia, one of the children of Fatima said to Fr. Fuentes, (Dec. 26, 1957) regarding the rosary, she said, “The most holy Virgin in these last times in which we live has given a new efficacy to the recitation of the Rosary to such an extent that there is no problem, no matter how difficult it is, whether temporal or spiritual, in the personal life of each one of us, that cannot be solved by the Rosary. There is no problem, I tell you, no matter how difficult it is, that we cannot resolve by the prayer of the holy Rosary. With the holy Rosary, we will save ourselves; we will sanctify ourselves; we will console our Lord, and obtain the salvation of many souls.” Continue reading at Power of the Rosary

Would You Believe? Abie Philbin Bowman's Simplistic and Blinkered Approach to Life

Mick Peelo's interview with  with atheist comedian Abie Philbin Bowman was particularly enlightening in a number  of  respects. Abie was not baptised and attended the  non denominational Sandford Park school. Therein lies the genesis of his antagonism to Catholicism.

•  Why is it that pseudo liberals persistently target the Catholic Church?  Bowman took a cheap shot at Pope Emeritus Benedict. He referred to his "shadowy Nazi past". This is an ugly smear much beloved of  intolerant liberals. It  is factually incorrect. In fact Benedict as a 14 year old was CONSCRIPTED. In 1941, one of Joseph  Ratzinger's cousins, a 14-year-old boy with Down syndrome, was taken away by the Nazi regime and murdered during the Action T4 campaign of Nazi eugenics.  The Ratzinger family detested the Nazis.
• For a  man so intelligent, his approach to life is simplistic. As far as he is concerned life can be explained by the Big Bang and Evolution. He does not believe in life after death. It's all so simple as far as Abie is concerned. Except it is not. How does he think the  Big Bang came about? Some Mastermind (God) had to cause it. It could not have come about itself. The complexity of the Universe and Solar  System  and human beings could not have come about by chance. God is the Creator- the Master Architect.
• He referred to George Bush as a "bit of an idiot". George Bush prevented any further Al Qaeda attacks  in the US in the wake of 9/11. He strongly opposed the destruction of unborn life.
  Asked directly what President has done more than any other to combat AIDS,  Elton John answered without hesitation: "George Bush." President Bush  launched  the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) a $15 billion program Bush signed into law in 2004 to provide treatment and prevention for millions of HIV-infected people in Africa.  Not bad for a " bit  of an idiot". 
• In one of his jokes he attacked the American medical establishment. He claimed that although Al Qaeda killed 3,000 American citizens, the numbers killed in the same  country by prescription drugs and medical errors exceeded 3,ooo in a week. He forgot  to mention that over 3,000 unborn children are murdered by abortion in the US DAILY. Then of course liberals never like to  refer to this.   Of course the liberal god Obama was not singled out for ridicule.
• He referred to the  Protestant countries of Germany, Scandinavia, Holland bailing out the Catholic countries of Ireland and  Portugal.  Interestingly he forgot to mention  the  gigantic economic crash in the Protestant country of the US in 2007/2008 . This sent shock wakes across the globe. The US national debt is now 17 TRILLION Dollars. It is out of control driven by the liberal President Obama. He has raised the US national debt from 9 Trillion dollars in 2009 to 17 Trillion dollars in 2013.
• The reality is that  Abie has the typical blinkered liberal approach to life.  He has a superficial knowledge of politics. To put it mildly that is being charitable.    His arguments against religion are deeply flawed.  In short his horizons are limited. Now of course that is not unusual for some  Dublin  liberals.

Italian tennis player Mara Santangelo: "I had it all but I was not happy"

Mara Santangelo is another prominent sports person who has been influenced by Medjugorje. She reached the top of world tennis in both singles and doubles. During her career she won 23 tournaments in doubles, nine tournaments in singles and 6 team championships. It seemed that the career and life of Mara Santangelo were perfect. She had sporting success, popularity and money. But the Italian player was not happy. A malformation of the foot that she had from birth caused her, in twelve years as a professional, to live with excruciating pain. Suffering that she has endured to keep a promise made years earlier to the most important person in her life: her mother, who died when she was a teenager. When I was ten years old and in the arms of my mother, watching on TV a match involving Martina Navratilova, I promised that one day I would become like her and play on the Wimbledon Centre Court. When I was 16, my mother, Patrizia Vinante-who was devoted to Our Lady of Fatima- died in a car accident in Trentino. And this promise to play at Wimbleton led me to fight and to go against all odds to achieve it.

Against all odds? "Because I was born with a malformation of the foot and then I had to face a lot of physical pain to dedicate myself to tennis at the professional level. There was no match in my career that was not played with stabbing pains in the foot. And she finally kept her promise and arrived on Wimbledon's Centre Court. "Yes,in 2005 with mixed feelings: on the one hand the joy of fulfilling the promise,on the other despair for not having completed the match against Williams because of excessive physical pain. Unfortunately in the best moment of my career, when I reached the 27th position in the world rankings in singles, I had another foot injury caused by posture.

After a period of reflection, there was my first trip to Medjugorje which changed my life completely. Soon after I left professionalism. " What changed her on this trip? " Going to Medjugorje I had the certainty and confirmation that my path would be another. It gave me serenity. "We wanted to follow the apparition of Our Lady to Mirjana on the mountain. Another pilgrim, a Brazilian healer recognized by the Church, asked for a sign from the Holy Spirit. In the sky near the mountains, at 3 am, we saw a very strong light. The clouds turned at high speed like a vortex. After a couple of minutes, there was the apparition. The tree next to us lit up in an exceptional whiteness". I left the court to undertake this spiritual journey. In my life there was little spiritual. Today, this path continues to give me happiness, that I had not before. When I played, despite having money and fame, I was not happy. I did not feel peace inside me. Today I'm fine. I left the wealth, the spotlight, the prestigious tournaments-things that many people think to be everything in life- but I feel happier. On the Hill of Apparitions in Medjugorje, Mara found the strength to get up. She was reborn in the arms of Mary, in the joy of faith. Mara Santangelo has now brought out a new book in Italian titled Te lo prometto (I promise you).

Russian energy giant Gazprom Offers Cyprus Restructuring Deal to Avoid EU Bailout

Russian energy giant Gazprom has offered the Republic of Cyprus a plan in which the company will undertake the restructuring of the country’s banks in exchange for exploration rights for natural gas in Cyprus’’ exclusive economic zone, local media reported. Representatives of the Russian company submitted the proposal to the office of Cypriot President Nicos Anastasiades on Sunday evening, Sigma TV reported.(Continue reading at THE GREEK REPORTER