faith
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Don’t Believe in Christmas Miracles? Maybe You Should Reconsider
By Larry Peterson I believe, without reservation, that the Christmas season is a time for miracles. I have, over the years, experienced more than one. This was my first. You can decide for yourself if it qualifies. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It was August of 1960 and our mom had just celebrated her fortieth birthday. I was the…
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Dad, Mom, and Seven Children; Executed together in 1944– Beatified together in 2025
Jozef and Wiktoria Ulma and Children public domain Over the years I have written about many saints. Most of them have been little known. The truth is, I have loved searching the treasure troves of stories and essays and autobiographies and biographies of Catholic heroes and heroines. But among them all there has only been…
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The Dormition of the Blessed Virgin preceded her Assumption; What does that mean?
By Larry Peterson On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII, writing and speaking ex-cathedra, solemnly defined in the Apostolic Constitution Munificentissimus Deus, the dogma that “the Immaculate Mother of God, the ever-virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory.” We know this as the…
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Anti-Semitism? Its evil stench can last forever
The Anti-Semitism epidemic taking place in the streets of America is heartbreaking By Larry Peterson Anti-Semitism Nightmares were created years before I remember that Friday night long ago very well. The screaming started about midnight. It was September, and the windows were still open because it was hot, and the screaming seemed exceptionally…
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Part 4 Champions of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
She always wanted to be a nun Evelyn McNally, Sister Mary Rosina’s sister, said. “Right from the time she could think for herself, she wanted to be a nun,” Constance Gladman was born in Koroit, Victoria, a small rural town in southwestern Australia. The date was December 23, 1922, and Constance would be the first…
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A Joyful Christmas can also harbor a Joyful-Sadness
By Larry Peterson Christmas is much more than just a day I never viewed Christmas as just a “day”. Thanksgiving is a “day”. My birthday is a “day”. Your anniversary is a ‘day”. But Christmas is much more than simply a day. It is a state of mind, an uplifting, spiritually charged season that changes…
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YES! Santa lives in the Hearts of Millions, both Young and Old
By Larry Peterson Most folks do not know much about a man by the name of Francis Pharcellus Church. Heck, most people have never even heard of him. However, to me, he is one of the most excellent newspaper editors of all time. That is because he took on a skeptical world and dared try…
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The Last Christmas Tree (are Angels really Among Us)?
Did Angels bring the Tree? You Decide A Short Story by Larry Peterson Inspired by a true story: It was 6:00 A.M., and she was exhausted. She stood there, unblinking, looking into the mirror at the person staring back at her. Running her hands through her tousled, just-got-out-of-bed hair, she sighed deeply. She leaned forward,…
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The Hot Chocolate Miracle at the Thanksgiving Day Parade
By Larry Peterson During the early morning hours of November 24, 1906, a ship quietly slid against the ebb-tide waters of the Narrows and entered New York harbor. Onboard were almost 2000 people, mostly immigrating Europeans. Through the emerging light of the new dawn, the Statue of Liberty came into view. The appearance of the…
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Thoughts about the great paradox we call “life support.”
Who should choose Life or Death for a Child? The Government or the Parent? By Larry Peterson Upon order of the courts in Great Britain, eight-month-old Indi Gregory was removed from life support today (November 13, 2023). She passed away in a few hours. I now share the paradox of what is called “life-support.” We…
Cradling Catholic 