"Dear children! Pray and make good use of this time, because this is a time of grace. I am with you and I intercede for each one of you before God, for your heart to open to God and to God's love. Little children, pray without ceasing, until prayer becomes a joy for you. Thank you for having responded to my call."

   In his column today, Pat Ludwa, in reaching the mid-point of Lent, turns to the essence of the liturgical reason for the season and that is the Passion and Death of Jesus Christ for, as Pat shows so clearly through Scriptural passages, there can be no glory without the cross. He proceeds through the devotions of the Way of the Cross to show a meaningful, practical approach to how we should consider the rest of this period of Lent and live each day this "Way" of the Cross in order that someday we too will hear the words of Our Lord " "Truly, I say to you, today you will be with Me in Paradise" (Luke 23:43). The "way" of the Cross is our only way to salvation. For his column today, Why they call it the "WAY" of the Cross, see VIEW FROM THE PEW

Holy Father asks world to rejoice with him on Laetare Sunday in the aftermath of his joyful "Jubilee Journey" and in preparation for the rest of Lent during this Jubilee Year
  Today we bring you the Holy Father's Angelus Message from yesterday Laetare Sunday in which he emphasized the joy of "rejoicing" as is the custom of mid-Lent. His Holiness pointed out that this year that is especially meaningful in light of the fact he has just returned from his spiritual "Jubilee Journey" to the Holy Land and the "Cradle of Christianity" - the Jerusalem area which incorporates Bethlehem where the Savior Jesus Christ was born to the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom the Pope calls on as a willing guide during this Jubilee year in which Christians the world over are awakening to their roots and the meaning of their faith. See THE VICAR OF CHRIST SPEAKS

Archbishop Van Thuan illustrates how we are never abandoned by God
      We continue today, thanks to ZENIT News Organization, the spiritual exercises that Retreat Master Archbishop Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan preached to the Holy Father and Curia the week just before the Pope's "Jubilee Journey" to the Holy Land. Because of the wonders of the internet, all readers can now share in the inspiration that touched the Vicar of Christ and give all readers the opportunity to make a Lenten On-Line Retreat, so to speak, by contemplating on what the Archbishop presents, then going in silent prayer and meditation as John Paul II and his staff did to gain a greater peace and spirituality. The ideal way is to be able to go before the Blessed Sacrament and attend Daily Mass, but if this is not possible, then quiet time with Our Lord in meditation and prayer is the best scenario. For today's Fourth Spiritual Exercise, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" , click on LENTEN ON-LINE RETREAT

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Appreciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ
    Today we continue with our new series in the search to uncover the wonderful treasures of the Church contained in the great Deposit of Faith. Today we present, appropriately in following up the Holy Father's "Jubilee Journey" last month, the second part of the catechesis on Jesus Christ as Our Lord as explained in My Catholic Faith for it was the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecies that He would become Emmanuel and be born of a woman as "The Word was made flesh." For the 144th installment, see APPRECIATING THE PRECIOUS GIFT OF OUR FAITH

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Events that happened today in Church History
   On this day one year ago the glorious pontificate of one of the Church's great Roman Pontiffs - our own beloved Pope John Paul II became the tenth longest in the history of Sovereign Pontiffs and, no doubt by the time he has completed his mission and rewarded with Heavenly glory, he will have surpassed even more Vicars of Christ over the 2000 year history of the Bishops of Rome. For other time capsule events that happened in Church history on this date, see MILLENNIUM MILESTONES AND MEMORIES

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Time to love our neighbor    They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but the words of Bishop Fulton J. Sheen have been known to launch a thousand images in one's mind, one of the ways this late luminary did so much to evangelize the faith. Because of the urgency of the times and because few there are today who possess the wisdom, simplicity and insight than the late Archbishop who touched millions, we are bringing you daily gems from his writings. The good bishop makes it so simple that we have dubbed this daily series: "SIMPLY SHEEN".

"A great burden is thrust upon men who call themselves religious. In this fatal hour, all of their energies should be spent recalling man to his spiritual destiny and summoning him to invoke the God Who made him. Instead of that there are some who would accuse their neighbors who also believe in God, of being disloyal to their country, or else of trying to impose their faith by force on their fellow citizens. Such lies do a disservice both to God and to country. And their supposed faith in God is to be questioned, because no one who loves God hates his neighbor, nor does he try to incite citizen against citizen through slander."